LESSON 49

PRETTY IS THAT PRETTY DOES

不要以貌取人

1. The spider wears a plain brown dress,

　　And she is a steady spinner;

　To see her, quiet as a mouse,

　Going about her silver house,

You would never, never, never guess

　　The way she gets her dinner.

1. She looks as if no thought of ill

　　In all her life had stirred her;

　But while she moves with careful tread,

　And while she spins her silken thread,

She is planning, planning, planning still

　　The way to do some murder.

1. My child, who reads this simple lay,

　　With eyes down-dropt and tender,

　Remember the old proverb says

　That pretty is which pretty does,

And that worth does not go nor stay

　　For poverty nor splendor.

1. 'Tis^[1] not the house, and not the dress,

　　That makes the saint or sinner.

　To see the spider sit and spin,

　Shut with her walls of silver in,

You would never, never, never guess

　　The way she gets her dinner.

(Alice Cary)

【中文阅读】

1.

蜘蛛穿件朴素的棕裙，

她是个坚毅的纺纱工。

你看，她像老鼠一样安静，

在银色的房子里，

你永远、永远、永远都猜不到

她获取食物的方法。

2.

她看起来就像一辈子

从不担心疾病的困扰。

但当她小心翼翼踩在网上挪动时，

当她编织着柔软的丝线时，

她正在计划着、计划着、安静地计划着，

一场场谋杀的方式。

3.

我的孩子读到这首短诗时，

眨着两只大大的眼睛。

记住老谚语所言：

不要以貌取人，

财产不能走，也不能留，

无论你贫穷或富有。

4.

那不是房子，也不是裙子。

那是好人或坏人的标志。

看看坐在那里织网的蜘蛛，

合上她银色的墙壁，

你永远、永远、永远都猜不到

她获取食物的方法。

（爱丽丝·卡瑞）

注释

[1] 'Tis＝It is.