031 靴子先生

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Once upon a time, there was a man who had three sons named Peter, Paul, and Boots

从前，有一个人，他有三个儿子，分别叫皮特、保罗和小靴子。

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The father was very poor. He didn't have a single penny to give to his sons

这位父亲非常贫穷，连一个便士都没有留给儿子们。

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One day he said to his sons," I am poor. I have nothing to give you

一天，他对儿子们说：“我很穷，没什么能给你们的。

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It is time for you to lead your own lives in the world."

你们是时候该出去闯荡，去过你们自己的生活了。”

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As the brothers were preparing to start their new lives, a man came to their town

正当兄弟们准备开始他们的新生活时，有个人来到了镇上。

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He said to everyone," Our great king has two terrible tasks

他对所有人说：“我们伟大的国王有两个艰巨的任务要交代。

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First, you must chop down a giant oak tree that is blocking his window

首先，必须砍倒一棵挡住了他窗户的阳光的巨大橡树。

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Next, you must dig him a well. If you complete these two tasks, he will give you half of his kingdom and half of his treasure

接着，必须为他挖一口井。如果你们能完成这两项任务，他会把他半个王国和一半财富分给你。

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If you fail these tasks, you will be sent to a faraway island."

如果你们失败了，就会被放逐到一个遥远的荒岛。”

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The father was delighted. The tasks did not seem too hard

父亲听了很高兴。这些任务看起来没太难呢。

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The brothers were delighted because they had already chopped down many trees and dug a well for their father

兄弟们很高兴，因为他们已经为父亲砍过许多树，也挖过井。

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They set off for the palace with dreams of gold and jewels

他们满怀对金银财宝的梦想，向宫殿出发了。

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What the king's messenger had not said was that as soon as one chip of the oak's trunk flew off, two more grew back in its place

但国王的信使没说，橡树树干一旦被劈下一块木屑，原处就会立刻长出两块。

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The king's messenger also forgot to say that the king's palace was on top of a high hill, and that this hill was made of solid rock

国王的信使也忘了说，国王的宫殿坐落在一座高山上，而那座山全是坚硬的岩石。

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When the brothers entered the forest, they heard something chopping and hacking away among the trees

当兄弟们走进森林时，他们听到树林里传来叮叮当当砍东西的声音。

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" Do you hear that sound?" asked Boots

“你们听到那个声音了吗？”靴子问。

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" Yes," said Peter and Paul together

“听到了。”彼得和保罗异口同声地说。

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" Is it unusual for a woodcutter to chop trees?" asked Paul

“樵夫砍树有什么奇怪的吗？”保罗问。

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" No, but this sounds strange," said Boots." I want to see what it is."

“没有，但这声音听起来怪怪的，”靴子说，“我想去看看是什么。”

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" Oh, Boots! You're the one who is strange

“哎呀，靴子！你才奇怪呢。

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Our father was too poor to give you a real name, so he named you after an old pair of boots." His brothers laughed

我们的父亲太穷了，没法给你起个像样的名字，所以就用一双旧靴子给你命名了。”他的哥哥们大笑起来。

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Boots didn't care what they said

靴子才不管他们说什么。

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He walked towards the noise, and when he reached where it was coming from, he couldn't believe what he saw

他朝着声音走去，等走到它传出的地方时，他简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。

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There hung an ax, hacking and chopping all by itself

那儿悬着一把斧头，正自己砍个不停。

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" Good day!" said Boots." You look busy. Can I help you?"

“你好呀！”靴子说，“你看起来很忙。需要帮忙吗？”

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" Yes, I am busy. And, yes, you can help

“是的，我很忙。而且，是的，你可以帮忙。

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I've stood here chopping and hacking for a long time waiting for you," said the ax

我已经站在这儿砍了很久，一直在等你呢。”斧头说。

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" Well, I'm here, and you can come with us," said Boots

“嗯，我来了，你可以跟我们一起走。”靴子说。

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He took the ax and tucked it under his belt

他拿起斧头，把它别在腰带上。

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From the forest the brothers walked into the mountains

兄弟们离开森林，走进了山里。

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The mountains were very rocky, but soon they heard a noise that sounded like digging

山峦岩石嶙峋，但不久他们听到了一个像是挖土的声音。

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" I wonder," said Boots," what could be digging and shoveling in all this rock?"

“我好奇，”靴子说，“在这么多的岩石里，什么东西在又挖又铲呢？”

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" There you go acting strange again. Poor Boots." Peter laughed

“你又犯怪了。可怜的靴子。”彼得笑道。

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" It's just a woodpecker," continued Paul

“只不过是只啄木鸟罢了，”保罗接着说。

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" This sounds different," said Boots." I think I'll go see what it is."

“这声音不一样，”靴子说，“我想去看看那是什么。”

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He climbed up the rocks. His brothers laughed and made fun of him

他爬上了岩石。他的兄弟们笑了起来，取笑他。

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But he didn't let their teasing upset him

但他没有让他们的逗弄扰乱自己。

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When he got to the top, he couldn't believe what he saw

当他到了顶上，他无法相信眼前所见。

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There was a shovel that stood digging all by itself

那里有一把铲子，自己立在那里挖着土。

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" Good day!" said Boots." You look busy. Can I help you?"

“你好！”靴子说，“你看起来很忙。我能帮你吗？”

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" Yes, I am busy," said the shovel," and yes, you can help

“是的，我很忙，”铲子说，“是的，你可以帮忙。”

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I've stood here digging and shoveling for a long time waiting for you."

