驴小弟变石头 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

驴小弟变石头 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

（美）威廉·史塔克文，张剑铭译。By William Steig

Sylvester Duncan lived with his mother andfather at Acorn Road in Oatsdale.

驴小弟跟爸妈住在燕麦谷的松果路。

One of his hobbies was collecting pebblesof unusual shape and color.

他有一个嗜好,就是收集形状和颜色都很特别的小石子。

On a rainy Saturday during vacation, hefound a quite extraordinary one.

在一个下雨的礼拜六，他找到一颗非常特别的小石子。

It was flaming red, shiny, perfectly roundlike a marble.

这颗小石子红得象火，闪闪发亮，圆溜溜的像弹珠儿。

As he was studying this remarkable pebble, hebegan to shiver, probably from excitement and the rain felt cold on his back.

也许是他太兴奋的缘故吧，他在端详这颗小石子时，竟然全身颤抖了起来，而且落到背上的雨水也让他觉得凉飕飕的。

 “Oh,I wish it would stop raining,” he said.

“真希望雨不要下了。”他说。

To his great surprise, the rain stopped.

结果雨真的停了，他大吃一惊。

It didn’t stop gradually as rain unusuallydo. It ceased.

这雨不像平常那样是渐渐停下来的，而是突然就停了。

The drops vanished on the way down.

雨点还没落到地上就不见了，

The clouds disappeared.

乌云也不见了，

Everything was dry.

每一样东西都是干的，

And the sun was shining as if the rain hadnever existed.

连太阳都闪着耀眼的光芒，就好象根本没下过雨一样。

In all his young life, Sylvester had neverhad a wish gratified so quickly.

在驴小弟短短的一生中，从来没有一个愿望这么快就实现过。

It struck him that magic must be at work.

他突然觉得这一定是魔法，

And he guessed that the magic must be inthe remarkable-looking red pebble. (Where indeed it was.)

而且一定是这颗特别的红石子造成的（事实上也是这样）。

To make a test, he put the pebble on theground and said, “I wish it would rain again.”

于是为了看看他的想法对不对，他把小石子放在地上，说：“我希望再下雨。”

Nothing happened.

结果什么也没发生。

But when he said the same thing holding thepebble in his hoof, the sky turned black, there was lightening and a clap ofthunder and the rain came shooting down.

可是他用蹄子拿着小石子，说同样的一句话时，天就变黑了，闪电和雷声来了，大雨也下起来了。

“What a lucky day this is!” thoughtSylvester.

“今天的运气真不错！” 驴小弟想，

“From now on, I could have anything I want!My father and mother can have anything they want! My relatives, my friends andanybody at all can have everything anybody wants.”

“从现在起，我要什么就会有什么了。爸妈也可以想要什么就有什么。我的亲戚、朋友，以及所有的人都可以要什么就有什么啦！”

He wished the sunshine back in the sky，and he wished for a wart on his left hind fetlock would disappear.And it did.

他希望太阳再从天空出现，希望左后方脚蹄上的一个疙瘩消失，结果都实现了。

And he started home, eager to amaze hismother and father with this magic pebble.

他开始走回家去，急着要用这颗神奇的小石子让爸妈惊喜一下。

He could hardly wait to see their faces.

他巴不得马上看到他们的表情。

Maybe they wouldn’t believe him at first.

也许，一开始，他们根本不会相信他的话哩！

As he was crossing strawberry hill thinkingof some of the many, many things he could wish for, he was startled to see amean, hungry lion, looking right at him from behind some tall grass.

就在他走过草莓山，心里想着有好多好多的愿望都可以实现的时候，竟然碰见了一只狮子。那只狮子既狡诈、又饥饿，正在一堆高高的牧草后面瞪着他。

He was frightened.

他吓坏了；

If he hadn’t been so frightened, he could’vemade the lion disappear, or he could’ve wished himself safe at home with hisfather and mother.

要是他没被吓坏的话，他就会想到要这头狮子消失，或者希望自己平安地跟爸妈在家里。

He could’ve wished a lion would turn into abutterfly or a daisy or a gnat.

他可以希望狮子变成蝴蝶、小菊花，或者蚊子。

He could wish many things.

他可以想到好多好多办法。

But he panicked and couldn’t thinkcarefully.

可是他吓坏了，吓得没有办法用心想。

 “Whooo…I wish I were a rock!” he said, and he became a rock.

“我希望变成石头。”他一说完，就变成一块岩石。

The lion came bounding over, sniffed therock a hundred times, walked around and around it, and went away confused,perplexed, puzzled and bewildered.

狮子跳过岩石，对着它闻了一百遍，绕着它走了一圈又一圈，最后迷迷糊糊，带着一肚子的疑惑走开了。

“I saw that little donkey, as clear as day!Maybe I’m going crazy,” he muttered.

“我明明看见那只小驴子的，也许是我饿疯了。”他喃喃地说。

And there was Sylvester, a rock onstrawberry field, with the magic pebble lying beside him on the ground, and hewas unable to pick it up.

