Adventure of Mr Mocker
Ⅰthe lone traveler
When Mistress Spring starts from way down South to bring joy and gladness to the Green Meadows and the Green Forest, the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, a great many travelers start with her or follow her. Winsome Bluebird goes just a little way ahead of her, for Winsome is the herald of Mistress Spring. Then comes Honker the Goose, and all the world hearing his voice from way, way up in the blue, blue sky knows that truly Mistress Spring is on her way. And with her come Little Friend the Song Sparrow, and Cheerful Robin and Mr. and Mrs. Redwing. Then follow other travelers, ever so many of them, all eager to get back to the beautiful Green Forest and Green Meadows.
春姑娘迈着轻盈的步伐从南方启程。她给一望无际的草原和幽深的森林带来无限生机。小溪开始奔腾，池塘泛起涟漪。大群的旅行者也和春姑娘一道，从南方启程。春的使者——迷人的蓝鸟打了前阵。天鹅引颈长歌，响彻云霄，预告春姑娘的到来。春天的小朋友——北美歌雀、罗宾鸟，以及红翼鸫夫妇，尾随而来。接下来，其他的旅行者，都急不可待地返回了美丽无比的大森林和草原。
Now there are a few feathered folk who think the far away South is quite good enough for them to live there all the year round. Ol’ Mistah Buzzard used to think that way. Indeed, he used to think that there was no place like the dear“Ol’ Souf,”and it wasn't until he went looking for his old friend, Unc’ Billy Possum, who had come up to live in the Green Forest, that he found out how nice it is where the Laughing Brook dances down through the Green Forest to the Smiling Pool and then through the Green Meadows to the Big River. Now, when he is sure that there is no danger that he will have cold feet or that he will catch cold in his bald head, he likes to come up to spend the summer near Unc’ Billy Possum.
然而，仍有少数家伙认为，遥远的南方非常适合他们在那里居住上一整年。老秃鹫就这样想。事实上，他已经习惯并且爱上了有着古老灵魂的南部。但是，当他去寻找他的老朋友，早已搬回大森林居住的负鼠比利的时候，他才发现寒冷的北方已经变得如此美丽。溪水在茂盛的大森林中奔腾而下，流入波光粼粼的池塘，然后穿过绿色的草原上，汇集成大河。他已经确认，这里不再冻手冻脚，他可以在这个温暖的森林里，与负鼠相伴，度过炎炎夏日。
Of course Ol’ Mistah Buzzard has wonderful stories to tell when he goes back South in the fall, and all winter long he warms his toes on the chimney tops while he tells his friends about the wonderful things he has seen in his travels. Now there is a certain friend of his, and of Unc’ Billy Possum, who had listened to these stories for a long time without seeming in the least interested. But he was. Yes, Sir, he was. He was so much interested that he began to wish he could see for himself all these things Ol’ Mistah Buzzard was telling about. But he didn’t say a word, not a word. He just listened and listened and then went on about his business.
每当秋季来临，老秃鹫返回南方。他会整日站立在烟囱顶部，一边暖脚，一边对朋友们讲述他旅行过程中经历的那些精彩故事。有这么一个朋友，既是他的朋友，也是负鼠比利的朋友，默默听这些故事听了许久。表面上，他不说一句话，只是默默地听着，然后做自己的事情，但是在内心深处，他却异常渴望着能亲身经历所有的这些。
But when all the other little people in feathers had flown to that far away country Ol’ Mistah Buzzard had told about, even Ol’ Mistah Buzzard himself, then did this friend of his, and of Unc’ Billy Possum, make up his mind that he would go too. He didn’t say anything about it to any one, but he just started off by himself. Now of course he didn’t know the way, never having been that way before, but he kept on going and going, keeping out of sight as much as he could, and asking no questions. Sometimes he wondered if he would know the Green Forest when he reached it, and then he would remember how Ol’ Mistah Buzzard dearly loves to fly round and round high up in the blue, blue sky.
