Gertrude Mcfuzz

xaltier representation

绘者署名

There once was a girl bird named Gertrude McFuzz, and she had the smallest plain tail ever was. One droopy droop feather. That's all that she had. And oh, that one feather made Gertrude so sad. For there was another young bird that she knew, a fancy young birdie named Lala Lee Lou. And instead of one feather behind, she had two. Poor Gertrude. Whenever she happened to spy Miss Lala Lee Lou flying by in the sky, she got very jealous. She frowned and she pouted. Then one day, she got awfully mad and she shouted, This just isn't fair. I have one. She has two. I must have a tail just like Lala Lee Lou.

从前有只雌鸟叫格特鲁德·麦克法兹，她长着全世界最小最朴素的尾巴。 只有一根耷拉着的软羽毛，那就是她全部的尾巴。 哎，就这一根羽毛可把格特鲁德愁坏了。 因为她认识另一只小雌鸟，打扮得漂漂亮亮的，名叫拉拉·李·卢。 人家屁股后面长的不是一根羽毛，是整整两根哦。 可怜的格特鲁德，每次碰巧看到拉拉·李·卢小姐从天上飞过，都特别嫉妒。 她皱着眉头噘着嘴。终于有一天，她气得暴跳如雷，大喊道： 这太不公平啦！我只有一根，她有两根！我一定要长出和拉拉·李·卢一模一样的尾巴！

So she flew to her uncle, a doctor named Dake, whose office was high in a tree by the lake, and she cried, Uncle Doctor, oh please, do you know of some kind of a pill that will make my tail grow? Tut, tut, said the doctor. Such talk, how absurd. Your tail is just right for your kind of a bird. Then Gertrude had tantrums. She let out a wail. Oh, I must have a lollily -loo kind of tail. Oh please, Uncle, help me. You can if you'll try. Very well, sighed her uncle, a soft -hearted guy. I know where there's sort of a kind of a pill. You fly across the lake, then on top of that hill there's a pillberry vine. Little berries, they're pink. Eat one, and your tail will grow different, I think. Oh, thank you, chirped Gertrude McFuzz, and she flew across the lake to the hill where the pillberries grew.

于是她飞到叔叔那里去，叔叔是名叫戴克的医生，诊所开在湖边一棵高高的树上，她哭着说： 医生叔叔，求求你啦，你知不知道什么药片能让我的尾巴变长呀？ “啧，啧，”医生说。 “说的什么傻话呀，太荒唐了。你的尾巴和你这种鸟是刚好适配的。” 格特鲁德立马耍起了脾气，哇的一声哭了出来。 “哦我就要那种漂漂亮亮的大尾巴嘛。求求你了叔叔，帮帮我，你只要试试肯定能做到的。” “好吧，”她那心软的叔叔叹了口气说。 “我知道哪儿有种类似的药片。你飞过这片湖，那座山顶上长着一片魔莓藤。” “上面长着小小的粉色浆果，吃一颗的话，你的尾巴应该就会变不一样啦。” “太谢谢你啦！”格特鲁德·麦克法兹叽叽喳喳叫着，飞过湖面，朝着长着魔莓的小山飞去。

Yes, here was the vine. And as soon as she saw it, she plucked off a berry. She started to gnaw it. No, no, this tastes awful. It might make me sick, but I need a new tail so I'll swallow it quick. And the moment that berry juice slid down inside, she felt something happen. Her eyes opened wide. She felt cold. She felt hot. Then she felt a small twitch as if she'd been tapped down behind by a switch. And Gertrude McFuzz looked around. It was true. Two feathers! She cheered. Just like Lala -Lee -Loo. Then she got an idea. Say, I know what I'll do. I'll grow a tail better than Lala -Lee -Loo. These pills that grow feathers are working just fine. I'll just nibble another one off of the vine.

对啦，就是这株藤！她一看见就立马摘下一颗浆果，啃了起来。 唔唔，这味道也太难吃了，吃了说不定会不舒服，可我想要新尾巴，还是赶紧咽下去吧。 浆果的汁刚滑进肚子里，她就感觉有什么变化发生了，眼睛一下子瞪得圆圆的。 她一会儿觉得冷，一会儿觉得热，接着尾巴那里轻轻抽了一下，就像被小树枝轻轻敲了一下似的。 格特鲁德·麦克法兹扭头一看，居然是真的！ 两根羽毛！她欢呼起来，和拉拉·李·卢的一模一样！ 接着她突然冒出个主意：“嘿，我想到啦，我要长出比拉拉·李·卢更漂亮的尾巴！” 这种长羽毛的魔果效果可真好，我再从藤上啃一颗就好啦。

She felt a new twitch, and then Gertrude yelled, Whee! Miss Lala has only just two, I have three! When Lala Lee -Loo sees this beautiful stuff, she'll fall right down flat on her face, sure enough. I'll show her who's pretty, I certainly will. Well, I'll make my tail even prettier still. She snatched at those berries that grew on that vine. She gobbled down four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. And she didn't stop eating, young Gertrude McFuzz, till she'd eaten three dozen. That's all that there was.

她又感觉到一阵轻微的抽搐，接着格特鲁德大叫起来： “哇！拉拉小姐只有两根，我有三根啦！” 等拉拉·李·卢看到这么漂亮的尾巴，肯定会直接脸朝下摔个大跟头的。 我要让她看看谁才是真的漂亮，我肯定要做到。 对了，我要把我的尾巴变得更更更漂亮！ 她一把抓过藤上结的那些浆果。 狼吞虎咽地吃了四颗、五颗、六颗、七颗、八颗、九颗。 小格特鲁德·麦克法兹吃个不停，直到整整吃了三十六颗才停下。 藤上的浆果已经一颗都不剩啦。

And as soon as young Gertrude had swallowed the last, such twitches she felt. They came frightfully fast. The feathers popped out with a zang and a zing. They blossomed like flowers that bloom in the spring. Orange, blue, yellow, and bright apple green. Enormous tail feathers, all fit for a queen. Like silken spaghetti, like satin, like lace. They burst out like rockets all over the place. They waved in the air and they swished in the breeze. And some were as long as the branches of trees. And still they kept coming. They popped and they popped till long about sundown when finally they stopped. Now Gertrude's great tale was a sight to behold. More gorgeous than diamonds and gumdrops and gold. And now, giggled Gertrude, the next thing to do is to fly straight home and show Lala -lee -loo. And when Lala sees these, why her face will get red and she'll let out a scream and she'll fall right down dead.

小格特鲁德刚把最后一颗浆果咽下去，就感觉到浑身剧烈抽搐起来。 抽搐来得快得吓人，羽毛噼里啪啦地往外冒，发出“嗡”“叮”的声响。 羽毛像春天盛开的花朵一样绽放开来，有橙色、蓝色、黄色，还有鲜亮的苹果绿。 巨大的尾羽华丽得配得上女王，摸起来像丝滑的意面、像绸缎、像蕾丝。 羽毛像火箭一样四处炸开，在空中轻轻晃荡，在微风里沙沙作响。 有些羽毛长得和树枝差不多长，而且还在不停地往外冒。 羽毛冒啊冒啊，一直冒到太阳快落山的时候，才终于停了下来。 现在格特鲁德的大尾巴可太壮观了，比钻石、软糖和黄金还要耀眼夺目。 “现在呀，”格特鲁德咯咯笑着说，“接下来我要直接飞回家，展示给拉拉·李·卢看。” 等拉拉看到这些，她肯定会脸涨得通红，尖声大叫，直接吓得晕过去！