3 How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin

CHAPTER 3 How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin Once upon a time there lived a magician called the Parsee. He lived on an island all by himself on the shores of the Red Sea. He had nothing but his sun hat, his knife, and a cooking stove. One day he took flour, water, currants, plums, and sugar. He mixed them all together and baked them on his stove. He made a splendid cake that was two feet across and three feet thick. "What is that delicious smell?" wondered

从前，有一个叫帕西人的魔术师。 他独自一人住在红海岸边的一个岛上。 除了一顶太阳帽、一把小刀和一个炉灶，他什么也没有。 一天，他拿了面粉、水、葡萄干、李子和糖。 他把它们混合在一起，放在炉子上烤。 他做了一个两英尺宽，三英尺厚的精美蛋糕。 “这是什么味道？

the Rhinoceros, who followed his nose all the way down to the beach. In those days the Rhinoceros had a horn on his nose, two piggy eyes, and a skin-coat of which he was most proud. His skin-coat fit tight on his body. There was not a wrinkle to be found on the Rhinoceros's skin. Not only was the Rhinoceros a very proud beast, but he was also very rude. When he followed his nose to the Parsee's camp, he saw the splendid cake. "I must have that cake!" the Rhinoceros decided. Just as the Parsee was about to take a bite of his splendid cake, the Rhinoceros made a run to grab it. The Parsee scrambled up a palm tree, quick as a wink, to avoid being trampled. The Rhinoceros knocked over the Parsee's precious stove. The splendid cake rolled into the sand. At once, the Rhinoceros

犀牛一直跟着他的鼻子来到海滩。 那时候，犀牛的鼻子上长着一只角，两只猪眼睛，还有一件他最引以为傲的皮毛。 他的皮衣很贴身。 犀牛的皮肤上没有一丝皱纹。 犀牛不仅是一头非常骄傲的野兽，而且非常粗鲁。 当他循着鼻子来到帕西人的营地时，他看到了那块精美的蛋糕。 “我一定要那块蛋糕！”犀牛下定决心。 正当帕西人准备咬一口美味的蛋糕时，犀牛跑过去抢了过来。 帕西人飞快地爬上一棵棕榈树，以免被人踩到。 犀牛打翻了帕西人珍贵的火炉。 漂亮的蛋糕滚到沙滩上。 立刻，犀牛

speared it with his horn. Then he ran off, gobbling the cake as he ran, waving his tail at the poor, hungry Parsee. When the Parsee climbed down from the palm tree, he was very angry with the Rhinoceros. He chanted to himself, Them that takes the cakes Which the Parsee man bakes Makes dreadful mistakes. Several weeks later, there was a terrible heat wave on the island. The Parsee and all the animals took off all their clothes to stay cool. The Parsee took off his magnificent hat. And the Rhinoceros took off his very tight skin. Very carefully, so he would not wrinkle it a bit, the Rhinoceros unbuttoned the three buttons that held his skin together. Very, very carefully, he neatly folded his skin and laid it down beside the water. Then the Rhinoceros waddled into the water and blew

用他的角刺它。然后他跑开了，边跑边狼吞虎咽地吃着蛋糕，对着那个可怜、饥饿的帕西人摇着尾巴。 当帕西人从棕榈树上爬下来时，他对犀牛非常生气。 他对自己唱道：那些吃了帕西人烤的蛋糕的人犯了可怕的错误。 几个星期后，岛上出现了可怕的热浪。 帕西人和所有的动物都脱下了衣服以保持凉爽。 帕西人摘下他那顶华丽的帽子。 犀牛脱下了他紧绷的皮肤。 犀牛小心翼翼地解开了把皮肤连在一起的三颗扣子，以免弄皱。 他非常非常小心地把自己的皮肤整齐地折叠起来，放在水边。 然后，犀牛摇摇摆摆地走进水里，吹着气

bubbles through his nose. He paid no attention to the Parsee. Not even to apologize for ruining his stove. Not even to thank him for the splendid cake he had taken from him. While the Rhinoceros cooled himself in the water, the Parsee went to work. He went back to his camp and filled his splendid hat with crumbs and currants. He crept over to the Rhinoceros's neatly folded skin. Next he scrubbed and rubbed that skin with old, dry, stale, tickly cakecrumbs and lots of burnt currants (the Parsee always ate cake and had lots of leftover crumbs). Then the Parsee scampered up the palm tree to wait for the Rhinoceros to put on his skin. As soon as the Rhinoceros buttoned up his skin, he began to itch. His skin tickled and bothered and crawled. First he tried to

泡泡从他的鼻子里冒出来。他没有理会那个帕西人。 甚至不为弄坏他的炉子而道歉。 甚至没有感谢他从他手里拿走的美味蛋糕。 当犀牛在水里冷却自己时，帕西人开始工作。 他回到自己的营地，在他那顶华丽的帽子里塞满了面包屑和葡萄干。 他蹑手蹑脚地走到犀牛折叠整齐的皮肤旁。 接着，他用又干又臭又发痒的旧蛋糕屑和许多烧焦的加仑子（帕西人总是吃蛋糕，有许多剩下的面包屑）不停地擦洗那张皮。 然后，帕西人蹦蹦跳跳地爬上棕榈树，等待犀牛给他穿上皮肤。 当犀牛把他的皮肤扣上时，他开始发痒。 他的皮肤又痒又难受，还在爬。 首先，他试图

scratch, but that just made it worse. Then he lay down on the sand and rolled and rolled, but that made it even worse than before. Next, he ran to the palm tree and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed his skin against it as hard as he could. He rubbed his three buttons right off! He rubbed so hard that his skin stretched into great big folds on his shoulders, stomach, and legs. But this did him no good. No matter how much he scratched, rolled, and rubbed, the cakecrumbs made him itchier than before. He went home angry, itchy, and very, very wrinkled. That is why the Rhinoceros has a very bad temper, and why he has such great wrinkles and folds in his skin!

擦伤，但这只会让情况更糟。 然后他躺在沙滩上滚啊滚，但这使情况比以前更糟了。 接着，他跑到那棵棕榈树跟前，用尽全身的力气在上面摩擦啊摩擦啊。 他把自己的三个扣子都磨掉了！他使劲地搓，肩膀、肚子和腿上的皮肤都伸展成很大的皱褶。 但这对他没有任何好处。不管他怎么抓、怎么滚、怎么搓，蛋糕屑还是让他比以前更痒。 他生气地回到家，浑身发痒，满脸皱纹。 这就是为什么犀牛的脾气很坏，为什么他的皮肤上有这么大的皱纹和褶皱！