《风语河岸柳》第2章 宽敞的公路(4)

In the end, of course, the Rat agreed to go, and by the evening they found themselves on a lonely hillside miles from home.

最后，当然，水鼠同意去了。傍晚他们到了离家数里的一个孤零零的山坡上。

It had been a golden¹ afternoon, and even the Rat had enjoyed the journey so far. Only the old grey horse was not very happy.

那是一个金色的下午，现在甚至水鼠也非常喜欢这次旅行。只有老灰马不很乐意，

He had to do all the hard work of pulling the caravan², and he was not at all pleased about it.

他得干所有拉大篷车的苦力活，他根本就不爱这份工作。

The next morning the Toad⁴ was still sleeping deeply⁵ when the other two got up.

第二天早上，水鼠和鼹鼠起床了，癞蛤蟆还在呼呼大睡。

They shook him very hard but couldn't wake him, so they had to do all the work.

他们俩用力摇他，但弄不醒他，因此他们不得不干所有的活。

The Rat took care of the horse, lit the fire, and did last night's washing-up.

水鼠照料马，生起火，还清洗了昨晚的脏物。

The Mole⁶ walked to the nearest village, a long way away, to get milk and eggs and bread, which the Toad had, of course, for gotten to bring.

鼹鼠则步行长长的一段路到最近的村庄去弄些牛奶、鸡蛋和面包，这些，癞蛤蟆当然忘了随车带来。

And when at last the Toad got up, he said what a pleasant easy life it was on the open road.

最后癞蛤蟆起床了，他说，在宽敞公路上的旅行生活是多么轻松愉快。

The day passed happily as they travelled over green hills and along narrow country roads.

然后，他们翻过青山，沿着一条狭窄的乡村小路旅行着，就这样快快乐乐地过了一天。

But the next morning the Rat and the Mole got Toad out of bed and made sure that he did some of the work.

但是第三天早上，水鼠和鼹鼠把癞蛤蟆从床上拉了起来，要他也干些活。

Because of this, Toad said very little about a pleas³ ant easy life.

就为这，癞蛤蟆很少再说多么轻松愉快之类的话了。

Later, he even tried to get back into bed, but the Mole and the Rat pulled him out again.

后来他甚至还想回到床上继续睡觉，但鼹鼠和水鼠又把他拉了出来。

The end of their journey came very suddenly.

他们的旅行结束得很突然。

In the after noon they were travelling along a big road.

那天下午，他们正行进在一条大马路上，

The Mole was walking beside the horse, and the Toad and the Water Rat were walking behind the caravan, talking together.

鼹鼠走在马旁，癞蛤蟆和水鼠在大篷车后面边走边聊着天，

Actually, the Toad was talking, and the Rat was listening-some of the time.

确切地说—很多时候—癞蛤蟆在说，水鼠在听。

1 golden   

adj.金的，含金的，可贵的，金色的，贵重的，繁盛的

参考例句：

• My teacher is an Englishman with golden hair.我的老师是一个金黄色头发的英国人。
• It's a balmy evening,the golden time for lovers.这是一个暖和的夜晚，是恋人们的黄金时光。

2 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

3 pleas   

借口( plea的名词复数 )； （被告或被告律师的）抗辩； （法庭中的）理由； 请愿

参考例句：

• He sent her away without even listening to her pleas. 他甚至不肯听她的哀诉就把她遣走了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Shousheng came out and added his pleas to Mr. Lin's. 寿生也来了，帮着林先生说。 来自汉英文学 - 林家铺子

4 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

5 deeply   

adv.深刻地，在深处，深沉地

参考例句：

• I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
• We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们，我们感到很荣幸。

6 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。