海伦娜·伯翰·卡特 | 朗读绘本故事《鲸鱼的歌》

Lily's grandmother told her a story. "Once upon a time." she said, “the ocean was filled with whales. They were as big as the hill. They were as peaceful as the moon. They were the most wondrous creatures you could ever imagine."

莉莉的奶奶给她讲了一个故事。“很久以前。”她说，“大海里住满了鲸鱼。他们像山峰一样巨大。它们像月亮一样安宁。它们是你能想象出的最神奇的生物。”

Lilly climbed on to her grandmother’s lap. “I used to sit at the end of the pier and listen for whales.” said Lilly’s grandmother. “Sometimes I’d sit there all day and all night. Then suddenly, I’d see them coming toward me from miles away. They moved through the water as if they were dancing.”

莉莉安静地伏在奶奶的膝盖上。“从前我常常跑到码头的边缘，听鲸鱼的声音。”莉莉的奶奶说，“有一次，我在那儿坐了一天一夜。然后，忽然之间，我就看见它们从几米之外的海上向我游来。他们在波浪中穿梭，就像在跳舞一样。”

“But why they swim to you, grandma?” asked Lilly, “how do they know you were there?”

“可是它们为什么会游向你，奶奶？”莉莉问道，“它们怎么知道你在那呢？”

Lilly’s grandmother smiled, “Oh, you had to bring them something special. A prefect shell. Or a beautiful stone. And if they like you, the whales would take your gift and give you something in return.”

莉莉的奶奶微笑着说，“哦，你必须给他们带一些特别的东西。一个完整的贝壳，或者一块漂亮的石子。如果鲸鱼喜欢你的话，它们就回收下你的礼物，并且给你一些东西作为回报。”

“What would they give you, Grandma?” asked Lilly, ”What did you get from the whales?”

“它们会给你什么呢，奶奶？”莉莉问，“鲸鱼给了你什么礼物呀？”

Lilly’s grandmother sighed. “Once or twice, ” she whispered, “once or twice I heard them sing.”

莉莉的奶奶叹了一口气，“有那么一两次，”她悄声说，“有那么一两次，我听见它们在唱歌。”

Lilly’s great uncle Frederick stomped into the room. “That’s nothing but a silly old tale!” he snapped. “Whales were important for their meat, and for their bones, and for their blubber. If you have to tell Lilly about whales, then tell her something useful. Don’t fill her head with nonsense. Singing whales indeed!”

莉莉的叔叔弗雷德里克踱步进了房间。“你就会说这些老掉牙的蠢故事！”他嘲笑道，“鲸鱼的重要性在于他们的鱼肉，鱼骨和鲸鱼油。要是你非得和莉莉说点什么，那也得告诉她一点有用处的事情吧。别在她脑袋里塞满无意义的东西，鲸鱼会唱歌？才怪！”

"There were whales here millions of years before there were ships, or cities, or even cave-dwellers." continued Lily's greadmother. " People used to say they were magical."

“鲸鱼早在轮船、城市、甚至人类之前几百万年就存在了。”莉莉的奶奶继续说，“人们从前总说它们是有魔法的”。

“People used to eat and boil them down for oil!” grumbled Lilly’s great uncle Frederick. And he stomped back out the room.

“人们从前总是吃它们的肉，用他们来熬油！”莉莉的叔叔一边嘟哝着，一边转身走出房间。

Lilly dreamt about whales. In her dreams she saw them, as large as mountains and bluer than the sky. In her dreams she heard them singing, their voice is like the wind. In her dreams they leapt from the water and called her name.

莉莉梦见了鲸鱼。她在梦里看见它们——就像山峰一样巨大，就像天空一样湛蓝。她在梦里听见它们的歌声——那声音就像风的声音一样。在梦里，它们跳出海面，呼唤她的名字。

In the morning, Lilly went down to the ocean, to the place where no one fished or swam or sailed. She walked to the end of the old pier, the water was empty and still. She took a yellow flower out of her pocket and dropped it in the water. “This is for you.” she called into the air.

第二天清晨，莉莉去了海边。她去了一个没人钓鱼、没人游泳、也没有人划船的地方。她独自走到老码头的前面。一片水面空阔而安静。她从口袋里掏出一朵小黄花，把它丢进了水中。“送给你们的。”她对空气喊道。

Lilly sat at the end of pier and waited. She waited all morning and all afternoon. Then, as dusk began to fall, Uncle Frederick came down the hill after her. “Enough of this foolishness.” he said, “Come on home. You can’t be dreaming your life away.”

莉莉坐在码头边等啊等，她从早上一直等到了下午。当夜色降临的时候，弗雷德里克叔叔下山坡来找她了。“这件愚蠢的事情就到此为止吧。”他说，“回家去，别一直这么想入非非。”

That night, Lilly awoke suddenly. The room was bright with moonlight. She sat up and listened, the house was quiet. Lilly climbed out of bed and went to the window. She could hear something in the distance, on the far side of the hill.

那天夜里莉莉突然从睡梦中醒了。屋里洒满了皎洁的月光。她坐起身，倾听着。整个房子里静悄悄的。莉莉翻身下床，走到窗户前面。她能听见从远方，从山的那一边传来的某种声音。

She raced outside and down to the shore. Her heart was pounding as she reached the sea. There enormous in the ocean, were the whales. They leapt and jumped and spun across the moon. Their singing filled up the night. Lilly saw her yellow flower dancing on the spray.

她跑了出去，径直跑到海边。当她看到海的一瞬，她的整个心都在砰砰直跳。在大海里有那么一群庞然大物，那是鲸鱼。它们跳跃着，从月亮前穿梭而过。它们的歌声响彻夜空。莉莉看见她的小黄花在水沫上舞蹈。

Minutes passed, or maybe hours. Suddenly, Lilly felt the breeze rustle her nightdress and the cold nip at her toes. She shivered and rubbed her eyes. Then it seemed the ocean was still again and the night dark and silent. 

几分钟，或者十几小时过去了。忽然，丽丽感到她的睡衣在微风中飒飒飘动，她的脚趾头被寒冷刺痛了。她微微颤抖着，揉了揉自己的眼睛。这时，大海看起来又恢复了平静，夜晚黑暗而沉默。

Lilly thought she must have been dreaming. She stood up and turned toward home. Then from far, far away, on the breath of the wind she heard, ”Lilly! Lilly!” The whales were calling her name.

莉莉想，自己一定在做梦吧。她站了一会儿，就转身往家里走去。这时，从很远、很远的某处，透过风儿的一缕呼吸，他听到了一个声音。“莉莉！莉莉！”那是鲸鱼们正在呼唤她的名字。