The Velveteen Rabbit 毛絨兔

In this story，you will feel the transformative power of love.

在本故事中,你將感受到愛的力量。愛，帶來了魔力般的變化。

Therewas once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was reallysplendid. On Christmas morning he sat in the top of the Boy』s stocking, There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presentsthe Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.

從前有一隻毛絨兔。開始的時候他非常漂亮。在聖誕節的早上，他就坐在男孩的長筒襪子的頂部。長筒襪里也還有其他的東西，堅果、橙子、玩具車電動老鼠等等。不過毛絨兔是最好的，至少在2個小時里，男孩是非常喜歡他的。可是後來，叔叔阿姨們來赴宴了，給小男孩帶來了各種各樣新的禮物，毛絨兔被遺忘了。

For a long time he lived in the toycupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. Hewas naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they werereal. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse. The skin horse was old, but very wise.

很長時間以來，他就呆在玩具架子上或者育兒室的地板上，沒有人關心他。自然，他很自卑，因為只是用毛絨做成的，一些比較貴的玩具都對他嗤之以鼻。比如，比較高級的機械玩具，就非常看不起其他的玩具，這些機械玩具充滿了現代的想法，就跟他們是真的一樣…….可憐的小兔子覺得自己非常不重要，非常普通，只有皮馬對他還不錯。皮馬很老，可是也很有智慧。

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbitone day, "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

「真的是什麼樣子呢？」 毛絨兔有一天問皮馬，「是否就是裡面有嗡嗡作響的東西，還有一個伸出來的把手？」

"Real isn"t how you are made,"said the Skin Horse. "It"s a thing that happens to you. When a child lovesyou for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

「真的並不是指你是如何被製作的，」 皮馬說，「它是一件發生在你身上的事情，當一個孩子愛你很久很久，不僅僅是玩， 而是真正的愛你，然後你就變成真的了。」

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

「會疼嗎？」 毛絨兔問 。

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse,for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don"t mind being hurt."

「有時候會，」 皮馬說，他一貫真誠。「不過當你變成真的，你就不介意疼痛了。」

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

「它會突然間發生嗎，就像被上了發條一樣？還是逐漸發生的呢？」 他問。

"It doesn"t happen all at once,"said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That"s why it doesn"t often happen to toys who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don"t matter at all, because once you are Real you can"t be ugly, except to those who don"t understand."

「它不會突然發生，」 皮馬說。「你會逐漸變成這樣子。要花上很長一段時間。這就是為什麼它不會發生在容易破碎、有尖銳的邊緣或者需要小心保存的玩具身上. 一般說來，當你變成了真的，你的大部分毛已經掉了，眼睛脫落了，關節鬆懈了，看上去非常破。但是這些都沒有關係，因為一旦你變成真的，你就不可能是醜陋的，除非他們不理解你。」

"I supposeyouare Real?"said the Rabbit. The Skin Horse smiled.

「我猜你就是真的，對嗎？」 毛絨兔說。 皮馬微笑。

"The Boy"s Uncle made me Real,"he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can"t become unreal again. It lasts for always."

「男孩的叔叔使我變成了真的，」 他說。「那是很多很多年以前了，但是一旦你變成了真的，就不會再變回去，會持續到永遠。」

The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it feels ; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.

毛絨兔嘆息，他覺得要過很久，這個叫做「真的」的神奇事情才能發生到他身上。他渴望變成真的，渴望知道那是怎樣的感受。然而一想到要變得很破，要失去眼睛和鬍子就覺得非常沮喪。如果沒有什麼讓人不舒服的事情發生，就直接變成「真的」該多好啊！

There was a person called Nana who ruledthenursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever,she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards.She called this "tidying up," and the play things all hated it,especially the tin ones. The Rabbit didn"t mind it so much, for wherever he was thrown he came down soft.

有一個叫做娜娜的人管理著育兒室。有時候，她就讓玩具到處扔著，根本不管。有時候，卻又毫無緣由的風捲殘雲一般把所有的玩具都扔進櫥櫃里。她把這個叫做「整理」。所有的玩具都不喜歡這樣，尤其是錫制的玩具。毛絨兔倒是不怎麼介意，因為不管怎麼扔，他都能夠柔軟落下來。

One evening, when the Boy was going to bed,he couldn"t find the china dog that always slept with him. Nana was in a hurry,and it was too much trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply looked about her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she made a swoop.