变成岩石的驴小弟，就这样待在草莓山上，那颗神奇的小石子还在他身边，但是他没有办法去拿。

“Oh, how I wish I were myself again,” hethought.

“噢，我好希望再变成我自己。”他想，

But nothing happened.

可是根本没有用。

He had to be touching the pebble to makethe magic work, but there was nothing he could do about it.

他必须碰到那颗小石子才能产生法力，但是他根本没有办法做到。

His thoughts began to race like mad. He wasscared and worried, being helpless. He felt hopeless.

他开始拼命地想，心里既害怕、又着急。没有别人来帮他，他是一点儿希望也没有。

He imagined all the possibilities andeventually he realized that his only chance of becoming himself again was forsomeone to find the red pebble and to wish that rock next to it would be adonkey.

他想了许多办法，最后他明白了，他唯一的希望是有人发现这颗红石子，并且希望红石子旁边的这块岩石能变成一只驴子。

“Oh someone would surely find the redpebble, it was so bright and shining. But what on earth would make them wishthat the rock was a donkey? The chance was one in a billion at best.”

当然了，一定会有人找到这颗红石子，因为它是这么的闪亮耀眼；可是世界上有谁会希望一块岩石变成驴子呢？这个机会顶多只有十亿分之一。

Sylvester fell asleep. What else could hedo?

最后，驴小弟睡着了。他不睡又能怎样呢？

Night came, with many stars.

随着星星的出现，夜，来了。

Meanwhile, back at home, Mr. and Mrs. Duncanpaced the floor, frantic with worry.

这时候，驴爸爸和驴妈妈在家里走来走去，急得要发疯，

Sylvester had never come home later thandinner time.

驴小弟从来没有过了吃晚饭的时间还不回家的。

Where could he be?

他到哪儿去了呢？

They stayed up all night, wondering whathad happened, expecting that Sylvester would surely turn up by morning.

他们整夜没睡，担心他出了什么事儿，希望他能在早晨之前回来。

But he didn’t of course.

可是，这个希望当然是落空了。

Mrs. Duncan cried a lot and Mr. Duncan didhis best to sooth her, both longed to have their dearest son with them.

驴妈妈哭得很伤心，驴爸爸尽量安慰她。他们俩都希望他们的宝贝儿子跟他们在一起。

“I will never scold Sylvester again as longas I live,” said Mrs. Duncan. “No matter what he does.”

“往后，我再也不说他了，” 驴妈妈说，“不管他做了什么事儿。”

At dawn, they went about inquiring of allthe neighbors.

天亮了，他们到处向邻居打听。

They talked to all the children, thepuppies, the kittens, the colts, the piglets.

他们也问了所有的孩子，包括小狗、猫咪、小马和猪宝宝。

No one had seen Sylvester since the daybefore yesterday.

但是这些孩子打前天起，就没见过驴小弟。

They went to the police. The police couldnot find their child.

他们去找警察，警察也没办法找到他们的孩子。

All the dogs in Oatsdale went searching forhim.

燕麦谷的狗全都出来搜寻。

They sniffed behind every rock and tree andblade of grass, into every nook and gully of the neighborhood and beyond butfind not a scent of him.

他们闻过了每一块岩石、每一棵树和每一片草叶的背面；搜过了远近的每一个角落和溪谷，可是一点儿线索都找不到。

They sniffed the rock on strawberry hill,but it smelled like a rock, it didn’t smell like Sylvester.

他们也闻过了草莓山上的那块岩石，可是那气味就跟一般的岩石一样，半点也不像驴小弟的气味。

After a month of searching the same placesover and over again and inquiring of the same animals over and over again, Mr.and Mrs. Duncan no longer knew what to do.

同一个地方搜了一遍又一遍，同一只动物问了一次又一次，这样过了一个月，驴爸爸和驴妈妈不知道还有什么办法可想了。

They concluded something dreadful must’vehappened, and they would probably never see their son again. (The all the time,he was less than a mile away.)

他们认为一定有什么可怕的事情发生在他们儿子身上，他们再也见不到他了（其实他一直在不到两公里远的地方）。

They tried their best to be happy, to goabout their usual ways.

他们尽量想让自己快乐，尽量想要过得跟平常一样。

But their usual ways included Sylvester,and they were always reminded of him.

但是平常的生活里总包括了驴小弟，所以他们老是想到他。

They were miserable. Life had no meaning forthem anymore.

他们很难过，觉得这样生活下去没什么意义。

Night followed day, and day followed night overand over again,

晚上过了，又是白天；白天过了，又是晚上。驴小弟在山上醒着的时候越来越少。

Sylvester on the hill woke up less and lessoften. When he was awake, he was only hopeless, not happy.

他醒着的时候，只有不快乐和失望。

He felt he would be a rock forever.

他觉得他会永远变成岩石。

And he tried to get used to it. He wentinto an endless sleep.

