【小听童中英文绘本故事】花婆婆1Miss Rumphius上集
原版英文绘本学英语 - Miss Rumphius
Miss Rumphius
花婆婆
The Lupine Lady lives in a small house overlooking the sea.
花婆婆住在海边的一幢小房子里。
In between the rocks around her house grow blue and purple and rose-colored flowers.
房子的四周,开满了蓝色、紫色和粉红色的花儿。
The Lupine Lady is little and old.
她的年纪很大,个子小小的。
But she has not always been that way. I know.
我知道她本来不是这样的。
She is my great-aunt, and she told me so.
花婆婆是我的姨婆,她告诉我一些过去的事情。
Once upon a time she was a little girl named Alice, who lived in a city by the sea.
花婆婆的名字叫艾莉丝,很久以前,当她还是一个小女孩儿的时候,她住在海边的城市。
From the front stoop she could see the wharves and the bristlingmasts of tall ships.
从她家门口的石阶上,可以看到码头和来来往往的大船。
Many years ago her grandfather had come to America on a large sailing ship.
很多年以前,她的爷爷就是搭乘一艘大帆船来到美国的。
Now he worked in the shop at the bottom of the house, making figureheads for the prows of ships, and carving Indians out of wood to put in front of cigar stores.
艾莉丝的爷爷在房子的一楼开了一家店,专门雕刻船头的人像,以及摆在烟草店门口的印第安人像。
For Alice's grandfather was an artist.
他也是个艺术家。
He painted pictures, too, of sailing ships and places across the sea.
偶尔会画一些帆船和沿海地区的风景。
When he was very busy, Alice helped him put in the skies.
当他很忙的时候,艾莉丝就帮他在画布上画几朵白云。
In the evening Alice sat on her grandfather's knee and listened to his stories of faraway places.
晚上,艾莉丝常常坐在爷爷的大腿上,听他说一些很远的地方所发生的事情。
When he had finished, Alice would say, "When I grow up, I too will go to faraway places, and when I grow old, I too will live beside the sea."
每次爷爷说完了故事,艾莉丝就接着说:“爷爷,我长大以后,要像你一样去很远的地方旅行。当我老了,也要像你一样住在海边。”
"That is all very well, little Alice," said her grandfather, "but there is a third thing you must do."
“很好,”爷爷笑着说,“但是,你一定要记得做第三件事。”
"What is that?" asked Alice.
“什么事?”艾莉丝问。
"You must do something to make the world more beautiful," said her grandfather.
“做一件让世界变得更美丽的事。”爷爷说。
"All right," said Alice. But she did not know what that could be.
“好哇!”艾莉丝答应得又快又大声。但是,她还不知道将来会做什么样的事。
In the meantime Alice got up and washed her face and ate porridge for breakfast. She went to school and came home and did her homework.
她每天起床、洗脸、吃早餐、上学、放学、做功课。
And pretty soon she was grown up.
渐渐地爱丽丝长大了。
Then my great-aunt Alice set out to do the three things she had told her grandfather she was going to do.
艾莉丝决定去做她答应爷爷的三件事。
She left home and went to live in another city far from the sea and the salt air.
她离开了家乡,住在一个离海边很远的城市。
There she worked in a library, dusting books and keeping them from getting mixed up, and helping people find the ones they wanted.
她在图书馆工作,每天清理书上的灰尘,把书本排列整齐,并且帮助大家找到他们想看的书。
Some of the books told her about faraway places.
她自己也看了很多书,都是很远的地方所发生的故事。
People called her Miss Rumphius now.
这时候,大家都称呼她卢菲丝小姐。
[上集完 待续]