一天晚上，男孩上床睡覺的時候發現一直陪著自己睡覺的陶瓷狗不見了。娜娜正忙著，在這個時間去找陶瓷狗太麻煩了，因此她就環顧左右，看到玩具櫃的門開著，就來了個突然襲擊。

"Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He"ll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy"s arms.

「讓小兔子陪你睡覺吧，一樣的！」 她抓著一隻耳朵把毛絨兔拖了出來，放在男孩的臂彎里。

That night, and for many nights after, the Velveteen Rabbit slept in the Boy』s bed. At first he found it rather uncomfortable, but very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and they had splendid games together……

此後所有的晚上，毛絨兔就睡在男孩的床上，開始他覺得很不舒服，可是不就以後，他就逐漸變得喜歡了，因為男孩總是跟他說話，和他一起做遊戲…..

And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy—so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail coming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him.

隨著時間的推移，毛絨兔越來越快樂了，他是如此快樂以至於他都沒注意到自己漂亮的毛絨已經越來越破舊，他的尾巴也沒那麼順了，因為男孩的親吻，他鼻子上的粉色也被磨掉了。

Spring came, and they had long days in the garden, for wherever the Boy went the Rabbit went too. And once, when the Boy was called away suddenly to go out to tea, the Rabbit was left out on the lawn until long after dusk, and Nana had to come and look for him with the candle because the Boy couldn』t go to sleep unless he was there. He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron.

春天來了，他們總是在花園裡呆很久，因為不管男孩去哪裡，都帶著毛絨兔。一次男孩突然被叫去喝茶，毛絨兔就被落在在草地上，直到天黑以後，娜娜才舉著蠟燭來尋找他，因為男孩沒有了毛絨兔就無法入睡。毛絨兔渾身都被露水打濕了，而且在男孩在花壇上為他挖的洞里弄得渾身是泥。娜娜一邊抱怨一邊用圍裙的一角擦拭著毛絨兔。

"You must have your old Bunny!"she said. "Fancy all that fuss for a toy!"

The Boy sat up in bed and stretched out hishands.

"Give me my Bunny!" he said."You mustn"t say that. He isn』t a toy. He』s REAL!"

「你一定要要這隻舊兔子嗎？」 她說，「這麼個玩具帶來多少麻煩啊！」 男孩從床上坐起來，伸出了他的手。「給我我的小兔子！」他說。「你不可以這樣說，他不是一個玩具，他是真的。」

When the little Rabbit heard that he was happy, for he knew that what the Skin Horse had said was true at last. The nursery magic had happened to him, and he was a toy no longer. He was Real. TheBoy himself had said it.

小兔子聽到這話非常高興，因為皮馬已經對他說過「真的」是怎麼回事。奇蹟已經在他身上發生了，他不再是一個玩具。他是「真的」，男孩已經親口這樣說了。

Near the house where they lived there was a wood, and in the long June evenings the Boy liked to go there after tea to play. He took the Velveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play among the trees, he always made the Rabbit a little nest somewhere , where he would be quite cosy.

在他們家附近有一片樹林，在漫長的六月的午後，男孩在茶點後就跑到那裡去玩。他總是隨身帶著毛絨兔，在他去摘花或者在樹叢間玩耍之前，他總是在附近某個地方給毛絨兔弄個巢穴，讓他覺得非常的舒服。

One evening, while the Rabbit was standing there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws inthe grass, he saw two strange beings. They are furry and brand new.

They were rabbits like himself.

一天下午，小兔子一個人在那站著著，看著螞蟻在草地上， 他的爪子之間來回穿梭，突然，他看到了兩個奇怪的傢伙。他們毛茸茸的，而且很鮮亮。他們是像他一樣的兔子。

They stared at him, and the little Rabbit stared back.

他們盯著他看，他也盯著他們看。

"Why don"t you get up and play with us?" one of them asked.

"I don"t feel like it," said theRabbit, for he didn"t want to explain that he had no clockwork.

"Ho!" said the furry rabbit."It"s as easy as anything." And he gave a big hop sideways and stoodon his hind legs.

"I don"t believe you can!" hesaid.

"I can!" said the little Rabbit."I can jump higher than anything!" He meant when the Boy threw him,but of course he didn"t want to say so.

一個毛茸茸的兔子對他說：「你為什麼不站起來和我們一起玩呢？」 「因為我不想。」毛絨兔說。他不想解釋說他沒有發條裝置。

「不！」 毛茸茸的兔子說。「這非常的容易。」 他大幅度地側著一跳，用後腿站了起來。「我認為你不能！」他說。「我能。」 小兔子說。「我能跳得很高很高。」他的意思是當男孩把他扔起來的時候，可是，當然，他不想這麼說。

The furry rabbit went near him, he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears and jumped backwards.