春天里，当其他那些长着羽毛的小朋友都飞往南方，甚至连老秃鹫和负鼠都迁向南方的时候，这个朋友也下定决心出发。他没有向任何人透漏自己的想法，独自一人开始旅行。他当然不认路，但是他觉得，只要不停地走，尽可能地飞，就不会有问题。有的时候，他也会纳闷，自己会不会已经抵达大森林却仍不知晓，他会记得老秃鹫是多么喜欢在蔚蓝上空一圈一圈的飞翔。
“All Ah done got to do is to keep on going till Ah see Brer Buzzard,” thought he. So he traveled and traveled without speaking to any one, and always looking up in the blue, blue sky. Then one day he saw a black speck high up in the blue, blue sky, and it went round and round and round and round. Finally it dropped down, down, down until it disappeared among the trees.
“我所需做的就是不停的飞翔，直到看见老秃鹫为止。”他这样想着，继续他的孤独之旅，不停的在蔚蓝上空寻觅。一天，他在蔚蓝上空发现一粒小小的黑点，不停的划着圈圈，然后下降，下降，消失在一片绿荫当中。
“It’s Brer Buzzard and that must be the Green Forest where Unc’ Billy Possum lives,”thought he lone traveler, and chuckled. “Ah reckon Ah’ll give Unc’ Billy a surprise. Yes, Sah, Ah reckon so.”
“这一定是秃鹫和负鼠居住的森林。”这位孤独的旅行者暗自想着，咯咯笑起来，“我想，秃鹫会大吃一惊的。”
And all the time Unc’ Billy Possum and Ol’ Mistah Buzzard knew nothing at all about the coming of their old friend and neighbor, but thought him far, far away down in Ol’ Virginny where they had left him.
这时，老秃鹫和负鼠对他们老朋友和邻居即将到来的情况一无所知，他们以为他仍在遥远的Ol’ Virginny。
Ⅱ UNC’ BILLY POSSUM GROWS EXCITED
UNC’S BILLY POSSUM sat at the foot of the great hollow tree in which his home is. Unc’ Billy felt very fine that morning. He had had a good breakfast, and you know a good breakfast is one of the best things in the world to make one feel fine. Then Unc’s Billy’s worries were at an end, for Farmer Brown’s boy no longer hunted with his dreadful gun through the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows. Then, too, old Granny Fox and Reddy Fox had moved way, way off to the Old Pasture on the edge of the mountain, and so Unc’ Billy felt that his eight little Possums could play abourt without danger.
2. 兴奋无比的负鼠比利
负鼠比利享受完一顿非常棒的早餐，悠闲地坐在自家那棵中空的大树脚下。农夫布朗家的男孩子已经很久没有举着可怕的枪在森林和草原上转悠了。德国老狐狸和狐狸雷迪也早已离开这里前往山谷边缘。因此，负鼠比利觉得自家那八只小宝宝可以安全的在外面玩耍了。
So he sat with his back to the great hollow tree, wondering if it wouldn’t be perfectly safe for him to slip up to Farmer Brown’s hen-house in the dark of the next night for some fresh eggs. He could hear old Mrs. Possum cleaning house and scolding the little Possums who kept climbing up on her back. As he listened, Unc’Billy grinned and began to sing in a queer cracked voice:
“Mah ol’ woman am a plain ol’ dame—
’deed she am! ’Deed she am!
Quick with her broom, with her tongue the same—
’Deed she am! ’Deed she am!
But she keeps mah house all spick and span;
She has good vittles fo’her ol’man;
She spanks the chillun, but she loves’em, too;
She sho’am sharp, but she’s good and true—
’Deen she am! ’Deed she am!
他背靠中空大树坐着，寻思着自己能不能在明晚趁黑到农夫布朗家的鸡舍摸几个鸡蛋。屋里，负鼠太太一边打扫着卫生，一边责骂那些不停往身上爬的小宝宝们。负鼠比利听着，不禁咧嘴一笑，用古怪的沙哑的嗓音哼起小曲：
“哦，有这么一个普通的老妇人，
一边快速挥动着她的扫帚，
一边使劲扯着喉咙
她就是这样做事情
她把房间整理得井井有条
她给她的老头吃好的
她虽然会打宝宝，但是很爱他们
她虽然刻薄，但是善良又诚实
她就是这样一个普通的老妇人”
“You’all better stop lazing and hustle about fo’something fo’dinner,” said old Mrs. Possum, sticking her sharp little face out of the door way.
