The Elephant Ride骑大象

Nancy was excited. Her friend Jennyjust called and told her about the circus. Shewanted to go and watch the show. Her dadsaid he could take her there 30 minuteslater. Now she could see bright red flags1 ontop of a large tent2 just across the street.Jenny was right. The circus was here！

南希很兴奋。她的朋友珍妮刚刚打电话告诉她马戏团的事，她想去看演出。爸爸说30 分钟后可以带她去。现在她可以看到街对面一个大帐篷顶上鲜红的旗帜。珍妮是对的。马戏团就在这里！

She held her dad’s hand as theycrossed the street. Nancy wanted to run， butthat wouldn’t be safe. She jumped up anddown once they got to the sidewalk3 infront of the tent.

过马路时，她牵着爸爸的手。南希想跑过去，但那样不安全。他们一走到帐篷前的人行道上，她就欢呼跳跃起来。

“This is the big top4，” said Dad.“Inside we can sit down to watch the show.There will be clowns5 and animals andmagic6 tricks. We will have great fun.”

“这是大帐篷。”爸爸说，“在里面我们可以坐下来看表演，有小丑、动物和魔术表演。我们会玩得很开心。”

Nancy felt very happy. She would like towatch the show right away. But it wasn’t time to  go inside the big top yet， so she and Dadhad time to walk around the rest of the circus.

南希感到非常高兴。她想马上看到表演，但是现在还没到进入大帐篷的时候，所以她和爸爸有时间去马戏团的其他地方逛。有一个人在卖气球，一些人在卖小吃，拐了个弯，南希看到了一头灰色的大象。

There was a man selling balloons7 andpeople were selling some food. They turned acorner and Nancy saw a big gray elephant.

The elephant was very tall. Even Dadhad to look up to see the elephant’s face.

这头大象非常高，就连爸爸也必须仰起头才能看到大象的脸。

The elephant had a blanket on itsback. On top of the blanket was a smallseat with a handle8.

这头大象背上有一条毯子，毯子上面有一个带把手的小座椅。

“Would you like to ride the elephant，Nancy？”Dad asked.

“南希，你想骑大象吗？“爸爸问。

Nancy jumped up anddown again. “Oh， yes！ ”shecried. She had never rid anelephant before. It would bevery interesting to ride the elephant.

南希又欢呼了起来。“哎呀，想！”她大喊。她以前从未骑过大象。骑大象会很有趣。

Dad gave money to the man in chargeof 9 the elephants. Nancy climbed a specialstaircase10， so she could reach the top of theelephant’s back. The man helped her ontothe special seat.“Hold on tight11！ ”he said.

爸爸把钱给了负责照顾大象的人。南希爬上了一个专用的楼梯，这样她就可以爬到大象的背上。那个男人扶她坐上了那个特别的座位。“抓紧了！”他说。

Slowly， the elephant began to walkin a large circle. Each step made Nancy’sseat rock12 back and forth. She heldtightly to the handle and was not afraidat all.

慢慢地，大象开始绕着一个大圈行走。每走一步，南希的座位都会前后摇晃。她紧紧抓住把手，一点也不害怕。

She was so high up that she couldlook down on Dad’s head. She couldalso see the top of the elephant’s head.It was gray and had some wiry13 hairs.

她身处的位置很高，可以俯视爸爸的头。她还能看到大象的头顶。那儿是灰色的，有一些硬毛。

Suddenly14， the elephant flapped15his ears. Nancy laughed. This was fun！

突然，大象扇动了一下耳朵。南希笑了。这很有趣！

When the elephant got back to thespecial staircase， Nancy climbed backdown to Dad.

当大象回到专用楼梯那儿时，南希爬下楼梯回到爸爸身边。

“Did you like it？”he asked.

“你喜欢骑大象吗？”他问。

“Yes！ I like it very much，”saidNancy. “Can I have an elephant for mybirthday？”

“是的！我非常喜欢。”南希说，“我能得到一只大象作为生日礼物吗？”

“I am afraid you can’t， honey，”Day said. “But I can take you to watchmore shows today.”

“恐怕不行，亲爱的。”爸爸说，“但我今天可以带你去多看几场节目。”

（英语原文选自院readingvine.com）