The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher

Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond.

从前有一只青蛙，名叫杰里米·费舍先生；他住在池塘边毛茛丛中一间潮湿的小屋子里。

The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage.

屋里的储藏室和后过道总是湿漉漉、滑溜溜的。

But Mr. Jeremy liked getting his feet wet; nobody ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!

可是杰里米先生就喜欢把脚弄湿；从来没有人责怪过他，他也从来没有感冒过！

He was quite pleased when he looked out and saw large drops of rain, splashing in the pond.

他望向窗外，看见大颗大颗的雨点溅落在池塘里，心里十分高兴。

"I will get some worms and go fishing and catch a dish of minnows for my dinner," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "If I catch more than five fish, I will invite my friends Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise and Sir Isaac Newton. The Alderman, however, eats salad."

“我要去挖些虫子，出去钓鱼，钓一盘鱼当晚饭，”杰里米·费舍先生说道。“要是钓到五条以上的鱼，我就请我的朋友托勒密·龟议员先生和艾萨克·牛顿爵士来吃饭。不过议员先生只吃沙拉。”

Mr. Jeremy put on a macintosh, and a pair of shiny goloshes; he took his rod and basket, and set off with enormous hops to the place where he kept his boat.

杰里米先生穿上一件雨衣，套上一双闪亮的橡胶套鞋；他拿起钓竿和篮子，迈着大大的跳步，出发去他停船的地方。

The boat was round and green, and very like the other lily-leaves. It was tied to a water-plant in the middle of the pond.

那条船是圆圆的、绿色的，看上去很像别的睡莲叶子。它系在池塘中央的一株水生植物上。

Mr. Jeremy took a reed pole, and pushed the boat out into open water. "I know a good place for minnows," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

杰里米先生拿起一根芦苇杆，把船撑到了开阔的水面上。“我知道一个钓小鱼的好地方，”杰里米·费舍先生说道。

Mr. Jeremy stuck his pole into the mud and fastened the boat to it.

杰里米先生把杆子插进泥里，把船系在了上面。

Then he settled himself cross-legged and arranged his fishing tackle. He had the dearest little red float. His rod was a tough stalk of grass, his line was a fine long white horse-hair, and he tied a little wriggling worm at the end.

然后他盘腿坐好，摆弄起他的钓鱼用具来。他有一个心爱的小小的红色浮标。他的钓竿是一根结实的草茎，钓线是一根又细又长的白马鬃，末端系着一条扭来扭去的小虫子。

The rain trickled down his back, and for nearly an hour he stared at the float.

雨水顺着他的背脊往下淌，他盯着浮标看了将近一个小时。

"This is getting tiresome, I think I should like some lunch," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

“这可真让人厌烦，我想我该吃点午饭了，”杰里米·费舍先生说道。

He punted back again amongst the water-plants, and took some lunch out of his basket.

他把船撑回到水生植物丛中，从篮子里拿出了一些午饭。

"I will eat a butterfly sandwich, and wait till the shower is over," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

“我要吃一块蝴蝶三明治，等这阵雨过去，”杰里米·费舍先生说道。

A great big water-beetle came up underneath the lily leaf and tweaked the toe of one of his goloshes.

一只很大的水甲虫从睡莲叶子底下钻了上来，在他一只套鞋的鞋尖上啄了一下。

Mr. Jeremy crossed his legs up shorter, out of reach, and went on eating his sandwich.

杰里米先生把腿盘得更紧，缩到甲虫够不着的地方，继续吃他的三明治。

Once or twice something moved about with a rustle and a splash amongst the rushes at the side of the pond.

有一两次，池塘边的灯芯草丛中传来窸窣声和扑通的水声，好像有什么东西在那里走动。

"I trust that is not a rat," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher; "I think I had better get away from here."

“但愿那不是一只老鼠，”杰里米·费舍先生说道；“我想我最好还是离这儿远一点。”

Mr. Jeremy shoved the boat out again a little way, and dropped in the bait. There was a bite almost directly; the float gave a tremendous bobbit!

