The Moon Bowl

The Moon Bowl. Adapted from the writings of Algernon Tassin. Illustrated by Maria Voris.

《月亮碗》 改编自阿尔杰农·塔辛的作品 玛丽亚·沃里斯 绘图

the problem. Once upon a time, all the rivers in the world ran into deep holes in the ground. There were no ponds or lakes where people could save their drinking water. The rivers became full only when a mysterious person tipped over an enormous bowl of water on the and poured rain down to the earth.

难题 很久很久以前，世界上所有河流都流进了地下的深洞 人们根本没有池塘、湖泊可以储存饮用水 只有一位神秘人物打翻一大碗水，把雨水倾洒到大地时，河水才会涨满

the person didn't always tip the bowl in a timely fashion. In fact, sometimes the bowl would tip just slightly, not far enough to spill any water out. It was deeply frustrating to all the people on Earth who watched the bowl, waiting for rain. It's incredibly rude of the person on the moon to tease us like that, the people complained. They tip it one way and then tip it right back. How cruel! One year it had been months since the moon bowl had tipped. The rivers were so depleted you could see the stones at the bottom. Everyone was worried because wash day was coming.

可这个人并不总能及时打翻碗 实际上，有时候碗只歪了一点点，根本没歪到能让水洒出来 地上所有望着月亮碗等雨的人，都感到格外沮丧 人们抱怨道：月亮上的人这么捉弄我们，实在太无礼了 他们刚把碗歪向一边，马上又歪了回去 太残忍了！ 有一年，月亮碗已经好几个月没歪过了 河流干枯得彻底露出了河底的石头 所有人都犯愁，因为洗衣日就要来了

the hero. Of course, the tale of the moon bowl is a fairy tale, so there must be a hero and a princess. The hero was a humble woodchopper named Tom. The princess was named Charlotte. The princess and Tom the woodchopper often met and talked together in the forest. Soon They fell in love, and the princess went to tell her father, the king.

英雄 当然啦，月亮碗的故事是童话，所以一定会有英雄和公主 英雄是个谦卑的伐木工，名叫汤姆 公主名叫夏洛特 公主和伐木工汤姆经常在森林里见面聊天 很快他们相爱了，公主跑去告诉了自己的父王——国王

Father, I have met the man I want to marry. His axe flies like the wind itself, and his words flow as gracefully as a river." A river, hmm? said the king, and he began to think. Of course, this is a fairy tale, so the king had to think of some task for Tom to perform before he could marry Charlotte. I've got a task for this Tom to complete before he can marry you. He must go to the person on the moon. He must make them tip the moon bowl over so we might have some rain.

父王，我遇到了我想要嫁的人 他的斧头快得像风，说起话来流畅得如同河流一般。 国王说：河流，嗯？接着他陷入了沉思 当然，这是个童话，所以国王肯定要给汤姆安排一项任务，才允许他娶夏洛特 我要给这个汤姆安排一项任务，完成之后他才能娶你 他必须前往月亮，找到那里的人 他得让对方打翻月亮碗，这样我们就能下雨了

The Task Tom was brought to the castle and told of his task. He kissed Princess Charlotte goodbye and set out to make the person on the moon tip the bowl over. After three days of walking, Tom realized that he didn't know how to get to the moon. He was hot and tired. He thought it might be nice to feel the breeze on the back of his neck, so he took out his axe and started chopping. Wouldn't it be nice, he thought, to feel the wind on the back of my neck with my eyes closed? And so Tom closed his eyes. And what do you know, on the third chop that Tom chopped with his eyes closed, whiz -bang, he flew straight to the moon!

接到任务后，汤姆被带到王宫，知晓了自己的使命 他和夏洛特公主吻别，动身出发去找月亮上的人打翻月亮碗 走了三天之后，汤姆才反应过来，自己根本不知道怎么去月亮 他又热又累 他想要是能让凉风吹过脖子后面该多舒服，于是拿出斧头开始砍树 他心想，闭着眼睛感受风吹过颈后，该多么惬意呀？ 于是汤姆闭上了眼睛 你猜怎么着？汤姆闭着眼睛砍第三下的时候，嗖——哐当一声，他径直飞到了月亮上！