CHAPTER 1
Before Breakfast
第一章
吃早饭之前
"Where’s Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were tting the table for breakfast.
“爸爸拿着斧子要去干嘛？”当妈妈和芬摆放早餐时芬这样问她的妈妈。
"Out to spottythe hog hou," replied Mrs. Arable. "Some pigs were born last night."
“到猪圈去，”阿瑞博太太回答道。“昨晚上一些猪出生了。”
hog公猪/sow母猪
"I don’t e why he needs an ax," continued Fern, who was only eight.
芬只有八岁，她不依不饶地继续说道：“我不明白他为什么需要斧子。”
"Well," said her mother, "one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it."
“这样说吧，”她的妈妈回答道，“这些刚出生的猪崽中有一只发育不良。它非常弱小，将来也长不成一头健壮的猪。因此你爸爸打算消灭它。”
儿童学拼音amount to发展成
If he goes on like this, he'll never amount to anything. 如果他一味这样下去, 他将一事无成。胆小如鼠的意思
do away with: 摆脱；废除；取消；消灭。
My wife wants me to do away with my shoes.我妻子要我把那双鞋扔掉。
"Do away with it?" shrieked Fern. "You mean kill it? Just becau it’s smaller than the others?"
“消灭它？”芬尖叫起来。“你是不是说杀掉它？仅仅因为它比其它的猪崽小？”
Mrs. Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table. "Don’t yell, Fern!"she said. "Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway."
“芬，不要喊叫！”阿瑞博太太一边把一大罐子奶油放在桌上一边说道。“你爸爸是对的。这头猪将来几乎肯定是要死的。”
怕字组词a pitcher of一罐
Every morning I make a pitcher of ice tea. 每天早晨我做一罐冰茶。
anyway 不管怎样；无论如何
You can do the job anyway you want.这工作你想怎么干都行。
It may rain, but we shall go anyway.也许会下雨,可我们无论如何要去。
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with脍炙人口怎么读 her father.
芬推开面前的椅子跑到门外。草很湿，泥土中都可以嗅到春天的气息。当芬赶上她的爸爸时，她的球鞋已经湿透了。
sneakers球鞋
sopping湿透的
by the time到…时候
By the time we arrived the meeting was over. 我们到达时，会议已结束了。
catch up with赶上
"Plea don’t kill it!" she sobbed. "It’s unfair."
“求你别杀掉它！”她啜泣着。“这不公平。”
sob哭诉
清单英文 Mr. Arable stopped walking.
阿瑞博先生停下脚步。
stop doing/stop to do
"Fern," he said gently, "you will have to learn to control yourlf."
“芬，”他温柔地说，“你必须学会克制自己。”
"Control mylf?" yelled Fern. "This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about "controlling mylf." Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax
and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.
“克制自己？”芬喊叫起来。“这是有关生死的事情，而你却说‘克制自己’。”眼泪刷地顺着她的脸颊流下来，她抓住斧子，试图从爸爸手中夺过来。
"Fern," said Mr. Arable, "I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!"
“芬，”阿瑞博先生说道，“我比你更懂饲养一窝猪崽。一头虚弱的猪崽会制造很多麻烦。走开，快！”
a litter of 一窝
"But it’s unfair," cried Fern. "The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?"
“但是这不公平，”芬大哭起来。“这头猪崽忍不住要生得那么小，对吧？如果我出生时也非常小，你是不是也会把我杀了？”
can't help doing 忍不住
can't help crying忍不住哭起来
戎马倥偬Mr. Arable smiled. "Certainly not," he said, looking down at his daughter with love. "But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another."
阿瑞博先生笑了。“当然不会，”他一边说一边充满爱意地低头看着他的女儿。“但是这不同。一个小姑娘是一码事，而一头弱小的猪又是另一码事了。”
runty adj身材短小的, 矮小的
runt n 发育不全的矮小动物, 矮子
"I e no difference," replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. "This is the most terrible ca of injustice I ever heard of."
“我看不出有什么不同，”芬回答道，手仍然紧紧抓住斧子。“这是我所见过的最可怕的不公正。”
A queer look came over John Arable’s face. He emed almost ready to cry himlf.
一种奇怪的表情出现在约翰阿瑞博的脸上。他似乎就要准备哭起来了。
"All right," he said. "You go back to the hou and I will bring the runt when I come in. I’ll let you start it on a bottle, like a baby. Then you’ll e what trouble a pig can be."
“好吧，”他说道。“你先回屋里去，等我进去的时候我会把那只发育不完全的小猪带来。我要让你从用奶瓶喂奶开始照顾它，就像它是一个婴儿。然后你会明白这头猪会是一个怎样的麻烦。”
When Mr. Arable returned to the hou half an hour later, he carried a carton under his arm. Fern was upstairs changing her sneakers. The kitchen table was t for breakfast, and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood smoke f
rom the stove.
半个小时后，当阿瑞博先生返回时，他的胳膊下夹着一个纸板箱。芬在楼上换球鞋。厨房的餐桌上摆着早餐，屋里充满了咖啡、熏火腿、潮湿的灰泥，以及炉子里木头的烟的味道。
carton硬纸盒, 纸板箱行业环境分析
damp plaster潮湿的灰泥
"Put it on her chair!" said Mrs. Arable. Mr. Arable t the carton down at Fern’s place. Then he walked to the sink and washed his hands and dried them on the roller towel.
“把这个放在她的椅子上！”阿瑞博太太说道。阿瑞博先生就把纸板箱放在了芬的座位上。接着他走到水池子边上洗洗手，又用架在毛巾架上的毛巾擦干。
Fern came slowly down the stairs. Her eyes were red from crying. As she approached her chair, the carton wobbled, and there was a scratching noi. Fern looked at her father. Then she lifted the lid of the carton. There, inside, looking up at her, was the newborn pig. It was a white one. The morning light shone through its ears, turning them pink.
芬从楼上慢吞吞地走下来。她的眼睛还因为哭过而红红的。当她走近她的座位时，纸板箱晃动起来，从里面传出擦刮的声音。芬望着她的爸爸，然后她打开了纸板箱的盖子。那儿，就在里面，正抬头看着她的，是一只刚出生的小猪。这是一只白色的猪崽。早晨的光线穿过它的耳朵照过来，使耳朵变成了粉红色。