“你别再偷懒，赶快去找些吃的吧。”老负鼠太太板着脸冲着门外喊。
“Yas’m, yas’m, Ah was just aiming to do that very thing,” replied Unc’ Billy meekly, as he scrambled to his feet.
“遵命，遵命。我正准备去呢。”比利温顺地回答着，麻利地爬了起来。
Just then out tumbled his eight children, making such a racket that Unc’ Billy clapped both hands over his ears. “Mah goodness gracious sakes alive!” he exclaimed. One pulled Unc’ Billy’s tail. Two scrambled up on his back. In two minutes Unc’ Billy was down on the ground, rolling and tumbling in the maddest kind of a frolic with his eight children.
就在这时，他那八个小淘气吵吵嚷嚷地从树洞里掉了出来。比利不得不用双手捂住耳朵。“老天爷，饶了我吧!”他惊呼道。一个宝宝拉住他的尾巴，两个宝宝爬上他的背。一转眼，比利已经被扑到在地，与他那八个淘气包滚在一起，乱笑成一团。
Right in the midst of it Unc’ Billy sprang to his feet. His eyes were shinning, and his funny little ears were pricked up. “Hush, yo’alls!” he commanded. “How do yo’alls think Ah can hear anything with yo’alls making such a racket?” He boxed the ears of one and shook another, and then, when all were still, he stood with his right hand behind his right ear, listening and listening.
比利好不容易在这混乱中站起身来，他的眼睛闪闪发亮，他那可笑的小耳朵竖着。“你们这些小家伙，”他命令着：“这么乱哄哄的劲儿，我怎么能听的见？”他拍拍一只耳朵，摇摇另一只耳朵，好不容易，八个宝宝安静下来。他侧着右耳，听了又听。
“Ah cert’nly thought Ah heard the voice of an ol’ friend from way down Souf! Ah cert’nly did!” he muttered, and without another word he started off into the Green Forest, more excited than he had been since his family came up from “Ol’ Virginny.”
“你们一定以为我听到我们南方老朋友的声音了呢。一定是这样。”他嘟囔着，兴奋地向森林深处走去。
Ⅲ UNC’ BILLY’S VAIN SEARCH
Unc’ Billy possum was excited. Any one would have known it just to look at him. He hurried off up the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest without even saying good-by to old Mrs. Possum and all the little Possums. They just stared after Unc’ Billy and didn’t know what to make of it, for such a thing as Unc’ Billy forgeeting to say good-by had never happened before. Yes, indeed, Unc’ Billy certainly was excited.
负鼠比利的徒劳寻找
负鼠比利太兴奋了。没人知道是为什么。他匆忙的沿着孤独小径往大森林深处走去，甚至没有向老负鼠太太和他的宝宝们说再见。他们望着比利的背影，不知道是为什么导致他忘记向大家告别，这可是从没发生过的事情。是的，负鼠比利真的是非常兴奋。
Old Mrs. Possum sat in the doorway of their home in the great hollow tree and watched Unc’ Billy out of sight. Her sharp little eyes seemed to grow sharper as she watched. “Ah done sent that no-account Possum to hunt fo’ something fo’ dinner, but ’pears to me he’s plumb forgot it already,” she muttered. “Just look at him with his head up in the air like he thought dinner fo’ we uns would drap right down to him out o’ the sky! If he’s aiming to find a bird’s nest with eggs in it this time o’ year, he sho’ly am plumb foolish in his haid. No, Sah! That onery Possum has clean fo’gotten what Ah just done tole him, and if we uns am going to have any dinner, Ah cert’nly have got to flax’round right smart spry mahself!”
老负鼠太太坐在大门口，用那双锐利的小眼睛望着比利的身影越来越远，最后消失在森林深处。“一句话不说就去找吃的？”她喃喃自语道：“恐怕他早就忘记了。瞧瞧他那心不在焉的样子，估计早把我们抛到九霄云外了。靠他给我们找几个鸟蛋简直就是妄想。不知道他那个脑袋里除了蠢想法还有什么！只有靠我自己了。”
Old Mrs. Possum chased the eight little Possums into the house and warned them not to so much as put their heads outside the door while she was gone. Then she started out to hunt for their dinner, still muttering as she went.
