The Dinosaur1 in Jake’s Garage2 杰克车库里的恐龙

李明娟选译

“Dad，” he said， “Theres a dinosaur living in the garage.”

“爸爸，”他说，“车库里有一只恐龙。”

“Is there really， Jake？” said his dad. “Thats interesting. Now go away and play. Daddys busy now.” Jakes dad went back to reading his newspaper.

“真的吗，杰克？”他父亲说。“那很有意思。现在走开自己去玩吧，爸爸现在很忙。”杰克的父亲又看起了报纸。

Jake thought that there was a dinosaur in the garage for some time. A few weeks ago， behind the old bicycle he used to ride when he was small， there was a big bag with the tent in it. They had only used it once on a camping holiday and his dad then said， “Forget this！Im never going camping again！Next year were staying in a hotel like other people！” Jake had found a big egg in the bag. At first， Jake thought that it was a broken football. But when he went to touch3 it， the thing was all hard， not like a football at all. It felt more like a kind of egg and he couldnt see a hole in it anywhere. No， Jake—being a clever boy—right now realised4 that it wasnt a football at all. It was an egg. He didnt tell anyone at the time， because he thought that his mum and dad would think that he was lying5 again. His mum and dad always thought that he was lying. “Telling stories” they called it.  And also because he didnt want anyone else to know about what he had found. Jake already knew that he had found a dinosaur egg. Right there. Right in his garage！

杰克懷疑车库里有恐龙有一段时间了。几周前，他小时候骑过的那辆旧自行车后面有一个装着帐篷的大袋子，他们在一个野营假期只用了一次，然后他父亲说：“算了！我再也不露营了！明年，我们就像其他人一样去住旅馆！”杰克在那个袋子里发现了一个巨大的蛋。起初，杰克认为那可能是另外一个破足球，当他触摸时，那东西很硬，一点也不像足球。它看起来更像是一种蛋，他在上面都看不到任何一个孔。不，杰克是个聪明的男孩，他立刻意识到那根本不是足球，这是一个蛋。他当时没有告诉任何人，因为他觉得爸爸妈妈会以为他又在撒谎。妈妈和爸爸总是认为他在撒谎。他们称之为“讲故事”。还因为他不想让别人知道他的发现。杰克已经知道自己找到的是个恐龙蛋。在那里，就在他家的车库里！

They had been studying dinosaurs at school. Their teacher had told them all about dinosaurs， and how dinosaurs came out of eggs， like birds do today， but that a dinosaur egg was as big as a football， or even bigger.

他们在学校学过恐龙，老师教了他们所有关于恐龙的知识，以及恐龙是如何从蛋中孵出来的，就像现在的鸟类一样，但是恐龙蛋却像足球那样大，甚至更大。

The next day he decided to tell his teacher. “Ive got a dinosaur living in my garage！” Jake said to his teacher. But the teacher didnt listen to him. He only pushed his glasses up his big nose and said， “Is that right Jake？ How interesting...”

第二天，他决定告诉老师。 “我的车库里住着一只恐龙！”杰克对老师说。但是老师不信他的话。他只是把眼镜往鼻梁上推了推，说道：“杰克，是吗？很有意思……”

For the next few days Jake decided6 not to tell anyone about his dinosaur， but kept his secret to himself. He started to feed the dinosaur at first by giving it some milk. Then he gave it some of their dogs food.

在接下来的几天里，杰克决定不向任何人透露恐龙的事，自己保密。起初，他用牛奶来喂它，然后给了它一些狗粮。

“Dont worry！” Jake said to the dog. “Its just for the dinosaur in the garage. Hes getting bigger every day！ Soon youll be able to play with him！” The dog didnt look happy.

“别担心！”杰克对狗说。 “这只是为了车库里的恐龙。它每天都在长大！很快你就可以和它一起玩了！”那只狗看上去并没有很开心。

But it was true. The dinosaur was growing and growing. It was already as big as the dog. Jake couldnt hold his excitement， and the next day he told his teacher again， while his father still wasnt interested in the dinosaur.

但這是真的，恐龙在不断成长，它已经和狗一样大了。杰克无法抑制自己的激动，第二天他又告诉老师了，而他的父亲仍然对恐龙不感兴趣。

“The dinosaur in my garage is getting bigger every day！” shouted Jake in the middle of the lesson. The teacher turned round and looked at Jake.

“我家车库里的恐龙每天都在长大！”上课时，杰克大喊起来。老师转过身看着杰克。

“Well Jake， if there really is a dinosaur living in your garage， why dont you take it out for a walk？ Why dont you bring it into school tomorrow for us all to have a look？” The teacher said. He pushed his glasses back up his nose， and looked at the rest of the class. “Dont you think Jake should bring his pet dinosaur in for everyone to see tomorrow？” he laughed， and all of the rest of the class laughed， too.

“杰克，如果车库里确实有只恐龙，为什么你不带它出去散步呢？你为什么明天不带它来学校，让我们大家看看呢？”老师说。他把眼镜往鼻梁上推了推，看着全班同学，“你们认为杰克明天难道不应该带他的宠物恐龙来给大家看看吗？”他笑了，班上其他同学也都笑了。

The next day， Jake brought the dinosaur into school. It wasnt easy， because the dinosaur hadnt been out of his garage before. At first the dinosaur didnt want to go. Jake put some meat from the fridge on the floor for the dinosaur to eat. Now the dinosaur followed7 him out of the house， along the street and to the bus stop. Quite a few people seemed surprised， and some of them were even scared when Jake got on the bus with his dinosaur， but the dinosaur seemed quite happy. The dinosaur put his nose into an old ladys shopping bag and stole8 a chicken out of it. The old lady screamed9， and the ticket inspector10 came.

