Chapter 1 Before Breakfast? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 第1章 早飯前
"Where's Papa going with that axe?" said Fern to her mother
“爸爸拿著那把斧子上哪兒去？”弗恩問(wèn)她媽媽，
as they were setting the table for breakfast.
擺桌子吃早飯的時(shí)候。
"Out to the hog house," replied Mrs. Arable.
“上豬圈去，”阿拉布爾太太回答說(shuō)，
"Some pigs were born last night."
“昨天夜里下小豬了?！?/p>
"I don't see why he needs an ax,"
“我不明白，他干嗎要拿著把斧子去，”
continued Fern, who was only eight.
只有八歲的弗恩又說(shuō)。
"Well," said her mother,
“這個(gè)嘛，”她媽媽說(shuō)，
"one of the pigs is a runt.
“有一只小豬是落腳豬。
It's very small and weak,
它太小太弱，
and it will never amount to anything.
不會(huì)有出息。
So your father has decided to do away with it."
因此你爸爸拿定主意不要它?！?/p>
"Do away with it?" shrieked Fern.
“不要它？”弗恩一聲尖叫，
"You mean kill it? Just because it's smaller than the others?"
“你是說(shuō)要?dú)⒌羲恐粸榱怂葎e的豬?。俊?/p>
Mrs. Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table.
阿拉布爾太太在桌子上放下奶油缸。
"Don't yell, Fern!"she said.
“別嚷嚷，弗恩！”她說(shuō)，
"Your father is right.
“你爸爸是對(duì)的。
The pig would probably die anyway."
那小豬反正活不了?！?/p>
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors.
弗恩推開擋道的一把椅子，跑出去了。
The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime.
青草濕濕的，泥土散發(fā)著一股春天氣息。
Fern's sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with her father.
等到追上爸爸，弗恩的帆布鞋都濕了。
"Please don't kill it!" she sobbed. "It's unfair."
“請(qǐng)不要?dú)⑺?！”她眼淚汪汪地說(shuō)，“這不公平?！?/p>
Mr. Arable stopped walking.
阿拉布爾先生停下了腳步。
"Fern," he said gently, "you will have to learn to control yourself."
“弗恩，”他溫和地說(shuō)，“你得學(xué)會(huì)控制自己?！?/p>
"Control myself?" yelled Fern.
“控制自己？”弗恩叫道，
"This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself."
“這是生死攸關(guān)的事，你還說(shuō)什么控制自己。”
Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax
淚珠滾滾流下她的臉蛋，她一把抓住斧子，
and tried to pull it out of her father's hand.
打算把它從爸爸手里搶下來(lái)。
"Fern," said Mr. Arable,
“弗恩，” 阿拉布爾先生說(shuō)，
"I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do.
“養(yǎng)小豬的事我比你懂。
A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!"
落腳豬麻煩大著呢?，F(xiàn)在讓開吧！”
"But it's unfair," cried Fern.
“可是這不公平，”弗恩叫道，
"The pig couldn't help being born small, could it?
“小豬生下來(lái)小，它自己也沒辦法，對(duì)不對(duì)？
If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?
要是我生下來(lái)的時(shí)候很小很小，你也把我給殺了嗎？”
Mr. Arable smiled.
阿拉布爾先生微笑了。
"Certainly not," he said, looking down at his daughter with love.
“當(dāng)然不會(huì)，”他說(shuō)著，疼愛地低頭看著女兒，
"But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another."
“不過(guò)這是兩碼事。女孩小是一回事，落腳豬小又是一回事。”
"I see no difference," replied Fern,
“我看不出有什么兩樣，”弗恩回答說(shuō)，
still hanging on to the ax.
仍舊抓住斧頭不放，
"This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of."
“我聽到過(guò)那么多不公平的事，這件事是最最不公平的?！?/p>
A queer look came over John Arable's face.
約翰.阿拉布爾先生臉上掠過(guò)一種古怪的表情。
He seemed almost ready to cry himself.
他覺得自己也要哭出來(lái)了。
"All right," he said. "You go back to the house and I will bring the runt when I come in.
