Boots1 at Sixpence 六便士鞋店里的靴子

Maggie Murphy 楊璐

Im a cat who likes to wear boots. In fact， I ran about in my only pair so much. They began falling apart. They squeaked2 when I stepped， which made a not-so-terrible big man in my town laugh. Well， I can ignore3 loud ha has， but I wanted quiet boots. Off I went to Sixpence Shoes to buy new ones. Sixpences store is like a shoe. The owner and her children live in there， too， upstairs4. Downstairs is the shoeroom—I mean， the showroom. It fills the buildings toe5， sole6， and heel7.

我是一只喜歡穿靴子的貓。事實(shí)上，我穿著我唯一的一雙靴子跑得太多，它們開始開裂。每當(dāng)我踏步的時(shí)候它們就發(fā)出吱吱的響聲，這使我的小鎮(zhèn)上一個(gè)不那么可怕的巨人大聲地笑話我。好吧，我可以不聽這些大聲的哈哈聲，但是我的確想要一雙安靜的靴子。我來到六便士鞋店，打算買雙新的。六便士鞋店的外形正如一只鞋子。店主和她的孩子們也住在商店里，住在樓上。樓下是放鞋子的地方，我的意思是，呈列室。里面是這家商店的鞋頭、鞋底和鞋跟。

What an exciting place. Twelve princesses needed dancing shoes. A girl bought red wood shoes to match her clothes.

這是一個(gè)多么令人興奮的地方呀。十二個(gè)公主需要舞鞋，一個(gè)女孩買了紅色的木底鞋來搭配她的衣服。

“May I help you， Mr. Cat？” asked a sales snail8. “Yes， thank you. My old boots squeak.” I took them off when I saw some green boots. “These look fashionable9，” I said， pulling on a pair. “Theyre quite handsome，” said the snail.

“我可以幫你嗎，貓先生？”一只導(dǎo)購蝸牛問道。“好啊，謝謝你，我的舊靴子嘎吱作響?！碑?dāng)我看到一雙綠靴子時(shí)，我把鞋子脫了下來。“它們看起來很時(shí)髦，”我一邊說一邊穿上了一雙?！翱雌饋韼洑鈽O了?！蔽伵Ｙ澝赖馈?/p>

“However—” I raised my right foot to take a step. Whooosh！Before it touched the floor， the boots moved me quickly across the store， out an open door， and along the shore10. We cats have amazing balance11， so I landed12 on the sand safely. After that whooosh， I felt afraid to move my feet. What should I do next？ Like an ice skater13， I moved my left foot forward. Zooosh！I passed boats， the river， fields of oats14 and chickens. Ill stop， I thought. I tried to jump low. Swooosh！A big jump sent me over a house. I came down far beyond it， beside a river in a forest. Rather than get myself even more lost， it seemed best to rest a little and to think a lot.

“可是——”我抬起右腳準(zhǔn)備踏一步試試。呼！鞋子還沒來得及接觸地面，我就被它們帶著穿過商店，出了一扇敞開的門，沿著海岸一直滑。貓有驚人的平衡能力，所以我穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地落在沙灘上。當(dāng)那奇怪的呼聲過后，我不敢再挪動我的腳。接下來我該做點(diǎn)什么呢？我像個(gè)滑冰的人，拖拽著左腳往前走。噌！我從小船、河、燕麥地和小雞身邊滑了過去。我想我要停下來。我試著跳得低些。嗖！ 鞋子帶著我縱身一躍，跳過了一座屋子。我降落在離它很遠(yuǎn)的地方，在樹林里一條河的岸邊停了下來。與其讓自己迷路跑得更遠(yuǎn)，不如休息一下，多想想辦法。

Standing still as a stump15， I examined16 the boots. If I took them off， how would I go back to the store？ Deep in thought， I forgot I was deep in the woods. I didnt look about. The sound of the river calmed17 me down. Suddenly18， I found myself looking at my boots...and three pairs of bare19 feet. Bare bear feet！

我像樹樁一樣站著不動，開始檢查起了這雙靴子。如果我把它們脫下來，那怎么才能回到商店去呢？我陷入了沉思，以致于忘記了自己在樹林的深處。我沒有四處張望，河水流動的聲音讓我平靜下來。突然間，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正盯著我的靴子……和三雙赤腳。裸露的熊掌！

Luckily， they were from a pleasant family of bears wearing hats and bags. They told me they were enjoying a walk while their hot breakfast cooled. “I like my porridge just right！” said the little bear. At the same time， the dad bear found that I seemed unwell. “Friend Cat，” he said， “I hope we havent made you scared.”

