英语童话故事：邪恶的东方女巫之死 Death of the Wicked Witch of the East

She was awakened 1 by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it was, the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened; and dog Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined 2 sadly. Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.



多萝茜被一阵突如比来的剧烈的震动惊醒，如果她没有躺在柔软的床上，她可能会受伤的。震动使她屏住呼吸，寻思着发生的事;小狗托托把它冰冷的小鼻子放到她的脸上，凄惨地哀叫着。多萝茜坐起来，发现房子不动了，天也不黑了，明亮的阳光从窗口照进来，照满了小屋。她从床上一跃而起，跑过去开门，托托跟在她脚边。



The little girl gave a cry of amazement 3 and looked about her, her eyes growing bigger and bigger at the wonderful sights she saw.



女孩惊讶地叫了起来，她环顾四周，看到一幕幕奇特的景象，眼睛睁得越来越大。



The cyclone 4 had set the house down very gently in the midst of a country of great beauty. There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich fruits. Banks of attractive flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook 5, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.



旋风极为轻盈地把房子降落在一个风景秀丽的国家的中央。到处是一块一块的绿草地，庄严的树木结着丰饶甜美的果实。斜坡上遍布若迷人的鲜花，鸟儿们披着军见的亮丽的羽毛.在树木和灌木丛间歌唱飞舞。不远处是一条小溪，沿着绿色的堤岸奔流不息，熠熠发光，发出潺潺的流水声，这对于一个在干旱的灰色草原上住了很久的小女孩来说实在太令人愉快了。



While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact,they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older.



当她站在那里，急切地注视着这些奇特美丽的景观时，她注意到一群人向她走来，这是她见过的最奇异的人。他们没有她看惯了的成人那么高大，但他们也并不是非常矮小。事实上，他们似乎和多萝茜一样高，按照年龄来讲，多萝茜算是一个长得很高的孩子。从外貌来看，这群人比她大许多。



Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled 6 sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman's hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened 7 in the sun like diamonds. The men were dressed in blue,of the same shade as their hats, and wore well-polished boots. The men, Dorothy thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards. But the little woman was doubtless much older. Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.



他们当中有三名男子和一名妇女，全都穿着古怪。他们戴着圆帽子，帽子离头有一英尺高，中间耸起一个小小的尖顶，帽檐四周拄着小铃档，他们一动，铃档就发出悦耳的叮铃声。男人们的帽子是蓝色的，女人的帽子一呈白色，她穿着一件带褶的白色袍子，从肩膀上垂下来，上面闪耀着小星星，在阳光下像钻石般耀眼。男人们身着蓝色衣裳，色调和帽了一致，脚穿擦得亮闪闪的靴子。多萝茜想，他们和亨利叔叔年纪差不多，因为其中两个长着胡须。但妇人无疑就大多了，她满脸皱纹，头发几乎全白，走起路来相当僵硬。



When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing 8 in the doorway 9,

they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid to come farther. But the little old

woman walked up to Dorothy, made a low bow and said, in a sweet voice:



当这些人走近屋子时，多萝茜正站在门口，他们停下来互相低语，好像不敢再向前迈进。不过瘦小的老妇人走到多萝茜面前，深深地鞠了一躬，用甜美的声音说：



"You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage 10."



“欢迎你，最高贵的魔法师，来到芒奇金人的国度。我们很感激你杀死了邪恶的东方女巫，感谢你把我们的人民从奴役中解放出来。”



Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she had killed the Wicked Witch of the East?Dorothy was an innocent, harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles from home; and she had never killed anything in all her life.



多萝茜惊讶地听着这番话。老妇人叫她女巫，还说她杀死了东方坏女巫，这可能意味着什么呢？多萝茜是个无辜的、不会造成任何伤害的小女孩，从许多英里之外的地方被龙卷风带到这里，而且她从来没有杀害过任何事物。



But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation,"You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything."



但妇人显然期待着她回答，于是多萝茜犹豫地说:“你太好了，但一定是有些错误，我没有杀过任何东西。”



"Your house did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a laugh, "and that is the same thing. See!" she continued, pointing to the corner of the house. "Them are her two feet, still sticking out from under a block of wood."



“不管怎样，你的房子杀死了东方女巫”，老妇人笑着答道，“这是一回事。你瞧!”她继续说着，指着屋子的一角。“她的两只脚还伸在木板外呢。”



Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright.There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver ,shoes with pointed 11 toes.



多萝茜看了看，惊叫了一声。确实，就在屋了一坐落的巨大横梁的角上，两只脚伸了出来，穿着银色尖头的鞋子。



课堂笔记

1.这句话使用了虚拟语气，"if"引导的条件从句为过去完成时，表示与过去相反的假设，主句的谓语部分是“might have done"，表示假设可能导致的结果。

2."as it is / as it turns out"意思为“实际情况是”，用于区别两种不同的情况，表示一种反差。

3.副词短语"a little way off'’置于句首，主语后置构成倒装，由"rushing,  sparkling"和 "murmuring”构成的并列分词短语用作定语，修饰主语“brook"。由“who”引导的定语从句用来修饰“girl".

4.常用句型结构“as ... as...”中第一个“as”为副词，后接形容词或副词，第二个"as"为连词，连接从句.本句中as后的从句应为“the grown folk was"，从句中“be”动词往往予以省略."folk"之后是一个定语从句.其中"be used to"在此表示“习惯于……”.

5.固定结构“be grateful to sb. for sth./doing sth.”表示"因为…而感谢某人”。与此同意的搭配还有:"be thankful to sb. for sth./doing sth;thank sb.for sth./doing sth.;show gratitude 12 to sb. for sth./doing sth.”等。