“好吧好吧，”他說(shuō)，“你先回去，我回家的時(shí)候把這落腳豬帶回來(lái)，
I'll let you start it on a bottle, like a baby.
讓你用奶瓶喂它奶，像喂小寶寶似的。
Then you'll see what trouble a pig can be."
這下子你就會(huì)看到，對(duì)付一只小豬有多么麻煩了?！?/p>
When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an hour later,
半小時(shí)后，阿拉布爾先生回家來(lái)了，
he carried a carton under his arm.
胳肢窩里真夾著一個(gè)紙箱。
Fern was upstairs changing her sneakers.
這時(shí)候弗恩正在樓上換她的帆布鞋。
The kitchen table was set for breakfast,
廚房的桌子上，早飯已經(jīng)擺好，
and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood-smoke from the stove.
房間里透著咖啡、熏肉、濕灰泥的氣味，還有從爐子里飄出來(lái)的柴火煙味。
"Put it on her chair!" said Mrs. Arable.
“把它放到她的椅子上去，” 阿拉布爾太太說(shuō)。
Mr. Arable set the carton down at Fern's place.
阿拉布爾先生就把紙箱放在弗恩的位子上，
Then he walked to the sink and washed his hands and dried them on the roller towel.
然后他走到水池旁邊洗了手，用滾筒架上的擦手毛巾擦干。
Fern came slowly down the stairs.
弗恩慢慢地一步一步下樓。
Her eyes were red from crying.
她的眼睛哭紅了。
As she approached her chair,
當(dāng)她走近她那把椅子的時(shí)候，
the carton wobbled,
那紙箱搖搖晃晃地，
and there was a scratching noise.
里面發(fā)出抓扒的聲音。
Fern looked at her father.
弗恩看著她爸爸。
Then she lifted the lid of the carton.
接著她掀起紙箱蓋。
There, inside, looking up at her,
從里面抬頭看著她的，
was the newborn pig.
正是剛生下來(lái)的那只小豬。
It was a white one.
是只小白豬。
The morning light shone through its ears, turning them pink.
晨光透過(guò)它的耳朵，把它們映成了粉紅色。
"He's yours," said Mr. Arable.
“它是你的了，” 阿拉布爾先生說(shuō)，
"Saved from an untimely death.
“你讓它免于一死。
And may the good Lord forgive me for this foolishness."
愿老天爺原諒我做了這傻事?！?/p>
Fern couldn't take her eyes off the tiny pig.
弗恩盯著小豬看，眼睛怎么也離不開它。
"Oh," she whispered.
“噢，”她很輕很輕地說(shuō)，
"Oh, look at him! He's absolutely perfect."
“噢，瞧它，它棒極了?！?/p>
She closed the carton carefully.
她小心地蓋上紙箱。
First she kissed her father, then she kissed her mother.
她先親親爸爸，再親親媽媽。
Then she opened the lid again, lifted the pig out,
然后她又打開箱蓋，把小豬抱出來(lái)
and held it against her cheek.
貼在臉蛋上。
At this moment her brother Avery came into the room.
這時(shí)候她哥哥艾弗里走進(jìn)房間。
Avery was ten.
艾弗里十歲。
He was heavily armed
他全副武裝
an air rifle in one hand, a wooden dagger in the other.
一只手握住一支氣槍，一只手握住一把木頭短刀。
"What's that?" he demanded.
“那是什么玩意兒？”他問(wèn)道，
"What's Fern got?"
“弗恩得到什么了？”
"She's got a guest for breakfast," said Mrs. Arable.
“她來(lái)了位吃早飯的客人，” 阿拉布爾太太說(shuō)，
"Wash your hands and face, Avery!"
“你去洗手洗臉吧，艾弗里！”
"Let's see it!" said Avery, setting his gun down.
“讓我看看它，”艾弗里放下槍說(shuō)，
"You call that miserable thing a pig?
“這么可憐的小東西也能叫做豬？
That's a fine specimen of a pig,
它真是豬中楷模，
it's no bigger than a white rat."