老负鼠太太把八个宝宝锁在家里，警告他们妈妈不在家的时候不要随便把头伸出家门。然后，她一路抱怨着，出去找吃的了。
Old Mrs. Possum was quite right. Unc’ Billy had forgotten all about that dinner. You see he had something else on his mind. While he had been playing with his children, he had thought that he heard a voice way off in the distance, and it had sounded very, very much like the voice of an old friend from way down South in “Ol’ Virginny.” He had listened and listened but didn’t hear it again, and yet he was sure he had heard it that once. The very thought that that old friend of his might be somewhere in the Green Forest excited Unc’ Billy so that it fairly made him homesick. He just had to go look for him.
老负鼠太太猜的对极了。比利已经完全忘记晚餐的事情，另一件事情占据了他的整个脑海。当他和宝宝们玩耍的时候，他似乎听到远处传来熟悉的声音，似乎是某个居住在“Ol’ Virginny”的老朋友的声音。他仔细的听了又听，但是再也听不到了。不过，他仍然很肯定刚刚他的确听到老朋友的声音了。一个老朋友可能现在就在大森林的某个地方。这个想法令他兴奋不已，令他突然产生思乡的情愫。于是，他决定去寻找那位老朋友。
So all the rest of that day Unc’ Billy Possum walked and walked through the Green Forest, peering up in the tree-tops and looking into the bushes until his neck ached. But nowhere did he catch a glimpse of his old friend. The longer he looked, the more excited he grew.
这天的剩余时间，比利都花在寻找老朋友这件事上。他在大森林里越走越深，爬到树顶极目远眺，猫在灌木丛里掏来掏去，直到他的脖子疼起来，朋友仍然踪迹全无。他寻找的越久，就越兴奋。
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Jimmy Skunk, meeting Unc’ billy on the Crooked Little Path near the top of the hill.
在小山顶的那条弯弯曲曲小径上，比利遇到了臭鼬吉米。“你在干什么？”吉米问他。
“Nuffin, nuffin, Sah! Ah’m just walking fo’mah health,” replied Unc’ Billy over his shoulder, as he hurried on. You see he didn’t like to tell any one what he thought he had heard, for fear that it might not be true, and then they would laugh at him.
“哈，哈，我只是随便散步，为了健康。”比利打着哈哈说着，赶快溜走了。他不愿意告诉别人他的想法，一旦他听错了，别人会因此而取笑他。
“Didn’t suppose Unc’ Billy ever worried about his health, ” muttered Jimmy Skunk with a puzzled look, as he watched Unc’ Billy disappear.
吉米困惑的看着比利远去的背影，自言自语道：“比利什么时候开始担心自己的健康了？”
Just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun dropped out of sight behind the Purple Hills, Unc’ Billy gave it up and turned toward home. His neck ached from looking up in the tree-tops, and his feet were sore from walking. And just then Unc’ Billy for the first time thought of that dinner that Mrs. Possum had sent him to get. Unc’ Billy sat down and mopped his brow in dismay.
“Ah’ specks Ah’m in fo’it this time, sho’ enough! ”he said.
日落西山，夜幕降临。比利终于放弃寻找朋友的踪影，脖子酸疼，步履蹒跚，慢慢往家走。突然，比利想起负鼠太太让他为晚餐寻找食物的事儿来。他一屁股坐到地上，惊慌的揉着眉毛，喃喃自语道：“这回可糟了，老太婆有的说了。”
Ⅳ UNC’ BILLY COMES HOME
Unc’ Billy possum crept along in the darkest shadows he could find as he drew near to the great hollow tree which is his home.
负鼠比利回家
离自家那个大树洞越来越近了。在黑暗的阴影里，比利蹑手蹑脚地往前走着。
“Ah’ specks Ah’m in fo’ it. Ah’ specks Ah sho’ly am in fo’it this time,”he kept muttering.
“真糟糕，真糟糕。”他不停的嘟囔着。
So Unc’ Billy crept along in the black shadows until he got where he could look up and see his own doorway. Then he sat down and watched a while. All was still. There wasn’t a sound in the great hollow tree.