幸虧他們來自一個(gè)和藹可親的熊家庭，都戴著帽子，背著背包。他們告訴我，他們正在散步，等著他們熱騰騰的早飯涼一點(diǎn)。“我喜歡吃溫度剛剛好的粥！”小熊說。此時(shí)，熊老爸注意到我好像不對勁。“貓老兄，”他說，“希望我們沒嚇到你?！?/p>

“Not at all. Im brave enough to ignore big laughing men.” I talked about the whooosh， zooosh， and swooosh problem. The mom bear said， “Those must be magic20 boots. They turn regular21 steps and jumps into big ones.”

“一點(diǎn)都沒有。我可是很勇敢的，大笑的巨人我都不怕?！蔽腋麄冎v述了靴子呼呼、噌噌、嗖嗖的故事。熊媽媽說：“這一定是被施了魔法的靴子，能讓平常的步伐和跳躍變得巨大無比?！?/p>

Her words gave me an idea！ “Thats very helpful， Maam，” I said. “Now I know how to make my way back to the shoe store. Ill reverse22 the three moves that moved me here.” The bears and I said goodbyes. Then I moved backward. Swooosh， zooosh， whooosh！ I landed on the floor at Sixpence Shoes！

她的話讓我想到了一個(gè)主意！“你的話太有用了，熊太太。”我說，“現(xiàn)在我知道怎么回到鞋店了。我將帶我到這里來的三個(gè)動作倒轉(zhuǎn)一下就可以了。”熊一家和我道了再見。接著，我往回移動。嗖，噌，呼！我降落在了六便士鞋店的地上！

Same place， same snail. “Im very sorry，” I said， “but Im afraid these magic boots are not for me.”“Maybe，” said the snail，“these common brown boots will do.” The unmagic boots fit me well and looked good， too. “Ill take them， please，” I said， walking around. “Theyre just right！”

一樣的位置，不變的蝸牛?！罢?jiān)?，”我表達(dá)了歉意，“恐怕這雙有魔力的靴子并不適合我?！薄耙苍S吧。”蝸牛說，“可以試試那些普通的棕色靴子?！睕]有魔力的靴子很適合我，看起來也很帥氣?！拔乙I它們，請結(jié)賬?！蔽乙贿呎f一邊大步來回走，“它們剛剛好！”

【Notes】

1. boot [?????] n. 靴子 2. squeak [?????] v. 吱吱叫

3. ignore [?????] vt. 駁回訴訟;忽視;不理睬 4. upstairs [?????] adv. 在樓上

5. toe [?????] n. 腳趾，足尖 6. sole [?????] n. 腳底;鞋底

7. heel [hi？l] n. 腳后跟 8. snail [?????] n. 蝸牛

9. fashionable [?????] adj. 流行的;時(shí)髦的;上流社會的

10. shore [?????] n. 海岸 11. balance [?????] n. 平衡能力

12. land [?????] vt. 使……登陸;使……陷于;將……卸下vi. 登陸;到達(dá)

13. ice skater滑冰者 14. oat [?????] n. 燕麥

15. stump [?????] n. 樹樁 16. examine [?????] v. 檢查

17. calm [?????] vt. 使平靜;使鎮(zhèn)定vi. 平靜下來;鎮(zhèn)定下來

18. suddenly [?????] adv. 突然地 19. bare [?????] adj. 光禿禿的

20. magic [?????] n. 魔法 adj. 有魔力的

21. regular [?????] adj. 定期的;有規(guī)律的;整齊的;普通的

22. reverse [?????] vt. 使 （決定、政策、趨勢） 轉(zhuǎn)向; 逆轉(zhuǎn)