他想要习惯这件事，于是他不想醒了。

They days grew colder. Fall came with theleaves changing color.

天气渐渐变凉，秋天来了，树叶都变了颜色。

Then the leaves fell and the grass bent tothe ground.

接着，树叶掉了，牧草也弯到了地面。

Then it was winter. The winds blew this wayand that.

随后冬天来了，风刮过来又刮过去。

It snowed.

接着下雪了。

Mostly, the animals stayed indoors, livingon the food they had stored up.

大多数的动物都躲在家里，靠着他们存储的食物过冬。

One day, a wolf sat on the rock that wasSylvester and hauled and hauled because he was hungry.

有一天，一只狼坐在驴小弟变成的那块岩石上，饥饿得一遍又一遍地嗥叫着。

Then the snows melted, the earth warmed upand the spring sang. Anything budded.

然后，雪融化了。在春天的阳光下，大地又暖和了起来，树木花草也都发芽了。

Leaves were on the trees again. Flowersshowed their young faces.

树又长出了叶子，花儿也露出它们年轻的脸庞。

One day in May, Mr. Duncan insisted that hiswife go with him on a picnic.

五月里，有一天，驴爸爸一定要驴妈妈跟他去野餐。

“Let’s cheer up,” he said. “Let’s try tolive again and be happy, even though Sylvester, our angel, is no longer withus.”

“我们要打起精神来。”他说，“虽然我们的宝贝儿子不在了，我们还是要像从前一样好好地过下去。”

They went to strawberry hill.

于是他们就到草莓山上去。

Mrs. Duncan sat down on the rock. Thewarmth his own mother sitting on him woke Sylvester up from his deep wintersleep.

驴妈妈就坐在那一块岩石上，她温暖的体温弄醒了正在冬眠的驴小弟。

How he wanted to shout “Mother! Father! It’sme Sylvester! I’m right here!”

他真想大叫：“妈！爸！是我，我是你们的小宝！我在这里！”

But he couldn’t talk. He had no voice, hewas stone-dumb.

可是他不能说话，也发不出声音，就像石头一样说不出一句话。

Mr. Duncan walked aimlessly about whileMrs. Duncan set out the picnic food on the rock, alfalfa sandwiches, pickledoats, sassafras salad, timothy compote.

驴爸爸没有目的地四处走动，驴妈妈把野餐摆在岩石上。他们的野餐有很多食物。

Suddenly, Mr. Duncan saw the red pebble.

突然间，驴爸爸看到了那颗红石子。

 “Oh!What a fantastic pebble!” he exclaimed. “Sylvester would have loved this forhis collection.”

“这一颗石子真好看！”他说，“小宝见了，一定会把它收藏起来。”

He put the pebble on the rock.

他把这颗石子放到岩石上。

Sylvester was now as wide awake as a donkeythat was a rock could possibly be.

这时候，驴小弟虽然还是石头，却像驴子一样完全清醒了。

Mrs. Duncan felt some mysterious excitement.

驴妈妈感到一种说不出来的兴奋。

“You know, Father,” she said suddenly, “Ihave the strangest feeling that out dearest Sylvester is still alive and notfar away!”

“小宝的爸，你知道吗？我有个好奇怪的感觉，觉得我们的儿子还活着，而且就在这附近。”

“I am! I am!” Sylvester wanted to shout,but he couldn’t.

“我就是！我就是！” 驴小弟想喊，但是喊不出来。

If only he had realized the pebble restingon his back was the magic pebble.

要是他知道他背上的石头就是那颗神奇的小石子，那该多好！

“Oh how I wish he were here with us in thislovely May day,” said Mrs. Duncan. “Don’t you wish it too, Father?”

“在这么可爱的五月天里，我好希望他能跟我们在一起。小宝的爸，你是不是也这么想？”驴妈妈问。

He looked at her as if to say, “How can youask me such a question?”

驴爸爸瞧了她一眼，好象是说：“这还要你问？”

Mr. and Mrs. Duncan looked at each other withgreat sorrow.

驴爸爸和驴妈妈伤心地互相瞧着。

“I wish I were myself again, I wish I were myreal self again!” thought Sylvester.

“我希望变回原来的我！我希望变成真正的我！” 驴小弟想。

And in less than an instinct, he was!

结果，一眨眼工夫，他就真的变回来了！

You can imagine the scene that followed:the embraces, the kisses, the questions, the answers, the loving looks and the fondexclamations.

之后的情景你想也想得到——又是抱又是亲，问了又问，答了又答，还有怜爱的眼光和欢喜的感叹！

When they had eventually come down a bit, andhad gotten home, Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in an iron safe.

等大家的心情平静了一点后，回到家里，驴爸爸就把那颗神奇的小石子放进铁打的保险箱里。Someday they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wishfor?

也许有一天他们还会用到它，但是现在，说真的，他们还会希望什么呢？

They had all that they wanted.

他们已经有了他们想要的一切了。