Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, retold by Carol Schenck, illustrated by Amy Huntington.

《保罗·班扬与蓝牛贝比》，卡罗尔·申克改写，埃米·亨廷顿绘图。

Paul Bunyan was a giant lumberjack. He stood 63 ax handles high, give or take a handle. When Paul shouted timber and swung his ax, a hundred trees would fall. Back in Paul's day, America was growing fast and people needed wood to build houses and towns. Farmers needed wild land cleared so they could grow crops.

保罗·班扬是个巨人伐木工。 他有六十三把斧头柄那么高，差不多差一把的误差。 每当保罗喊一声“倒树”挥下斧头，一百棵树就会应声倒下。 在保罗生活的年代，美国发展飞快，人们需要木材盖房子、建城镇。 农民需要清理出荒地，才能种植庄稼。

Paul showed an early talent for knocking down trees. As a baby, he rolled over in his sleep one night and knocked down a mile of main forest. He always knew he'd be a lumberjack, and soon it was time to follow his dream. I'm off to log the north woods, he told his parents. Good luck, son, they said. Watch where you step.

保罗很小就展现出伐树的天赋。 他还是婴儿的时候，某天夜里睡觉翻个身，就压垮了一英里宽的原生林。 他一直知道自己会成为伐木工，很快就到了追寻梦想的时候。 他对父母说：“我要去北方森林伐木了。” 他们说：“祝你好运，孩子。” “走路看好脚下。”

Paul got a job at a logging camp. Chopping down trees was easy, but he wished he had someone to help him haul the logs to the river. Then came the winter of the blue snow. Beautiful blue snow fell for days. Paul came across a snow drift as big as a house with two hairy blue ears sticking out of it. Moo, it softly bellowed. Paul lifted those ears and out came a sickly baby ox that had been stuck in the snow. The ox was blue all over from the cold.

保罗在一个伐木营找到了工作。 砍树对他来说很轻松，但他希望有人能帮他把原木拖到河边。 之后就到了下蓝雪的冬天。 美丽的蓝雪一连下了好几天。 保罗遇到一个房子那么大的雪堆，雪堆里露出两只毛茸茸的蓝耳朵。 它轻轻地哞叫了一声。 保罗掀起耳朵，一头困在雪里病弱的小牛犊走了出来。 这头牛因为寒冷，浑身都变成了蓝色。

Paul brought the ox back to camp and cared for him all night. In the morning, the ox was feeling better, but he stayed blue. He licked Paul on the neck. Paul laughed. I'll call you babe, he said. They went off to Michigan, where Paul set up his own logging camp. Babe grew like crazy, and soon was so big that folks could hardly see him end to end. None of the local watering holes were big enough for Babe to drink from. Paul solved that problem by using his axe to dig the Great Lakes.

保罗把小牛带回营地，照顾了他一整夜。 早上，小牛好多了，但颜色还是蓝色的。 他舔了舔保罗的脖子。 保罗笑了。 他说：“我就叫你贝比吧。” 他们动身去了密歇根，保罗在那里建起了自己的伐木营。 贝比疯长，很快就大到人们几乎看不全他从头到尾的全身。 当地没有哪个水坑够大，能让贝比喝水。 保罗用斧头挖出了五大湖，解决了这个问题。

Paul's logging camp was filled with hundreds of lumberjacks. They were a hungry bunch, and their favorite food was pancakes. More pancakes, they'd call, but the cooks couldn't make enough. Sourdough Sam, the chief cook, feared that the men would quit if they didn't get more pancakes. Don't worry, Sam, I'll solve this, Paul said. Paul sat and thought about the problem a while. Then he and Babe disappeared.

保罗的伐木营里一共有几百名伐木工。 这群人胃口极大，最爱吃的食物就是煎饼。 他们喊着“还要煎饼”，可厨师做不出那么多。 主厨酸面团萨姆担心，如果做不出更多煎饼，工人们会辞职走人。 保罗说：“别担心，萨姆，我来解决。” 保罗坐着想了一会儿这个问题。 之后他和贝比就消失了。