比利已经能看到自家的大门了。他不敢贸然进去，于是坐下，观察着。四周一片寂静。大树洞里一点声音都没有。
“Perhaps mah ol’woman am out calling, and Ah can slip in and go to bed before she gets back,” said Unc’ Billy hopefully to himself, as he started to climb the great hollow tree.
“也许老太婆出去了。我可以趁她回来之前溜进去睡觉。”比利给自己打气儿，开始慢慢爬向大树洞。
But at the first scratch of his toe-nails on the bark the sharp face of old Mrs. Possum appeared in the doorway.
“Good evening, mah dear,” said Unc’ Billy, in the mildest kind of a voice.
然而，他的爪子刚发出悉悉索索的声音，老负鼠太太那张尖锐而聪明的脸就出现在树洞门口。
“我亲爱的，晚安。”比利用最最温柔的嗓音打招呼。
Old Mrs. Possum said nothing, but Unc’ Billy felt as if her sharp black eyes were looking right through him.
老负鼠太太沉默着。但比利能感觉到，太太锐利的眼神把他都戳透了。
Unc’ Billy grinned a sickly kind of grin as he said: “Ah hopes yo’alls are feeling good tonight.”
比利胆怯的露齿一笑，继续说：“我希望你们大家今晚过得都不错。”
“Where’s that dinner Ah sent yo’ fo’”demanded old Mrs. Possum sharply.
“我叫你找的食物在哪儿？”老负鼠太太尖利地问。
Unc’s Billy fidged uneasily. “Ah done brought yo’ two eggs from Farmer Brown’s hen-house,” he replied meekly.
比利坐立不安，他温顺地说：“我从农夫布朗的鸡舍给你弄了两个蛋。”
“Two eggs! Two eggs! How do yo’ think Ah am going to feed eight hungry mouths on two eggs?”snapped old Mrs. Possum.
“两个鸡蛋！你为啥不想想，要填饱八个孩子，两个鸡蛋够吗？”老负鼠太太呵斥道。
Unc’ Billy hung his head. He hadn’t a word to say. He just couldn’t tell her that he had spent the whole day tramping through the Green Forest looking for an old friend, whose voice he had thought he heard, when he ought to have been helping her find a dinner for the eight little Possums. No, Sir, Unc’ Billy hadn’t a word to say.
比利觉得自己只有抹脖子上吊才能取得太太的谅解。他不敢告诉太太，就是因为自己的错觉，他抛弃了为八个可怜的小宝宝寻找食物的责任，在森林里转了一整天，找自己的老朋友。不！他不能说一个字。
My, my, my, how old Mrs. Possum did scold, as she came down the great hollow tree to get the two eggs. Unc’ Billy knew that he deserved every bit of it. He felt very miserable, and he was too tired to have a bit of spirit left. So he just sat at the foot of the great hollow tree and said nothing, while old Mrs. Possum bit a hole in the end of one egg and began to suck it. All the time she was looking at Unc’ Billy with those sharp eyes of hers. When she had finished the egg, she pushed the other over to him.
“Yo’ eat that!” she said shortly. “Yo’ look as if yo’ hadn’t had anything to eat to-day”(which was true). “Then yo’ hustle up to bed; it’s all ready fo’ yo’.”
老负鼠太太爬出树洞，拿着那两个鸡蛋，不住气儿的骂呀，骂呀。比利知道这是他罪有应得。他觉得很悲哀，也想为自己留点尊严，于是他坐在大树洞下面，一句话也不说。老负鼠太太把一个蛋磕破，吮吸着，仍然用尖利的目光瞪着他。吃完了，她把另一个鸡蛋推给比利。“你吃！”她简短的说，“看上去你今天没吃东西（这是真的。）这是你的。吃完就上床睡吧。”
Unc’ Billy did as he was bid, and as he tucked himself into his snug, warm bed he murmured sleepily:
“Ol’ Mrs. Possum has a sharp, sharp tongue,
But her bark is worse than her bite.
For Ol’ Mrs. Possum has a soft, soft heart
Though she hides it way out of sight.”
比利照着做了。当他在温暖舒适的睡床上蜷缩成一团时，他睡意朦胧的喃喃着：
“尽管负鼠太太声音尖利，
但她是刀子嘴，豆腐心。
尽管负鼠太太深藏不漏，
但她有一颗温柔的心。”