《小貓和守夜人》

侯冬意

John Sullivan has based the story of his picture book， Kitten and the Night Watchman， on real events from his life. This sweet narrative follows a kind night watchman who waves goodbye to his family as the sun sets and heads to a construction site to work alone under deep blue skies. But he has a friend at the work site—a small homeless kitten to whom he carefully tends1.

約翰·沙利文的圖書《小貓和守夜人》中的故事，基于他生活中的真實(shí)事件。這個(gè)甜蜜的故事講述的是一個(gè)善良的守夜人，在日落時(shí)向家人揮手道別，然后前往一個(gè)建筑工地，獨(dú)自在深藍(lán)的夜空下工作。但他在工作地點(diǎn)有一個(gè)朋友——一只無家可歸的小貓咪，他很小心地照料著它。

Sullivan writes in short sentences and puts to use a string of evocative2 similes3 like “the full moon shines like an old friend，” and “garbage trucks line up like circus elephants”. Illustrator Taeeun Yoo illustrates the moonlit shadows of backhoes4 that look like insects and an excavator5 shaped like a giraffe. The angles of the buildings and construction equipment are expertly juxtaposed6 with the round， soft curves of the kitten and the watchman， and Yoos use of light—from the moon， lamps， the mans flashlight， etc.—is particularly effective in the dark palette7.

沙利文用簡短的句子寫作，并使用了一系列能引起共鳴的比喻，比如“滿月像老朋友一樣閃耀”和“垃圾車像馬戲團(tuán)的大象一樣排成一行?！辈瀹嫾伊┒鲃t繪出了月光下看起來像昆蟲的反鏟挖掘機(jī)的影子和一臺(tái)形狀像長頸鹿的挖掘機(jī)。建筑物和建筑設(shè)備的角度巧妙地與小貓和守夜人圓潤、柔和的曲線并列，而柳在黑夜的色彩范圍中運(yùn)用月亮、燈、人的手電筒等光線尤其令人印象深刻。

Readers see the watchman resting at work， thinking of “his boy and girl， safe and asleep at home.” This offers young readers a glimpse into the ways in which their caretakers keep their safety in mind， even when apart from them. At the end of Kitten and the Night Watchman， readers are introduced to a happy family who greets the watchman when he returns home with his new pet. Dont miss the chance to share this tender story with your family in your life.

讀者會(huì)看到守夜人在工作中途休息時(shí)，想著“他的兒子和女兒在家里安然無恙地睡著?！边@能讓年輕的讀者們瞥見他們的監(jiān)護(hù)人是如何將他們的安全銘記在心的，即使是他們并不在身邊的時(shí)候。在《小貓和守夜人》的結(jié)尾，當(dāng)守夜人帶著他的新寵物回家時(shí)，讀者們會(huì)看到一個(gè)快樂的家庭向他問好。生活中可不要錯(cuò)過與你的家人分享這個(gè)溫柔故事的機(jī)會(huì)。

Notes

1. tend vt. 照料，照管

2. evocative adj. 喚起回憶的;引起共鳴的

3. simile? ?n. 明喻;直喻

4. backhoe n. 反向鏟;挖溝機(jī)

5. excavator? ?n. 挖掘機(jī)

6. juxtapose vt. 并列;并置

7. palette? n. 色彩范圍;調(diào)色板