【Story 6】The Beaver's Tail 河狸的尾巴

The Beaver’s Tail

河狸的尾巴

Long, long ago there was a beautiful river.

很久很久以前，有一条美丽的河流

It ran down a steep hill.

它从陡峭的山上流下来

The water was deep and clean

河水很深很清澈

and sparkled in the sun.

并且在太阳下闪闪发光

The river was the home of two friends-

这条河是两个朋友的家-

Hanee, the beaver

河狸翰妮

and Tindui, the otter.

和水獭缇度

Hanee, lived on one side of the river

翰妮住在河的这边

and Tindui lived on the other.

缇度住在河的那边

Hanee, the beaver, liked to work hard.

河狸翰妮喜欢努力工作

All day long she chewed down trees,

她每天都要努力地咬断树木

and carried logs to make her home bigger and stronger.

然后搬回圆木把她的家建得更大更坚固

Tindui, the otter, liked to play.

水獭缇度只喜欢玩儿

All day long he splashed about in the water,

他整天都在水里泼打戏水

and chased his tail.

追着自己的尾巴玩

Every day, Tindui watched the busy beaver working hard.

每天，缇度都看着河狸辛苦地工作

“I wish Hanee would stop working just for a while

“我真希望翰妮能歇一会儿

and play with me,” he thought.

来跟我一起玩，”他心想

Then, one day, Tindui had a clever idea.

然后有一天，缇度有了一个聪明的主意

He began to build something.

他开始修建什么东西

After a while, he called across the river to his friend,

过了一会儿，他隔着河对他的朋友叫道

“Hanee! Look at what I have built.

翰妮！看我修了什么？

It’s a slide!”

是个滑梯！”

Hanee didn’t answer.

翰妮没有回答他

“I bet you can’t build a slide as big as this one,” said Tindui.

“我打赌你可建不了这么大的滑梯”缇度说

Hanee stopped working and looked up.

翰妮停了下来，往上看

Tindui smile to himself.

缇度心里偷偷笑了

His plan was working.

他的计划成功了

“I bet I can,” Hanee called across the river.

“我打赌我能的”翰妮对着岸喊道

“I can build a bigger and better slide than you have ever seen!”

“我能建一个你见过的最大最好的滑梯！”

The beaver quickly began moving all the rocks and logs she could find.

河狸快速地开始搬运她能找到的所有的石头和圆木

All morning Hanee worked.

整个上午翰妮都在工作

She worked harder than Tindui had ever seen.

她比缇度之前见到的还要努力

Hanee built her slide higher, and higher, and higher.

翰妮把她的滑梯建得越来越高，越来越高

When Hanee had finished,

当翰妮完成的时候

she called to the otter,

她招呼水獭过来

“Look at my slide!

“看看我的滑梯！

I bet this is the biggest and best slide you have ever seen.”

我发誓这是你见过的最大最好的滑梯”

Then she climbed to the top of her slide and slid down.

然后她爬到滑梯顶上再滑下来

“Ouch!” cried Hanee.

“诶呦”翰妮叫道

“Those logs are hard.

这些圆木太硬了

Next time, I will have to sit on my tail.”

下次我得坐到我的尾巴上

Hanee climbed up to the top of her slide again.

翰妮又爬到滑梯顶上

This time, she sat on her tail

这次她坐到了她的尾巴上

and slid all the way down in to the sparkling water.

然后一路滑到了闪闪发光的河水里

Tindui climbed up the slide

缇度爬上滑梯

and slid down after her.

在翰妮后边滑下来

They climbed and slid and splashed all afternoon.

他们整个下午都爬上去，滑下来，拍水玩

They had great fun,

他们玩得非常开心

and for once, Hanee forgot all about work.

只有这一次，翰妮完全忘记了工作

“Hanee!” laughed Tindui.

“翰妮！”缇度大笑

“Your slide is the biggest and the best that I have ever seen.

“你的滑梯是我见过的最大最好的

But just look at your tail!”

但是看看你的尾巴！”

Hanee turned to look.

翰妮赶紧回过头看看

Her beautiful tail was now as flat as a paddle,

她的漂亮蓬松的尾巴现在变得像船桨一样平

and there wasn’t a hair left on it!

而且上边一根毛都没了！

“Oh, Tindui!” cried the beaver.

“啊缇度！”河狸大叫

“Look what this foolish playing has done to my tail!”

“看看这个愚蠢的游戏把我的尾巴变成什么样了！”

Hanee ran back to her home.

翰妮跑回了她家

She was ashamed.

她觉得很丢脸

She had played all day

她一整天都在玩

and not done any work.

没有做任何工作

And now just look at her tail.

而且现在看看她的尾巴

But soon Hanee found that her new tail was very useful.

但是不久，翰妮就发现新尾巴还挺好用的

She could swim faster,

她可以更快地游泳

and twist and turn more quickly under the water.

并且可以在水下快速翻腾转身

When there was danger,

当有危险的时候

Hanee could splash the water with her tail

她也可以用尾巴拍水

and warn her friends.

向朋友们发出警告

And she could work harder.

而且，她可以更努力工作了

Hanee began to like her new tail very much.

她开始喜欢她的新尾巴了

To this day,

直到今天

all beavers have tails like Hanee.

河狸的尾巴都和翰妮的一样

They are very flat

他们的尾巴很平

and very scaly

有鳞片

and very, very useful.

而且非常非常有用

OK, that’s all for the story of “The Beaver’s Tail”.

好啦，故事“河狸的尾巴”就讲完了

Now do you know why beavers’ tails are that flat?

现在你知道为什么河狸的尾巴那么平了吧？

Don’t forget the review the story and try to tell it to your friends.

不要忘了把故事重复听几遍，然后讲给你的朋友们。

See you soon!

再见喽

重点词汇

beaver /'biːvə/ 河狸

otter  /'ɒtə/ 水獭

tail  /teɪl/ 尾巴

river  /'rɪvə/ 河流

slide  /slaɪd/ 滑梯

work  /wɜːk/  工作

log  /lɔɡ/ 圆木

paddle  /'pædl/ 船桨