🔊 I believe that for his escape he took advantage of the migration of a flock of wild birds. On the morning of his departure he put his planet in perfect order. He carefully cleaned out his active volcanoes. He possessed two active volcanoes; and they were very convenient for heating his breakfast in the morning. He also had one volcano that was extinct. But, as he said, "One never knows!" So he cleaned out the extinct volcano, too. If they are well cleaned out, volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are like fires in a chimney. On our earth we are obviously much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us.

我相信他是趁著一群野鳥遷徙的機會逃走的。出發的那個早晨,他把自己的星球整理得井井有條。他仔細清理了那些活火山。他有兩座活火山；用來熱早餐非常方便。他還有一座已經熄滅的火山。不過,正如他所說:「誰知道會發生什麼事呢！」所以他把死火山也清理乾淨了。如果清理得當,火山會緩慢而穩定地燃燒,不會噴發。火山噴發就像煙囪裡的火災。在我們的地球上,我們顯然太渺小了,無法清理我們的火山。這就是為什麼它們給我們帶來無盡的麻煩。

🔊

migration /maɪˈɡreɪʃn/

n. 遷徙；移居

🔊

flock /flɒk/

n. （鳥、羊等的）群

🔊

possessed /pəˈzest/

v. 擁有（possess的過去式）

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extinct /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/

adj. 滅絕的；熄滅的

🔊

eruptions /ɪˈrʌpʃnz/

n. 爆發；噴發（eruption的複數）

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chimney /ˈtʃɪmni/

n. 煙囪

🔊 But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very precious to him. And when he watered the flower for the last time, and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe, he realized that he was very close to tears.

但在這最後一個早晨,所有這些熟悉的任務對他來說都顯得格外珍貴。當他最後一次給花澆水,準備將她安置在玻璃罩下時,他意識到自己幾乎要落淚了。

🔊

precious /ˈpreʃəs/

adj. 珍貴的；寶貴的

🔊

globe /ɡləʊb/

n. 球體；玻璃罩；地球儀

🔊 "Goodbye," he said.

「再見了。」他說。

🔊 She made no answer.

她沒有回答。

🔊 "Goodbye," he said again.

「再見了。」他又說了一遍。

🔊 The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.

花兒咳嗽了。但這不是因為她感冒了。

🔊

coughed /kɒft/

v. 咳嗽（cough的過去式）

🔊 "I have been silly," she said to him at last. "I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy . . ."

「我一直很傻,」她終於對他說。「請你原諒我。努力讓自己快樂吧……」

🔊

forgiveness /fəˈɡɪvnəs/

n. 寬恕；原諒

🔊 He was surprised by this absence of reproaches. He stood there all bewildered, the glass globe held arrested in mid-air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.

她沒有責備,這讓他感到驚訝。他困惑地站在那裡,玻璃罩懸在半空中。他不明白這份平靜的溫柔。

🔊

absence /ˈæbsəns/

n. 缺席；缺乏

🔊

reproaches /rɪˈprəʊtʃɪz/

n. 責備；指責（reproach的複數）

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bewildered /bɪˈwɪldəd/

adj. 困惑的；茫然的

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arrested /əˈrestɪd/

v. 使停止；逮捕（arrest的過去分詞）

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mid-air /ˌmɪd ˈeə(r)/

n. 半空中

🔊

sweetness /ˈswiːtnəs/

n. 甜蜜；甜美

🔊 "Of course I love you," the flower said to him. "It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you—you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy . . . Let the glass globe be. I don't want it any more."

「我當然愛你,」花兒對他說。「你一直不知道,那是我的錯。這並不重要。但你——你也和我一樣傻。努力讓自己快樂吧……把玻璃罩放下吧。我不再需要它了。」

🔊

fault /fɔːlt/

n. 過錯；缺點

🔊

foolish /ˈfuːlɪʃ/

adj. 愚蠢的；荒謬的

🔊 "But the wind—"

「可是風——」

🔊 "My cold is not so bad as all that. . . The cool night air will do me good. I am a flower."

「我的感冒沒那麼嚴重……清涼的夜風對我有好處。我是一朵花。」

🔊 "But the animals—"

「可是動物——」

🔊 "Well, I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful. And if not the butterflies—and the caterpillars—who will call upon me? You will be far away . . . As for the large animals—I am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws."

「嗯,如果我想認識蝴蝶,就必須忍受兩三條毛毛蟲的存在。聽說牠們非常美麗。如果不是蝴蝶——和毛毛蟲——誰會來拜訪我呢？你將遠去……至於那些大動物——我一點也不怕牠們。我有我的爪子。」

🔊

endure /ɪnˈdjʊə(r)/

v. 忍受；忍耐

🔊

presence /ˈprezns/

n. 存在；出席

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caterpillars /ˈkætəpɪləz/

n. 毛毛蟲（caterpillar的複數）

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acquainted /əˈkweɪntɪd/

adj. 熟悉的；認識的

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butterflies /ˈbʌtəflaɪz/

n. 蝴蝶（butterfly的複數）

🔊

claws /klɔːz/

n. 爪；鉗（claw的複數）

🔊 And, naively, she showed her four thorns. Then she added:

她天真地展示了自己的四根刺。然後她補充道:

🔊

naively /naɪˈiːvli/

adv. 天真地；幼稚地

🔊

thorns /θɔːnz/

n. 刺；荊棘（thorn的複數）

🔊 "Don't linger like this. You have decided to go away. Now go!"

「別這樣猶豫不決了。你已經決定要離開。現在就走吧！」

🔊

linger /ˈlɪŋɡə(r)/

v. 徘徊；逗留

Chapter IX (第九章)