1 How the Elephant Got His Trunk

Animal Stories Retold from the classic originals

动物故事从经典原版中重述

CHAPTER 1 How the Elephant Got His Trunk Long ago, in far-off times, the Elephant had no trunk. He had only a blackish, bulging nose. It was big as a boot, and he could wriggle it from side to side. But he could not pick up things with it. There was one Elephant, a new Elephant, named the Elephant's Child. He was full of insatiable curiosity, which means he asked ever so many questions. He lived in Africa. He bothered all of Africa with his questions. He asked his tall aunt, the Ostrich, why

第一章大象怎么得到鼻子很久以前，在遥远的时代，大象没有鼻子。 他只有一个微微隆起的鼻子。 它像靴子一样大，他可以左右扭动它。 但是他不能用它捡东西。 有一头大象，一头新来的大象，名叫大象的孩子。 他充满了永不满足的好奇心，这意味着他问了很多问题。 他住在非洲。他的问题困扰着整个非洲。 他问他的高个子阿姨，鸵鸟，为什么

her tail feathers grew just so. Ostrich bopped him with her hard, hard claw. He asked his tall uncle, the Giraffe, what made his skin so spotty. Giraffe bopped him with his hard, hard hoof. Still the Elephant's Child was curious. He asked his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, why her eyes were red. Hippopotamus bopped him with her broad, broad hoof. He asked his hairy uncle, the Baboon, why melons tasted just so. Baboon bopped him with his hairy, hairy paw. And still Elephant's Child was curious. He asked questions about everything he saw, or heard, or felt, or smelled, or touched. All of his uncles and his aunts bopped him. And still he was full of 'satiable curiosity! One fine morning, in the middle of a great parade, the Elephant's Child thought of a brand-new question.

她的尾羽就这样长着。 鸵鸟用它那又硬又硬的爪子拍打着他。 他问他高大的叔叔长颈鹿，是什么让他的皮肤上有这么多斑点。 长颈鹿用他坚硬的蹄子拍打着他。 大象的孩子仍然很好奇。 他问他那胖胖的姨妈河马，为什么她的眼睛是红的。 河马用它那又宽又宽的蹄子拍打着他。 他问他毛茸茸的叔叔，狒狒，为什么瓜的味道是这样的。 一只狒狒用毛茸茸的爪子拍打着他。 大象的孩子仍然很好奇。 他对他看到的、听到的、感觉到的、闻到的、触摸到的一切都提出问题。 他所有的叔叔和阿姨都希望他。 但他仍然充满了“满足的好奇心”！一个晴朗的早晨，在一个盛大的游行队伍中，大象的孩子想到了一个新的问题。

"What does the Crocodile have for dinner?" he asked. "Hush!" everyone hissed in a dreadful tone. Then they bopped him and bopped him for a good long time until he was very warm and greatly surprised. The Elephant's Child ran off crying into the jungle. He came upon a Kolokolo Bird sitting in the middle of a thorn bush. "Why are you crying?" asked the Kolokolo Bird. "Everyone has bopped me for my 'satiable curiosity. But I still want to know what the Crocodile has for dinner!" "Go to the banks of the great graygreen, greasy Limpopo River. You'll find out there," the Kolokolo Bird told him. That next day, the Elephant's Child took a hundred pounds of bananas (the short red kind), and a hundred pounds of sugarcane

“鳄鱼晚餐吃什么？”他问。 “嘘！”每个人都用可怕的声音发出嘘声。 然后他们抱着他，抱了很长时间，直到他非常温暖，非常惊讶。 大象的孩子哭着跑进了丛林。 他偶然发现一只科洛科洛鸟正坐在荆棘丛中。 “你为什么哭？”科洛科洛鸟问。 “每个人都希望我有‘满足的好奇心’。 但我还是想知道鳄鱼晚餐吃什么！”“去伟大的、灰绿色的、油腻的林波波河岸边。 在那里你会知道的。”科洛科洛鸟告诉他。 第二天，大象的孩子拿了一百磅香蕉（又短又红的那种）和一百磅甘蔗

(the long purple kind), and seventeen melons (the green crackly kind). He carried them in a sack. "Good-bye, dear family. I am going to the great graygreen, greasy Limpopo River. I must find out what the Crocodile has for dinner," he said. They all bopped him once more, for luck, even though he most politely asked them to stop. The Elephant's Child went from town to town and county to county. All the way, he ate melons and left the rinds (because he could not pick them up). He traveled for many days and many nights. At last he came to the great graygreen, greasy Limpopo River. The first thing he found was a two- colored Python-Rock-Snake curled around a rock. "Excuse me," said the Elephant's Child. "Have you seen such a thing as a Crocodile?

（紫色的长瓜）和十七个瓜（绿色的脆瓜）。 他把它们装在麻袋里。 “再见了，亲爱的家人。我要去绿油油的林波波河。 我必须找出鳄鱼晚餐吃什么，”他说。 他们又一次希望他好运，尽管他非常礼貌地要求他们停下来。 大象的孩子从一个镇走到另一个镇，从一个县走到另一个县。 一路上，他吃瓜，把瓜皮留下（因为他捡不起来）。 他走了许多天许多夜。 最后，他来到了绿油油的林波波河。 他首先发现的是一条两色的蟒蛇-岩石-蛇，它蜷曲在一块岩石上。 “对不起，”象的孩子说。 “你见过鳄鱼这种东西吗？”

And do you know what he has for dinner?" The two-colored Python-Rock-Snake uncoiled himself from the rock. He bopped the Elephant's Child with his scalesome, flailsome tail. "Why does everyone bop me for my 'satiable curiosity?" the Elephant's Child wondered. Now he was more determined than ever to find out what the Crocodile eats for dinner. So the Elephant's Child went right up to the great graygreen, greasy Limpopo River and sat down on a log. But it was not a log. It was really the Crocodile. The Elephant's Child did not know this. And the Crocodile winked one eye at the Elephant's Child. "Did you happen to see a Crocodile near the great graygreen, greasy Limpopo River?" asked the Elephant's Child most politely.

你知道他晚餐吃什么吗？”双色的蟒蛇-岩石-蛇从岩石上伸直身子。 它用它那长满鳞片的尾巴拍打着象的孩子。 “为什么每个人都嘲笑我‘满足的好奇心’呢？”大象的孩子想知道。 现在，他比以往任何时候都更加决心要找出鳄鱼晚餐吃什么。 于是，大象的孩子径直走到灰绿色、油腻的林波波河边，坐在一根原木上。 但它不是一根原木。那真的是鳄鱼。 大象的孩子不知道这些。 鳄鱼对大象的孩子眨了一只眼睛。 “你有没有碰巧在油腻的、灰绿色的林波波河附近看到一条鳄鱼？”象的孩子很有礼貌地问。