"He doesn』t smell right!" he exclaimed. "He isn』t a rabbit at all! He isn』t real!"

"IamReal!" said thelittle Rabbit, "I am Real! The Boy said so!" And he nearly began tocry.

毛茸茸的兔子靠近了他，突然皺起鼻子，放平耳朵，向後跳去。「他聞起來不對，他根本不是兔子，他不是真的！」 他喊道。

「我是真的！」 小兔子說。「我是真的！男孩是這麼說的！」 他幾乎要哭出來。

Just then there was a sound of footsteps,and the Boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared.

正在那時，突然傳來腳步聲，男孩走過來了。兩隻奇怪的兔子迅速地跑了。

"Oh, dear!" he thought. "Why did they run away like that? Why couldn"t they go on talking to me?"

小兔子非常疑惑：「天，他們為什麼就那樣逃跑了呢？為什麼不能繼續跟我說話呢？」

Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn』t mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn"t matter.

幾周過去了，小兔子變得非常破舊，但是男孩還是那麼喜歡他。對男孩來說，他一直那麼好看，小兔子覺得很滿足。他不介意其他人怎麼看他，因為他已經變成了真的，這個時候，破舊沒什麼關係了。

And then, one day, the Boy was ill.

有一天，男孩病了。

His face grew very flushed, and he talkedin his sleep all night long, and his little body was so hot that it burned the Rabbit when he held him close. Strange people came and went in the nursery, anda light burned all night, and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him.

他的臉變得緋紅，整夜說夢話，他的小身體那麼熱，被緊緊抱著的毛絨兔都覺得燙。育兒室來了一些陌生人，整夜都亮著燈。小兔子就躲在被子的下面，一動也不敢動，他唯恐有人發現把他帶走，他知道男孩需要他。

It was a long weary time, for the Boy wastoo ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long.

這是一段漫長而令人疲憊的時間，男孩病得太重了，不能夠玩耍了。小兔子整天無所事事，百無聊賴。

Step by step,the Boy got better. He was able to sit up in bed and look at picture books, while the little Rabbit cuddled close at his side. And one day, they let him get up and dress.

男孩逐漸好轉起來，他能夠在床上坐起來，看圖畫書了，這個時候，小兔子就依偎在他的旁邊……有一天，他們讓男孩起床穿衣服。

It was a bright, sunny morning, and the windows stood wide open. They had carried the Boy out on to the balcony,wrapped in a shawl, and the little Rabbit lay tangled up among the bedclothes,thinking.

這是一個明亮的、陽光明媚的早晨，窗戶大大地敞開著。他們把男孩裹在披巾里搬到外面的陽台上，小兔子蜷縮在被子中，思考著。

The Boy was going to the seaside tomorrow.Everything was arranged, and now it only remained to carry out the doctor"s orders. They talked about it all, while the little Rabbit lay under the bedclothes, with just his head peeping out, and listened. The room was to be disinfected, and all the books and toys that the Boy had played with in bed must be burnt.

"Hurrah!" thought the littleRabbit. "Tomorrow we shall go to the seaside!" For the Boy had often talked of the seaside, and he wanted very much to see the big waves coming in,and the tiny crabs, and the sand castles.

男孩明天就要去海邊了。一切都已經安排好了，現在就剩下執行醫生的命令了。他們談論著所有的事情，小兔子躺在被子底下，只露出頭，靜靜的聽著。房間要消毒，所有的書和男孩在床上玩的玩具都要被燒掉。「哈！」小白兔想。「明天我們就要去海邊了！」男孩經常提起海邊，他非常想看看席捲而來的大大的波浪，小螃蟹和沙堡。

Just then Nana caught sight of him.

"How about his old Bunny?" sheasked.

"That?" said the doctor."Why, it』s a mass of scarlet fever germs!—Burn it at once.What? Nonsense! Get him a new one. He mustn』t have that any more!"

正在那時，娜娜看見了他。「他的舊兔子怎麼辦？」她問。 醫生說：「立刻燒掉，他充滿了猩紅熱細菌。什麼？胡鬧！給他買一個新的。他不可以再擁有那隻兔子了！」

And so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden. The gardener would come quite early and burn the whole lot next morning.

小兔子和舊圖畫書以及很多垃圾被放進麻袋裡，搬到花園的盡頭。園丁第二天早上會早早的來燒掉這堆東西。

That night the Boy slept in a different bedroom, and he had a new bunny to sleep with him. But the Boy was too excited to care very much about it. For tomorrow he was going to the seaside, and that in itself was such a wonderful thing that he could think of nothing else.

