LESSON 26

THREE LITTLE MICE

三只小老鼠

1．I will tell you the story of three little mice,

If you will keep still and listen to me,

Who live in a cage that is cozy and nice,

And are just as cunning as cunning can be.

They look very wise, with their pretty red eyes,

That seem just exactly like little round beads;

They are white as the snow, and stand up in a row

Whenever we do not attend to their needs;—

2．Stand up in a row in a comical way,—

Now folding their forepaws as if saying, "please;”

Now rattling the lattice, as much as to say,

"We shall not stay here without more bread and cheese,"

They are not at all shy, as you'll find, if you try

To make them run up in their chamber to bed;

If they don't want to go, why, they won't go—ah! no,

Though you tap with your finger each queer little head.

3．One day as I stood by the side of the cage,

Through the bars there protruded a funny, round tail;

Just for mischief I caught it, and soon, in a rage,

Its owner set up a most pitiful wail.

He looked in dismay,—there was something to pay,—

But what was the matter he could not make out;

What was holding him so, when he wanted to go

To see what his brothers upstairs were about?

4．But soon from the chamber the others rushed down,

Impatient to learn what the trouble might be;

I have not a doubt that each brow wore a frown,

Only frowns on their brows are not easy to see.

For a moment they gazed, perplexed and amazed;

Then began both together to—gnaw off the tail!

So, quick I released him,—do you think that it pleased him?

And up the small staircase they fled like a gale.

(Julia C. R. Dorr)

【中文阅读】

1．如果你能安静好好聆听，

我会给你讲三只小老鼠的故事。

它们住在一个舒适惬意的笼子里，

像普通老鼠那样狡猾精明。

它们看上去非常聪明，

眨着可爱的红色小眼睛，

看上去真像小圆珠子；

它们身白如雪，

每当我们忽略其需求时，它们就会站成一排；

2．他们以令人好笑的方式站成一排，

合上前爪，仿佛在说：“求求你”；

它们又咔哒咔哒地弄着格子，似乎在说：

“没有面包和奶酪，我们就不待在这里了”。

你会发现它们一点儿也不害羞，

假如你想让它们沿着梯子跑回卧室；

如果它们不想回去，它们绝不回去呀！

尽管你用手指敲着它们那奇怪的小脑袋。

3．一天我站在笼子边，

栅栏里伸出一条有趣的圆尾巴；

为了好玩我很快就抓住了它；

尾巴的主人在笼子里发出了可怜的哀号。

它看上去很沮丧，似乎要付出代价了

但是，它不明白问题出在了哪里，

当它想去看看楼上的兄弟们在做什么时，

究竟是什么抓住了它？

4．然而，很快地，另外两只小老鼠从楼上的卧室里冲下来，

迫不及待地想了解发生了什么事情；

它们个个都皱着眉头，对此我一点儿都不怀疑，

只不过它们那紧皱着的眉头不太容易被发现罢了。

它们痴痴地凝视了片刻，既惊讶又困惑；

然后，一起过来准备咬断那条尾巴！

于是，我马上就放开了它，你认为它会因此而高兴吗？

它像风一样夹着尾巴快速跑上了小扶梯。