雙語·彼得兔的故事 泥潭鴨杰邁瑪?shù)墓适?/h1>
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THE TALE OF JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK
What a funny sight it is to see a brood of ducklings with a hen!—Listen to the story of Jemima Puddle-duck, who was annoyed because the farmer's wife would not let her hatch her own eggs.
Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Rebeccah Puddle-duck, was perfectly willing to leave the hatching to some one else—“I have not the patience to sit on a nest for twenty-eight days; and no more have you, Jemima. You would let them go cold; you know you would!”
“I wish to hatch my own eggs; I will hatch them all by myself,” quacked Jemima Puddle-duck. She tried to hide her eggs; but they were always found and carried off.
Jemima Puddle-duck became quite desperate. She determined to make a nest right away from the farm. She set off on a fine spring afternoon along the cart-road that leads over the hill. She was wearing a shawl and a poke bonnet. When she reached the top of the hill, she saw a wood in the distance. She thought that it looked a safe quiet spot.
Jemima Puddle-duck was not much in the habit of flying. She ran downhill a few yards flapping her shawl, and then she jumped off into the air. She flew beautifully when she had got a good start. She skimmed along over the tree-tops until she saw an open place in the middle of the wood, where the trees and brushwood had been cleared.
Jemima alighted rather heavily, and began to waddle about in search of a convenient dry nesting-place. She rather fancied a tree-stump amongst some tall fox-gloves. But—seated upon the stump, she was startled to find an elegantly dressed gentleman reading a newspaper. He had black prick ears and sandy-coloured whiskers.
“Quack?” said Jemima Puddle-duck, with her head and her bonnet on one side—“Quack?”
The gentleman raised his eyes above his newspaper and looked curiously at Jemima—
“Madam, have you lost your way?” said he. He had a long bushy tail which he was sitting upon, as the stump was somewhat damp.
Jemima thought him mighty civil and handsome. She explained that she had not lost her way, but that she was trying to find a convenient dry nesting-place.
“Ah! is that so? indeed!” said the gentleman with sandy whiskers, looking curiously at Jemima. He folded up the newspaper, and put it in his coat-tail pocket.
Jemima complained of the superfluous hen.
“Indeed? how interesting! I wish I could meet with that fowl. I would teach it to mind its own business! But as to a nest—there is no difficulty: I have a sackful of feathers in my wood-shed. No, my dear madam, you will be in nobody's way. You may sit there as long as you like,” said the bushy long-tailed gentleman. He led the way to a very retired, dismal-looking house amongst the fox-gloves.
It was built of faggots and turf, and there were two broken pails, one on top of another, by way of a chimney.
“This is my summer residence; you would not find my earth—my winter house—so convenient,” said the hospitable gentleman.
There was a tumble-down shed at the back of the house, made of old soap-boxes. The gentleman opened the door, and showed Jemima in. The shed was almost quite full of feathers—it was almost suffocating; but it was comfortable and very soft.
Jemima Puddle-duck was rather surprised to find such a vast quantity of feathers. But it was very comfortable; and she made a nest without any trouble at all.
When she came out, the sandy-whiskered gentleman was sitting on a log reading the newspaper—at least he had it spread out, but he was looking over the top of it.
He was so polite, that he seemed almost sorry to let Jemima go home for the night. He promised to take great care of her nest until she came back again next day.
He said he loved eggs and ducklings; he should be proud to see a fine nestful in his wood-shed. Jemima Puddle-duck came every afternoon; she laid nine eggs in the nest. They were greeny white and very large. The foxy gentleman admired them immensely. He used to turn them over and count them when Jemima was not there.
At last Jemima told him that she intended to begin to sit next day—“and I will bring a bag of corn with me, so that I need never leave my nest until the eggs are hatched. They might catch cold,” said the conscientious Jemima.
“Madam, I beg you not to trouble yourself with a bag; I will provide oats. But before you commence your tedious sitting, I intend to give you a treat. Let us have a dinner-party all to ourselves! May I ask you to bring up some herbs from the farm-garden to make a savoury omelette? Sage and thyme, and mint and two onions, and some parsley. I will provide lard for the stuff—lard for the omelette,” said the hospitable gentleman with sandy whiskers.
Jemima Puddle-duck was a simpleton: not even the mention of sage and onions made her suspicious. She went round the farm-garden, nibbling off snippets of all the different sorts of herbs that are used for stuffing roast duck. And she waddled into the kitchen, and got two onions out of a basket.
The collie-dog Kep met her coming out, “What are you doing with those onions? Where do you go every afternoon by yourself, Jemima Puddle-duck?”
Jemima was rather in awe of the collie; she told him the whole story.
The collie listened, with his wise head on one side; he grinned when she described the polite gentleman with sandy whiskers. He asked several questions about the wood, and about the exact position of the house and shed. Then he went out, and trotted down the village. He went to look for two fox-hound puppies who were out at walk with the butcher.
