The Holiday假日
作者: Hema Rao 游余The owl was puzzled1. No one had come to the jungle2 school.“Maybe the littleones are late,”thought the teacher. “I’ll wait for a little while longer.”The owl didnot know that her students had decided to miss school. They had started out forschool but then changed their minds.
“But I am going to school,”said the turtle, and he started off at a slow andrelaxed pace3. He liked school. It was fun learning about things he didn’t know.Slowly the turtle made his way to school and saw the owl—the teacher waitingpatiently4 for her pupils.
But no one came. So the owl shared many secrets5 with the turtle, like why thesky was blue, and also why each of the animals looked different and had specialhabits of eating and catching food. The teacher had decided that she would test herbunking6 students the next day.
At that very moment the truant7 students were sitting under a huge tree happilyand having their lunch. They were so busy laughing at their jokes that they did notrealize8 it was time to go home! Then they saw the turtle and that meant school wasover. They, too, decided to return to their homes. None of them saw the worried lookon the turtle’s face.
The little turtle was a bit worried. The teacher had looked grim9 at the end ofthe class! Maybe he should bunk school the next day!
“So what did you do today?”asked the rabbit.“Ask us any question and we willshow you that there is no need to go to school. We know everything! ”shouted thesquirrel.“Nobody learns from boring speeches10.”
猫头鹰很困惑,还没有人到达丛林学校。“也许小朋友们迟到了。”这位老师想,“我再等一会儿。”猫头鹰不知道它的学生已经决定逃学了。它们本来已经出发去上学了,但后来又改变了主意。
“但是我要去上学。”乌龟说,然后它迈着缓慢轻松的步伐出发了。它喜欢学校,了解它不知道的事情很有趣。乌龟慢慢地走向学校,然后看到了猫头鹰———这位老师正在耐心地等待它的学生。
然而没有人来。于是猫头鹰和乌龟分享了许多秘密,比如为什么天空是蓝色的,为什么每种动物看起来都不一样,并且有特殊的进食和捕食习惯。老师已经决定第二天要测试逃课的学生。
就在此时,逃学的学生正高兴地坐在一棵大树下吃午饭。它们忙着因自己说的笑话而大笑,以至于没有意识到该回家了!然后它们看到了乌龟,这意味着放学了。它们也决定回家,但谁也没有看到乌龟脸上的愁容。
小乌龟有点担心。下课的时候,老师的神情很可怕!也许它明天应该逃课!
“你今天做了什么?”兔子问。“问我们任何问题吧,我们会让你知道没有必要去上学。我们什么都知道!”松鼠喊道,“没有人会从无聊的课堂中学到东西。”
“Okay! ”said the turtle. “What comes first, thunder or lightning?”“Thunder! ”shouted the rabbit and the squirrel. “No, they come together! ”said the monkey.“Don’tknow! ”saidthemouse.“Ihide11 insideandclosemyears! ”“Nevernoticed! ”saidthesparrow“. Lightening! ”shoutedthefrog.
“The frog’s right. But, can you tell me why lightning is seen before thunder isheard?”asked the turtle. “How would I know? That was just a wild guess! ”said thefrog.“It is because light travels faster than sound,”said the turtle.
“Okay, one more question. Does lion eat grass?”he asked. “Don’t be silly! ”shouted back the squirrel and the rabbit. “What a stupid question! ”said themonkey. The turtle looked at the others. “We’re thinking! ”said the sparrow andthe snail.“Lions do eat grass! ”the turtle answered.“Suppose12 a lion eats a deerthat had fed on grass. So the lion, too, has grass inside his stomach! ”
“Did the owl teach you all this?”asked the mouse in a low and soft voice.“Yesand much, much more,”said the turtle. “But I am worried. The teacher had a nasty13gleam14 in her eyes when she said goodbye to me! ”
They all went home with the same thought. “I will go to school and learn aboutthese secrets from the teacher,”thought the rabbit. “I do want to know about manythings.”
“What if the owl asks a question about my habits and Ican’t answer right,”spoke the mouse under her breath.“I willgo to school tomorrow. And I want to know more about theworld,”shouted the frog when he saw that he was alone. “So I willjump to school tomorrow.”
And the sparrow remembered what Mama had told her. “Sparrows whodo not know about the ways of the world get gobbled up15,”she had said.“Iwill fly to school,”said the sparrow. “If the slow turtle can become wise16,why can’t I? After all, I am as slow as him, so I can become as wise as him aswell,”thought the snail.
But no one could sleep well that night. They hope everything would befine tomorrow.
“好!”乌龟说,“打雷和闪电哪个先到?”“打雷!”兔子和松鼠喊道。“不,它们一起来的!”猴子说。“不知道!”老鼠说,“当时我躲在家里,捂上了耳朵!”从来没注意过!”麻雀说。“闪电!”青蛙喊道。
“青蛙说得对。但是,你能告诉我为什么在听到雷声之前会先看到闪电吗?”乌龟问。“我怎么会知道?那就是瞎猜的!”青蛙说。“这是因为光比声音传播得更快。”乌龟说。
“好吧,还有一个问题。狮子吃草吗?”它问。“别傻了!”松鼠和兔子大声回道。“多么愚蠢的问题!”猴子说。乌龟看着其他人。“我们还在想!”麻雀和蜗牛说。“狮子确实是吃草的!”乌龟回答,“假设一只狮子吃了一只吃了草的鹿。这样狮子肚子里也有草!”
“这都是猫头鹰教你的吗?”老鼠用低沉柔和的声音问道。“是的,还有非常非常多。”乌龟说,“但我很担心。老师跟我说再见的时候,眼里闪着不友好的光芒!”
它们都带着同样的想法回家了。“我要去上学,从老师那里了解这些秘密。”兔子想,“我确实想知道很多事情。”
“如果猫头鹰老师问我有什么习惯,而我答不对怎么办?”老鼠小声说。“我明天要去上学。我想更多地了解这个世界。”青蛙在视线里只剩自己一人时喊道,“所以我明天要跳着去学校。”
麻雀想起了妈妈告诉它的话,它说:“不懂人情世故的麻雀会被吃掉。”“我要飞到学校去。”麻雀说。“如果慢吞吞的乌龟能变聪明,为什么我不能?毕竟,我和他一样慢,所以我也可以变得和他一样聪明。”蜗牛想。
然而这天晚上没有人能睡好。它们希望明天一切顺利。
(英语原文选自:pitara.com)