我在这里挖了很久，一直在等你。”

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" Well, I'm here, and you can come with us," said Boots

“嗯，我来了，你可以跟我们走。”靴子说。

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He took the shovel and put it over his shoulder

他拿起铲子，扛在肩上。

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After climbing over the mountains, the brothers were thirsty, so they stopped at a brook

翻过山后，兄弟们都渴了，于是在一条小溪边停了下来。

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" I wonder where all this water comes from," said Boots

“我想知道这些水都是从哪里来的。”靴子说。

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" We wonder if you're sick in the head." Peter and Paul laughed

“我们倒想知道你是不是脑子有病。”彼得和保罗笑道。

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" Still I would like to see it for myself," said Boots

“但我还是想亲眼去看看。”靴子说。

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" You're crazy, or you'll go crazy soon," said Paul

“你疯了，或者很快就疯了。”保罗说。

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" The brook's here; that's all that matters. Who cares where it comes from?"

“小溪就在这里，这才是重要的。谁在乎它从哪里来？”

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" Still I'd like to see it just the same," said Boots. So he went away

"不过我还是想去看看。"靴子说道，于是他便走开了。

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He followed the brook and soon he could no longer hear the laughter of his brothers

他沿着小溪走，很快就听不到哥哥们的笑声了。

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The brook got smaller and smaller, and finally he couldn't believe what he saw

小溪变得越来越小，最后，他简直不敢相信自己看到的景象。

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There was a large walnut, and out of that walnut came a stream of water

那里有一颗大核桃，一股水流正从那核桃里流出来。

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" Good day!" said Boots." You look busy. Can I help?"

"你好！" 靴子说。"你看起来很忙。需要帮忙吗？"

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" Yes, I am," said the walnut." And yes, you can, because I have let this water run for a long time waiting for you."

"是的，我很忙，"核桃说，"而且，是的，你可以帮忙，因为我已经让这水流了很久，就是在等你。"

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" Well, I'm here," said Boots. He plugged the hole with some moss, so the water wouldn't run out anymore

"嗯，我来了。"靴子说。他用一些苔藓塞住了洞口，这样水就不会再流出来了。

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Then he stuffed the walnut into his pocket

然后他把核桃塞进了自己的口袋里。

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His brothers hadn't waited for him

他的哥哥们并没有等他。

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They decided that they didn't want to share the kingdom and the treasure with their strange brother, Boots

他们决定，不想和他们的怪弟弟靴子分享王国和财宝。

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The oak was now twice as wide and twice as tall as it had been at first because two chips grew for every one chopped out

那棵橡树现在比最初粗了一倍、高了一倍，因为每砍掉一块木屑，就会长出两块。

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When Boots reached the city, his two brothers had already tried and failed

当靴子到达城里时，他的两个哥哥已经试过并失败了。

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The king was very angry; he had seen many men try and fail

国王非常生气；他已经见过许多人尝试又失败了。

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He looked at Boots and said," If you are going to perform as well as your brothers, then go directly to the ship

他看着靴子说：“如果你打算表现得跟你哥哥们一样，那就直接去船上吧。”

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I don't want to watch another person fail."

我不想再看到有人失败了。”

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" Well, I can't succeed unless I try," said Boots

“嗯，不试试怎么知道会不会成功呢。”靴子说道。

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The king wasn't happy, but he gave Boots permission, and Boots took out his ax

国王不太高兴，但还是准许了，靴子便拿出了他的斧头。

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" Chop away!" he said to the ax, and away it chopped

“砍吧！”他对斧头说道，斧头就使劲砍了起来。

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It chopped out four chips for every two that grew back, so it wasn't long before the old oak came down

每长回两块木屑，它就砍掉四块，所以没过多久，那棵老橡树就倒下了。

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When that was done, Boots took out his shovel

砍完树后，靴子拿出了他的铲子。

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" Dig away!" he said to the shovel. And the shovel began to dig and dig

“挖吧！”他对铲子说道。铲子就开始挖呀挖。

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The rocks flew like leaves in the wind

石头像风中的落叶一样四处飞溅。

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Soon he had dug the well, but still there was no water

很快他就挖好了井，但依然没有水。

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Boots took out the walnut, he placed it in one corner of the well, and then he pulled out the moss

靴子拿出了那个核桃，把它放在井的一个角落里，然后拔掉了苔藓。

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" Run away!" said Boots. And so the water ran out

“流出来吧！”靴子说道。水就流了出来。

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At first the well filled with water very slowly, but soon the well filled and made a stream

起初，井里蓄水非常缓慢，但很快井就满了，还汇成了一条小溪。

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The king had all the water he could ever want

国王拥有了他想要的所有水。

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The king gave Boots half his kingdom and half his treasure as promised, but he was so pleased with Boots, he said

国王按照承诺，把一半的王国和一半的财富给了靴子，但他对靴子实在太满意了，便说道：

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" Is there anything else that I can give you?"

“还有什么我能给你的吗？”

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Boots thought for a second and said," Well, it would be nice if you'd let all the people who failed come back from the island."

靴子想了一下，说：“嗯，要是你能让所有失败的人都从岛上回来，那就太好了。”

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The king agreed and said," Still that is a gift to those who failed

国王同意了，并说道：“不过，那是给那些失败者的礼物。”

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Is there anything else I can give to you?"

还有什么我能给你的吗？”

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Boots remembered that his brothers made fun of his name, and he said," Yes, I would like to change my name. Can I be called Mr. Boots?"

靴子想起哥哥们曾取笑他的名字，便说：“是的，我想改个名字。我能被称为‘靴子先生’吗？”

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The king smiled and said," Yes, Mr. Boots, you can."

国王微笑着说：“可以，靴子先生，你可以。”