杰里米先生把船又撑开一点，把鱼饵抛了下去。几乎立刻就有鱼咬钩了；浮标猛地一沉！

"A minnow! a minnow! I have him by the nose!" cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher, jerking up his rod.

“一条小鱼！一条小鱼！我钩住它的鼻子了！”杰里米·费舍先生喊道，猛地一提钓竿。

But what a horrible surprise! Instead of a smooth fat minnow, Mr. Jeremy landed little Jack Sharp the stickleback, covered with spines!

可是接下来的一幕真是可怕极了！杰里米先生钓上来的不是一条光滑肥美的小鱼，而是浑身是刺的小杰克·夏普——一条棘鱼！

The stickleback floundered about the boat, pricking and snapping until he was quite out of breath. Then he jumped back into the water.

那条棘鱼在船里扑腾着，又扎又咬，直到累得喘不过气来。然后它便一下子跳回了水里。

And a shoal of other little fishes put their heads out, and laughed at Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

一大群别的小鱼探出头来，冲着杰里米·费舍先生哈哈大笑。

And while Mr. Jeremy sat disconsolately on the edge of his boat, sucking his sore fingers and peering down into the water, a much worse thing happened; a really frightful thing it would have been, if Mr. Jeremy had not been wearing a macintosh!

正当杰里米先生垂头丧气地坐在船边，吮着自己被扎痛的手指，望着水面出神的时候，一件更糟糕的事情发生了；那真是件万分可怕的事情，若不是杰里米先生正穿着一件雨衣的话！

A great big enormous trout came up, ker-pflop-p-p-p, with a splash, and it seized Mr. Jeremy with a snap, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"—and then it turned and dived down to the bottom of the pond!

一条巨大无比的鳟鱼扑通一声猛地窜了上来，一口咬住了杰里米先生，“哎哟！哎哟！哎哟！”——接着便转身潜回了池塘底！

But the trout was so displeased with the taste of the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again; and the only thing it swallowed was Mr. Jeremy's goloshes.

可是那条鳟鱼十分不满雨衣的味道，不到半分钟就又把他吐了出来；它唯一吞下肚的东西，就是杰里米先生的那双套鞋。

Mr. Jeremy bounced up to the surface of the water, like a cork and the bubbles out of a soda water bottle; and he swam with all his might to the edge of the pond.

杰里米先生像瓶塞、又像苏打水瓶里冒出的气泡一样，蹦到了水面上；他使出浑身的力气游向池塘边。

He scrambled out on the first bank he came to, and he hopped home across the meadow with his macintosh all in tatters.

他爬上了最先够到的岸边，穿过草地一路跳着回了家，身上的雨衣已经破得不成样子。

"What a mercy that was not a pike!" said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "I have lost my rod and basket; but it does not much matter, for I am sure I should never have dared to go fishing again!"

“幸好那不是一条狗鱼！”杰里米·费舍先生说道。“我弄丢了我的钓竿和篮子；不过那也没什么大不了的，因为我敢肯定，我再也不敢去钓鱼了！”

He put some sticking plaster on his fingers, and his friends both came to dinner. He could not offer them fish, but he had something else in his larder.

他在手指上贴了些橡皮膏，他的两位朋友都如约来吃晚饭了。他没法请他们吃鱼，不过他储藏室里还有别的东西。

Sir Isaac Newton wore his black and gold waistcoat.

艾萨克·牛顿爵士穿着他那件黑金相间的背心。

And Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise brought a salad with him in a string bag.

托勒密·龟议员先生用网兜提来了一份沙拉。

And instead of a nice dish of minnows, they had a roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce, which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!

结果他们吃的不是一盘美味的小鱼，而是烤蚱蜢配瓢虫酱——青蛙们认为这是一道绝妙的美味；不过我倒觉得那味道一定很难吃！