拙译《杀死一只知更鸟》230208

Miss Caroline began the day by reading us a story about cats. The cats had long conversations with one another, they wore cunning little clothes and lived in a warm house beneath a kitchen stove. By the time Mrs. Cat called the drugstore for an order of chocolate malted mice the class was wriggling like a bucketful of catawba worms. Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged, denim-shirted and flour sack-skirted first grade, most of whom had chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature. Miss Caroline came to the end of the story and said, “Oh, my, wasn’t that nice?” Caroline女士当天第一件事就是给我们读一篇关于猫的故事。猫咪们互相交谈了许久，牠们身穿狡猾的小衣服，住在厨房灶炉下一个温暖的房子里。等到猫夫人给药店打电话下单要巧克力麦芽糖制成的小老鼠的时候，班上的同学们已经骚动得像装满了一桶的Catawba虫子一样。Caroline女士似乎没有意识到衣衫褴褛、穿牛仔衬衣和面粉麻袋裙子的一年级同学们大多数从刚学会走路的时候就摘棉花和喂猪，接触不到富于想象力的文学。Caroline女士讲完故事然后说，“哦！我的老天！那难道不好吗？”