第11章 小不点或拇指姑娘 Little Tiny or Thumbelina(3/8)

首发：~第11章 小不点或拇指姑娘 Little Tiny or Thumbelina

在下面水里游来游去的小鱼看到了癞蛤蟆，也听到了她说的话，于是它们把头探出水面来看这个小姑娘。

the little fishes, who swam about in the water beneath, had seen the toad, and heard what she said, so they lifted their heads above the water to look at the little maiden

它们一看到她，就发觉她非常美丽，一想到她必须去和丑陋的癞蛤蟆一起生活，它们就非常难过。

as soon as they caught sight of her, they saw she was very pretty, and it made them very sorry to think that she must go and live with the ugly toads

“不，绝对不行！” 于是它们在水里集合起来，围在支撑着小姑娘所站叶子的绿色茎秆周围，用牙齿把茎秆的根部咬断。

“no, it must never be!” so they assembled together in the water, round the green stalk which held the leaf on which the little maiden stood, and gnawed it away at the root with their teeth

然后叶子顺着溪流漂走了，带着拇指姑娘漂到远离陆地的地方。

then the leaf floated down the stream, carrying tiny far away out of reach of land

拇指姑娘漂过许多城镇，灌木丛中的小鸟看到她，唱道：“多么可爱的小生灵啊；”

tiny sailed past many towns, and the little birds in the bushes saw her, and sang, “what a lovely little creature;”

于是叶子带着她越漂越远，直到把她带到别的地方。

so the leaf swam away with her farther and farther, till it brought her to other lands

一只优雅的小白蝴蝶不停地在她周围飞舞，最后落在了叶子上。

a graceful little white butterfly constantly fluttered round her, and at last alighted on the leaf

拇指姑娘让他很高兴，她也为此感到高兴，因为现在癞蛤蟆再也不可能抓到她了，而且她漂流经过的地方非常美丽，阳光照在水面上，直到水面像流动的金子一样闪闪发光。

tiny pleased him, and she was glad of it, for now the toad could not possibly reach her, and the country through which she sailed was beautiful, and the sun shone upon the water, till it glittered like liquid gold

她解下腰带，把一端系在蝴蝶身上，把丝带的另一端系在叶子上，现在叶子带着站在上面的小拇指姑娘漂流得比以前更快了。

she took off her girdle and tied one end of it round the butterfly, and the other end of the ribbon she fastened to the leaf, which now glided on much faster than ever, taking little tiny with it as she stood

不久，一只大甲虫飞了过来；他一看到她，就用爪子抓住她纤细的腰，带着她飞到一棵树上。

presently a large cockchafer flew by; the moment he caught sight of her, he seized her round her delicate waist with his claws, and flew with her into a tree

绿色的叶子在小溪上漂走了，蝴蝶也随着它飞走了，因为他被系在叶子上，无法飞走。

the green leaf floated away on the brook, and the butterfly flew with it, for he was fastened to it, and could not get away

当金龟子带着小拇指姑娘飞到树上时，她是多么害怕啊！她尤其为那只被她系在叶子上的美丽白蝴蝶感到难过，因为如果他不能挣脱，就会饿死。

oh, how frightened little tiny felt when the cockchafer flew with her to the tree! but especially was she sorry for the beautiful white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf, for if he could not free himself he would die of hunger

但是金龟子对这件事一点也不担心。

but the cockchafer did not trouble himself at all about the matter

他在她旁边一片大绿叶上坐下来，给她一些花中的蜜吃，还告诉她虽然她一点也不像金龟子，但她非常漂亮。

he seated himself by her side on a large green leaf, gave her some honey from the flowers to eat, and told her she was very pretty, though not in the least like a cockchafer

过了一会儿，所有的金龟子都竖起它们的触角，说道：“她只有两条腿！看起来多丑啊。”

after a time, all the cockchafers turned up their feelers, and said, “she has only two legs! how ugly that looks”

“她没有触角。” 另一只说。

“she has no feelers,” said another

“她的腰很细。哼！她就像个人类。”

“her waist is quite slim pooh! she is like a human being”

“哦！她很丑。” 所有的金龟子女士都说，尽管拇指姑娘非常漂亮。

“oh! she is ugly,” said all the lady cockchafers, although tiny was very pretty

然后那个带着她飞走的金龟子相信了其他人说她丑的话，不想再和她说什么了，告诉她可以去她想去的地方。

then the cockchafer who had run away with her, believed all the others when they said she was ugly, and would have nothing more to say to her, and told her she might go where she liked

然后他和她一起从树上飞下来，把她放在一朵雏菊上，一想到自己这么丑，连金龟子都不想和她说话，她就哭了。

then he flew down with her from the tree, and placed her on a daisy, and she wept at the thought that she was so ugly that even the cockchafers would have nothing to say to her

而实际上她一直是人们能想象到的最可爱的生灵，像一片美丽的玫瑰花瓣一样温柔娇弱。

and all the while she was really the loveliest creature that one could imagine, and as tender and delicate as a beautiful rose - leaf

整个夏天，可怜的小拇指姑娘独自一人在广阔的森林里生活。

during the whole summer poor little tiny lived quite alone in the wide forest

她用草叶给自己编了一张床，把它挂在一片宽大的叶子下面，以躲避雨水。

she wove herself a bed with blades of grass, and hung it up under a broad leaf, to protect herself from the rain

她吸食花朵中的花蜜为食，每天早晨饮用花叶上的露水。

she sucked the honey from the flowers for food, and drank the dew from their leaves every morning

就这样，夏天和秋天过去了，然后冬天来临了 —— 漫长而寒冷的冬天。

so passed away the summer and the autumn, and then came the winter, — the long, cold winter

所有曾经对她甜美歌唱的鸟儿都飞走了，树木和花朵都已枯萎。