Jemima Puddle-duck went up the cart-road for the last time, on a sunny afternoon. She was rather burdened with bunches of herbs and two onions in a bag. She flew over the wood, and alighted opposite the house of the bushy long-tailed gentleman.
He was sitting on a log; he sniffed the air, and kept glancing uneasily round the wood. When Jemima alighted he quite jumped.
“Come into the house as soon as you have looked at your eggs. Give me the herbs for the omelette. Be sharp!”
He was rather abrupt. Jemima Puddle-duck had never heard him speak like that. She felt surprised, and uncomfortable.
While she was inside she heard pattering feet round the back of the shed. Some one with a black nose sniffed at the bottom of the door, and then locked it. Jemima became much alarmed.
A moment afterwards there were most awful noises—barking, baying, growls and howls, squealing and groans. And nothing more was ever seen of that foxy-whiskered gentleman.
Presently Kep opened the door of the shed, and let out Jemima Puddle-duck. Unfortunately the puppies rushed in and gobbled up all the eggs before he could stop them. He had a bite on his ear and both the puppies were limping.
Jemima Puddle-duck was escorted home in tears on account of those eggs. She laid some more in June, and she was permitted to keep them herself; but only four of them hatched.
Jemima Puddle-duck said that it was because of her nerves; but she had always been a bad sitter.
THE END
泥潭鴨杰邁瑪?shù)墓适?/h3>
要是你看到一群新出殼的小鴨子和一只母雞在一起的畫面，你肯定會覺得非常有意思——下面來聽聽泥潭鴨杰邁瑪?shù)墓适?，因為農(nóng)夫的妻子不讓她自己孵蛋，她氣壞了。
她的嫂子，泥潭鴨瑞貝卡太太卻非常樂意把孵化工作交給其他人來完成——“我可沒有耐心在一個窩里趴上二十八天。你也不會有的，杰邁瑪。你會讓那些蛋變冷，你知道你會的。”
“我希望能夠孵化我自己的蛋，我愿意自己孵化它們！”杰邁瑪嘎嘎叫著。她想把自己的蛋藏起來，不過總是會被農(nóng)夫找到并拿走。
杰邁瑪越來越絕望，最后決定在遠(yuǎn)離農(nóng)場的地方做個窩。在一個明媚的春日午后，她沿著那條通往山里的馬車道出發(fā)了。出發(fā)時，她披上一條披肩，戴著一頂闊邊女帽。到達(dá)山頂?shù)臅r候，她看到不遠(yuǎn)處有一片樹林。她覺得那里是個非常安全而且安靜的地方。
杰邁瑪并不太習(xí)慣飛行。她向山下助跑了一段距離，她的披肩噗啦啦翻飛，然后她躍向了空中。她開始得很好，便飛得很漂亮。她從樹頂上掠過，直到看到樹林中有一片開闊地帶，那里沒有樹木，也沒有灌木。
杰邁瑪降落得非常笨拙，然后便開始四處溜達(dá)，想要選一個方便而干燥的地點做窩。她很喜歡一個在高高的毛地黃叢中的樹樁。但是，她驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，有一個穿著非常優(yōu)雅的紳士正坐在那個樹樁上看報紙。他長著黑色的尖耳朵，還有淺棕色的胡須。
