LESSON 72

THE PERT CHICKEN

无礼的小公鸡

1．There was once a pretty chicken;

But his friends were very few,

For he thought that there was nothing

In the world but what he knew:

So he always, in the farmyard^〔1〕,

Had a very forward^〔2〕 way,

Telling all the hens and turkeys^〔3〕

What they ought to do and say.

"Mrs. Goose," he said, "I wonder

That your goslings^〔4〕 you should let

Go out paddling^〔5〕 in the water;

It will kill them to get wet."

2．"I wish, my old Aunt Dorking^〔6〕,"

He began to her, one day,

"That you wouldn't sit all summer

In your nest upon the hay.

Won't you come out to the meadow,

Where the grass with seeds is filled?"

"If I should," said Mrs. Dorking,

"Then my eggs would all get chilled."

"No, they won't," replied the chicken,

"And no matter if they do;

Eggs are really good for nothing;

What's an egg to me or you?"

3．"What's an egg!" said Mrs. Dorking,

"Can it be you do not know

You yourself were in an eggshell

Just one little month ago?

And, if kind wings had not warmed you,

You would not be out to-day,

Telling hens, and geese, and turkeys,

What they ought to do and say!

4．"To be very wise, and show it,

Is a pleasant thing, no doubt;

But, when young folks talk to old folks,

They should know what they're about."

(Marian Douglas)

【中文阅读】

1．从前有只漂亮的小公鸡，

他的朋友却没几个；

因为他认为这个世界上

没有什么是他不知道的；

所以在农家小院里，

总看见他直冲向前大言不惭

告诉所有母鸡和火鸡，

什么该说，什么该干。

他说：“鹅太太，我想你太不应该，

让小鹅们到外面玩耍；

他们在水里扑腾嬉戏，

全身湿透随时会没命的呀。”

2．有一天，他又对道根鸡开口：

“我希望，我亲爱的道根鸡阿姨，

你不要整个夏天都坐着不动，

老在干草上蹲窝有什么意思！

难道你就不想在草地上走走？

那里多的是种子藏在草里。”

“如果我走开，”道根鸡阿姨回答他，

“那我的蛋全都会冻死。”

“不，它们不会的，”小公鸡接话，“

就算它们冻坏也没问题。

那些蛋一点好处也没有，

对你对我又有什么意义？”

3．“蛋有什么意义！”道根鸡大声说，

“它可以是你不知道的一切。

你可知短短一个月之前的自己，

还在蛋壳里没来到这个世界？

如果不是有慈爱的翅膀给你温暖，

今天你就不会在这里出现，

对着母鸡、火鸡和鹅妈妈，

说它们什么该说，什么该干！”

4．“做个聪明人到处炫耀，

毫无疑问你会感觉愉快；

可是当年轻人面对长者说话，

最好他们说的东西要自己先明白。”

（玛丽安·道格拉斯）

注释

〔1〕Farmyard, the inclosed ground attached to a barn and other farm buildings.

〔2〕Forward, bold, confident.

〔3〕Turkeys, a large domestic fowl.

〔4〕Goslings, young geese.

〔5〕Paddling, beating the water with the feet, swimming.

〔6〕Dorking, a species of chicken.