LESSON 1

第1課

either

二者之一

trickle

滴流

fancied

空想的

murmur

私語

reflected

反射的

glossy

光滑

entered

進(jìn)入

shepherd

牧羊人

chestnuts

栗子

command

命令

THE SHEPHERD BOY

牧童

Little Roy led his sheep down to pasture,

小羅伊趕著羊群來到牧場(chǎng)，

And his cows, by the side of the brook;

將牛群驅(qū)趕到小溪邊；

But his cows never drank any water,

牛群不需在溪邊喝水，

And his sheep never needed a crook.

羊群也不需他揮舞牧鞭。

For the pasture was gay as a garden,

牧場(chǎng)像花園一樣絢麗多彩

And it glowed with a flowery red;

散發(fā)著亮麗的紅色光芒。

But the meadows had never a grass blade,

可這片土地卻寸草不生，

And the brooklet—it slept in its bed:

小溪也只在自己的溫床上靜靜流淌。

And it lay without sparkle or murmur,

它既不閃閃發(fā)光，也不喃喃低語，

Nor reflected the blue of the skies;

更不會(huì)折射出晴空的湛藍(lán)；

But the music was made by the shepherd,

小牧童哼起歡快的歌謠，

And the sparkle was all in his eyes.

眼中閃爍著迷人的光芒。

Oh, he sang like a bird in the summer!

哇，他就像夏日的小鳥在快唱！

And, if sometimes you fancied a bleat,

假如你恍若聽到咩咩的聲音，

That, too, was the voice of the shepherd,

那一定是牧童在歡唱，

And not of the lambs at his feet.

而非他腳邊的小羊羔。

And the glossy brown cows were so gentle

油亮閃亮的棕色母牛多么溫順，

That they moved at the touch of his hand

在牧童的輕撫下，

O'er the wonderful, rosy-red meadow,

牛群漫步在玫瑰紅的歡樂草地上，

And they stood at the word of command.

主人一聲令下便讓它們停下。

So he led all his sheep to the pasture,

他就這樣領(lǐng)著牛羊，

And his cows, by the side of the brook;

在小溪邊游蕩；

Though it rained, yet the rain never pattered

可雨滴啪嗒啪嗒灑落下來

O'er the beautiful way that they took.

并不似往日美麗的模樣。

And it wasn't in Fairyland either,

這里并不是什么仙境樂園，

But a house in the midst of the town,

只不過是鎮(zhèn)上一處屋舍，

Where Roy, as he looked from the window,

羅伊從這里還能看到

Saw the silvery drops trickle down.

窗外傾瀉而下的閃光雨滴。

For his pasture was only a table,

他的牧場(chǎng)也不過是一張桌子，

With its cover so flowery fair,

上面鋪滿各色花瓣；

And his brooklet was just a green ribbon,

那潺潺小溪

That his sister had lost from her hair.

只是妹妹頭上掉落的一條綠色絲帶。

And his cows were but glossy horse-chestnuts,

溫順的牛群

That had grown on his grandfather's tree;

是從祖父種植的七葉樹上采來的光滑葉片；

And his sheep only snowy-white pebbles,

可愛的羊群

He had brought from the shore of the sea.

也不過是用海邊揀的雪白鵝卵石來充當(dāng)。

And at length when the shepherd was weary,

牧童終于厭倦了這個(gè)游戲，

And had taken his milk and his bread,

喝光牛奶、吃完面包之后，

And his mother had kissed him and tucked him,

媽媽令他上床睡覺，親吻了他，

And had bid him "good night" in his bed;

輕輕道聲“晚安”。

Then there entered his big brother Walter,

就在牧童酣睡之際，

While the shepherd was soundly asleep,

大哥沃爾特走了進(jìn)來，

And he cut up the cows into baskets,

他將撕碎的牛群扔進(jìn)籃子，

And to jackstones turned all of the sheep.

用小石子取代了羅伊的羊群。

(Emily S. Oakey)

（愛米莉.奧凱）