“嘎？”杰邁瑪把頭和頭上的小帽子側(cè)向一邊，“嘎？”
那位紳士把視線從報紙上移開，好奇地看著杰邁瑪。
“夫人，您迷路了嗎？”他說。他有一條濃密的尾巴，他就坐在尾巴上面，因為那個樹樁有些潮濕。
杰邁瑪覺得他很文雅，也很英俊，便解釋說自己并沒有迷路，只是想找一個方便而干燥的地點搭窩。
“??！是這樣？真的嗎？”那位長著淺棕色胡須的紳士說，還好奇地看著杰邁瑪。他把報紙折起來放到了自己大衣后擺的口袋中。
杰邁瑪正在抱怨那只多管閑事的母雞。
“真的？真有意思。我真希望自己能見一見那只家禽，我很愿意教會她管好自己的事情就夠了。至于做窩嘛——這沒有什么難的。我的小木屋里有很多羽毛。不，親愛的夫人，您不會打擾任何人了，只要您高興，您愿意在那里待多久都可以?！遍L著毛茸茸長尾巴的紳士說。他領(lǐng)著杰邁瑪來到了毛地黃叢中一座看上去廢棄了很久、很破舊的房子。
這房子是用木柴和草皮蓋的，兩個摞在一起的破桶充作煙囪。
“這里是我避暑的地方，您會覺得我的洞穴——也就是我冬季的住所——沒有這里這么方便。”好客的紳士說。
在房子后部，有一個幾乎快塌了的棚子，那是用舊的肥皂箱子搭成的。紳士打開了門，領(lǐng)著杰邁瑪進(jìn)了屋。那棚子里面，四處都是羽毛——多得幾乎讓人喘不過氣來，但是真的非常舒適而且柔軟。
杰邁瑪看到這么多羽毛，非常吃驚。但是這里實在太舒服了，她毫不費(fèi)力地就做好了一個窩。
當(dāng)杰邁瑪出來的時候，那位長著淺棕色胡須的紳士正坐在一根原木上讀報紙——至少他是把報紙攤開的，只是眼睛卻從報紙的上方向外瞄著。
他太有禮了，似乎因為讓杰邁瑪回家過夜而非常抱歉。他承諾說一定會用心照顧她的窩，直到她第二天再回來。
他說他喜歡蛋和小鴨子，看到一個這么漂亮的窩出現(xiàn)在他的小棚子里他會非常驕傲。杰邁瑪每個下午都過來，她在窩中一共產(chǎn)下了九顆蛋，全都是青白色的，個頭非常大。那位迷人的紳士對它們極力贊美，他總是在杰邁瑪不在的時候翻動那些蛋，一遍遍地數(shù)它們的個數(shù)。
最后，杰邁瑪對他說，她決定要從第二天開始孵蛋了?！拔乙獛б豢诖衩走^來，這樣我就不用離開我的窩，可以一直到這些蛋都被孵化出來，不然它們會變冷的。”認(rèn)真的杰邁瑪說道。
“夫人，我請您不要那么麻煩地把口袋帶來，我可以給您提供燕麥。但是在您開始無聊的孵蛋工作前，我想要款待您一次。咱們辦一個餐會吧，就咱們兩個。我能請您從農(nóng)場的菜園帶些香草過來嗎？這樣才能做出美味的煎蛋餅。鼠尾草、百里香、薄荷，再帶兩個洋蔥和一些香芹。我能提供做填料的豬油——做煎蛋餅的豬油。”淺棕色胡須的好客紳士說。
杰邁瑪頭腦簡單，鼠尾草、洋蔥這些東西都沒有引起她的懷疑。她去了農(nóng)場的菜園，用嘴一點點地啃了各種香草——而這些香草正是做烤鴨時填在鴨腹中的填料。然后，她又搖搖晃晃地走進(jìn)廚房，從籃子里面弄到了兩個洋蔥。
就在她離開廚房時牧羊犬凱普看到了她。“你拿洋蔥做什么？你每天下午都一個人跑去哪里了，杰邁瑪？”
杰邁瑪對牧羊犬很敬畏，于是便將事情的前因后果都告訴了他。
牧羊犬聽著，他聰明的腦袋便開始思考，當(dāng)杰邁瑪描述說那位禮貌的紳士長著淺棕色的胡須時，牧羊犬咧嘴笑了。他問了幾個關(guān)于樹林的問題，問清了那房子和小棚子的確切位置。然后他走出農(nóng)場，跑到村子里，找到了和屠夫一起出門的兩只小獵狐犬。
這可能是杰邁瑪這輩子最后一次走上那條馬車道了，這是一個陽光燦爛的午后，她身上背著好幾把香草，包里裝了兩個洋蔥，走起來很費(fèi)勁。她飛過樹林，落到了長著毛茸茸長尾巴的紳士的房子對面。
紳士正坐在原木上，嗅著空氣，時不時還不安地環(huán)顧一下樹林。杰邁瑪降落的時候，他猛地一驚，跳了起來，說道：
“等你看完你的蛋，就來屋里。把那些煎蛋餅用的香草給我。利落點！”
他說話很無禮，杰邁瑪從來都沒有聽他這么說過話。她很吃驚，而且很不舒服。
杰邁瑪在小棚子里的時候，聽到小棚子后傳來了一陣腳步聲。有一個長著黑鼻子的家伙透過門底下的縫嗅了嗅，然后鎖上了門。杰邁瑪立刻害怕起來。
過了一陣兒，傳來了一些非?？膳碌穆曇簟泻鸾新?，犬吠聲，咆哮聲，哀號聲，尖叫聲和呻吟聲。那位長著迷人胡須的紳士不見了蹤影。
不一會兒，凱普打開了小棚子的門，將杰邁瑪放了出來。不幸的是，兩只小狗在凱普還沒來得及阻攔的時候，就沖了進(jìn)來，把杰邁瑪?shù)牡岸冀o吃掉了。凱普的耳朵被咬傷了，兩只小狗都一瘸一拐的。
杰邁瑪在他們的護(hù)送下回了家，一路上都在為她的那些蛋哭個不停。六月的時候，她又生了一些蛋，這次被允許自己留著孵化，但是只有四只被孵了出來。
杰邁瑪說，這全是因為她緊張。但是，其實她一直都不是個好的孵化者。
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