還沒有一只白老鼠大?！?/p>
"Wash up and eat your breakfast, Avery!" said his mother.
“快去洗洗，來(lái)吃早飯，艾弗里！”他媽媽說(shuō)，
"The school bus will be along in half an hour."
“還有半個(gè)鐘頭校車就到?！?/p>
"Can I have a pig, too, Pop?" asked Avery.
“我也可以有只豬嗎，爸爸？”艾弗里問(wèn)道。
"No, I only distribute pigs to early risers," said Mr. Arable.
“不，我只把豬送給早起的人，” 阿拉布爾先生說(shuō)，
"Fern was up at daylight, trying to rid the world of injustice.
“弗恩天一亮就起來(lái)打抱不平，要掃盡天下不平事。
As a result, she now has a pig.
結(jié)果呢，她現(xiàn)在得到了一只小豬。
A small one, to be sure, but nevertheless a pig.
沒錯(cuò)，它是很小，只有一丁點(diǎn)大，不過(guò)到底還是豬。
It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly.
這正好證明，早起的人會(huì)有什么好處。
Let's eat!"
我們吃早飯吧！”
But Fern couldn't eat until her pig had had a drink of milk.
可寶貝小豬不先喝上牛奶，弗恩是吃不下去的。
Mrs. Arable found a baby's nursing bottle and a rubber nipple.
阿拉布爾太太找來(lái)一個(gè)嬰兒奶瓶和一個(gè)橡皮奶嘴。
She poured warm milk into the bottle,
她把熱牛奶灌進(jìn)奶瓶，
fitted the nipple over the top,
套上奶嘴，
and handed it to Fern.
遞給弗恩說(shuō)：
"Give him his breakfast!" she said.
“給它吃它的早飯吧！”
A minute later, Fern was seated on the floor in the corner of the kitchen with her infant between her knees,
緊接著，弗恩坐在廚房角落的地板上，把她的小寶寶放在膝間，
teaching it to suck from the bottle.
叫小豬吸奶瓶。
The pig, although tiny,
小豬雖然小，
had a good appetite and caught on quickly.
胃口卻很好，很快就學(xué)會(huì)了。
The school bus honked from the road.
校車在大路上按喇叭了。
"Run!" commanded Mrs. Arable,
“快跑！”
taking the pig from Fern and slipping a doughnut into her hand.
阿拉布爾太太抱起弗恩懷里的小豬，在她手里塞了個(gè)炸面圈，吩咐說(shuō)。
Avery grabbed his gun and another doughnut.
艾弗里抓起他的槍，又拿了一個(gè)炸面圈。
The children ran out to the road and climbed into the bus.
兩個(gè)孩子奔到外面大路上，上了車。
Fern took no notice of the others in the bus.
弗恩不理車上的同學(xué)。
She just sat and stared out of the window,
她只是坐在那里看著車窗外，
thinking what a blissful world it was and how lucky she was to have entire charge of a pig.
一個(gè)勁兒地想，這是一個(gè)多么快樂(lè)的世界啊，她一個(gè)人擁有一只小豬，又是多么福氣啊。
By the time the bus reached school,
等校車來(lái)到學(xué)校時(shí)，
Fern had named her pet,
弗恩已經(jīng)給她的寶貝豬取好了名字，
selecting the most beautiful name she could think of.
一個(gè)她想得出來(lái)的最漂亮的名字。
"Its name is Wilbur," she whispered to herself.
“它的名字叫威爾伯，”她悄悄地對(duì)自己說(shuō)了一聲。
She was still thinking about the pig
她正在想著她的小豬，
when the teacher said: "Fern, what is the capital of Pennsylvania?"
這時(shí)老師問(wèn)到：“弗恩，賓夕法尼亞州的首府是哪里？”
"Wilbur," replied Fern, dreamily.
“威爾伯，”弗恩像做夢(mèng)似地說(shuō)。
The pupils giggled.
同學(xué)們格格笑起來(lái)。
Fern blushed.
弗恩臉都紅了。