那天晚上，男孩睡在另一個卧室里，陪伴他睡覺的是一個新的兔子。不過男孩太激動了沒有過多地關注到它。因為明天他就要去海邊了，

And while the Boy was asleep, dreaming of the seaside, the little Rabbit lay among the old picture-books in the corner,and he felt very lonely.

男孩睡著了，做著關於海邊的夢。小兔子躺在角落裡的舊圖畫書堆里，覺得非常孤獨。

The sack had been left untied, and so by wriggling a bit he was able to get his head through the opening and look out.He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he had told him.Of what use was it to be loved and lose one』s beauty and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a real tear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground.

麻袋已經解開了，小兔子蠕動一點就把頭探到了外面。他想起了智慧而又溫柔的皮馬以及皮馬告訴他的話。如果最終的結局是這樣，那麼悲哀，失去美麗，變成真的有什麼用呢？一滴眼淚，一滴真正的眼淚順著他破舊的毛絨鼻子流了下來，落到了地上。

And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower,not at all like any that grew in the garden. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy.

奇特的事情發生了。小兔子流下眼淚的地方長出了一朵花，一朵神秘的花，和花園裡的任何一朵花都不一樣。它非常地美麗，以至於小兔子忘記了哭泣，就躺在那裡看著。這朵花打開了，走出了一個仙女。

She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying.

她是世界上最可愛的仙女。她靠近小兔子，抱起他，親吻他因哭泣而變得潮濕的毛絨鼻子。

"Little Rabbit," she said,"don"t you know who I am?"

「小兔子」，她說，「你知道我是誰嗎？」

The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn"t think where.

小兔子抬頭看著她，似乎從前在哪裡見過她，可是實在想不起來了。

"I am the nursery magic Fairy,"she said. "I take care of all the play things that the children have loved.When they are old and worn out and the children don"t need them any more, thenI come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."

「我是育兒室魔幻仙女，」她說。「我管理孩子們喜歡的所有的玩具，當他們變舊變破、孩子們不再需要的時候，我就來帶走他們，把它們變成真的。」

"Wasn"t I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit.

「我以前不是真的嗎？」小兔子問。

"You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be real to everyone."

「你對男孩來說是真的，」 仙女說，「因為他愛你。現在你對所有人來說都是真的。」

And she held the little Rabbit close in her arms and flew with him into the wood.

她緊緊抱著小兔子，帶著他飛進了樹林里。

It was light now, for the moon had risen.All the forest was beautiful， between the tree-trunksthe wild rabbits danced with their shadows on the velvet grass, but when they saw the Fairy they all stopped dancing and stood round in a ring to stare at her.

因為月亮升起，現在天亮了些。森林很漂亮，在樹叢間，草地上，野生兔子們在翩翩起舞，但是當他們看見仙女就都停了下來，圍在她旁邊，看著她。

"I』ve brought you a new play fellow," the Fairy said. "Youmust be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbitland, forhe is going to live with you for ever and ever!"

「我給你們帶來一個新的夥伴，」仙女說。「你們要對他好，教給他所有在兔子王國需要知道的東西，他要永遠永遠和你們住在一起了！」

And she kissed the little Rabbit again andput him down on the grass.

"Run and play, little Rabbit!"she said. 她再次吻了下小兔子，把他放到草叢裡，「去跑去玩吧，小兔子！」 她說。

He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home withthe other rabbits.

他最終變成了一隻真正的兔子，在家裡和其他的兔子一起了。

Autumn passed and Winter, and in theSpring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And while he was playing, a rabbit crept out from the brackenand peeped at him. And about his little soft nose and his round black eyesthere was something familiar, so that the Boy thought to himself:

"Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever!"

But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real.

秋天過去了，冬天也過去了，在春天，天氣逐漸變暖，陽光明媚。男孩出來到房子後面的樹林里玩耍，玩著玩著，一隻兔子爬了出來，看著他。他柔軟的小鼻子和黑黑的圓眼睛讓男孩覺得很熟悉，男孩自言自語：「他看起來很像我生病的時候丟失的那隻舊兔子！」男孩永遠也不知道那實際上真的是他的舊兔子，小兔子回來看他——因為他是幫助小兔子變成「真的」的孩子。

故事中的數學：

文章中的很多幅插圖中出現了兔子，數一數，每張圖中有幾隻兔子？

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