第二天，杰克将恐龙带进了学校。这并不容易，因为恐龙以前从未离开过他的车库。起初，恐龙不想走。杰克从冰箱里拿出一些肉，放在地板上让恐龙吃。现在，恐龙跟着他走出屋子，沿着街道走到了公交车站。不少人似乎感到很惊讶，而当杰克带恐龙上巴士时，其中一些人甚至感到害怕，但恐龙似乎很高兴。恐龙将鼻子伸进一位老太太的购物袋里，从中偷走了一只鸡。老太太尖叫起来，检票员走了过来。

“Oi！” said the ticket inspector. “Has that thing got a ticket？” Jake showed the ticket inspector the bus ticket which he had bought for the dinosaur. And then the ticket inspector went away， but the old lady was still very unhappy. Jake had to say sorry for the chicken his dinosaur had stolen， and then got off the bus at the next stop. He had to walk all the rest of the way to his school， and when he got there he was late.

“喂！”检票员说，“那东西有票吗？”杰克向检票员出示了他为恐龙买的车票，然后检票员就走了，但老太太仍然很不高兴。所以杰克不得不为恐龙偷了那只鸡而道歉，然后在下一站下车。剩下的路程他只得一路走到学校，到达的时候，他迟到了。

Everyone screamed when he walked into his classroom. Jake couldnt understand why. His teacher was looking at him in horror11. Actually， no， his teacher wasnt staring at Jake in horror， he was staring at the dinosaur in horror. Jake couldnt understand what the problem was. “But， sir，” he said to his teacher， “You told me to bring the dinosaur to school！”

他走进教室时，每个人都尖叫起来，杰克不明白为什么。他的老师惊恐地盯着他。实际上，不，他的老师不是在惊恐地盯着杰克，而是在惊恐地盯着恐龙。杰克不明白问题出在什么地方。“但是，先生，”他对老师说，“是您叫我把恐龙带到学校的！”

His teacher had shouted， “Out！ Out！ Everybody out！” when Jake had come in with his dinosaur. The teacher and all the other children had run out of the classroom， leaving Jake on his own with his dinosaur. Jake couldnt understand why everybody was so afraid of his dinosaur. He thought his dinosaur was pretty friendly.

当杰克带着恐龙进来时，他的老师大喊：“出去！出去！大家都出去！”老师和所有其他孩子都跑出了教室，只剩下杰克和他的恐龙。杰克不明白为什么每个人都这么害怕他的恐龙。他觉得恐龙很友好。

Less than one hour later Jake was sitting on his own in the school， only Jake and his dinosaur. There was lots and lots of noise outside. Jake could hear the police cars， people shouting， and the sound of helicopters12 flying overhead. He looked out of the window of his classroom and waved13 at all the people.

不到一个小时之后，杰克独自坐在学校里，只有他和他的恐龙。外面很吵，杰克可以听到警车声，人们的喊叫声，以及直升机在头顶飞过的声音。他从教室的窗户向外望去，向所有人招手。

“Jake！” shouted one of the police officers outside， “Can you hear me？ Let us know if youre OK！” Jake smiled and waved at the police officers.

“杰克！”外面一名警察大喊，“你能听到我说话吗？如果你还安全，请告诉我们！”杰克向警察微笑还挥了挥手。

“Im fine！” he shouted. The dinosaur sat in the classroom and started to eat some of the childrens schoolbooks. Jake could see that it was getting bored. He took the dogs lead and put it on the dinosaur again， and took the dinosaur out of the classroom into the schoolyard， where all the people were.

“我很好！”他喊道。恐龙坐在教室里，开始吃孩子的课本。杰克可以看出来它开始觉得无聊了。他拿过狗绳重新套到恐龙身上，然后把它带出教室，来到所有人都在的运动场。

As soon as they went outside， a policeman took Jake and a big net fell down on the dinosaur. A group of scientists took the dinosaur in the net， put him in a big truck and drove off.

他们一出来，一名警察就抓住了杰克，一张巨大的网落在恐龙身上。一群科学家们抓住了网里的恐龙，把它放在一辆大卡车上开车走了。

“Wait！” shouted Jake. “Where are they going with my dinosaur？”

“等等！”杰克大喊，“他们带我的恐龙去哪里？”

“Theyre taking him to the zoo，” said a policeman. “Hell be safe there.”

“他们带它去动物园，”警察说，“它在那里会很安全。”

Jake felt pretty sad when he got home. He didnt even care that he was on the television news， and his picture was on the front page of newspapers all over the world. He missed his dinosaur. When everyone had gone to bed that night， he went out to the garage again， and found another egg.

杰克回家后感到非常难过。他甚至都不在乎自己出现在电视新聞里，他的照片上了世界各地报纸的头版。他想念他的恐龙。当晚，在大家都上床睡觉后，他又去了车库，然后发现了另一个蛋。

【Notes】

1. dinosaur  n. 恐龙

2. garage  n. 车库

3. touch  v. 接触;轻按

4. realise  vt. 认识到，明白

5. lie  vt. 谎骗 vi. 躺;说谎

6. decide  vi. 决定，下决心

7. follow  vt. 跟随;遵循 vi. 跟随;接着

8. steal  vt. 剽窃;偷

9. scream  vi. 尖叫

10. inspector  n. 检查员;巡视员

11. horror  n. 惊骇;令人恐怖的事物

12. helicopter  n. [航] 直升飞机

13. wave  v. 挥手;挥手示意