George the Rainbow Rabbit彩虹兔乔治

Brian J.Stover　杨舟

Young George was a rabbit. Not justany rabbit you understand. George was arainbow rabbit.

Georges fur was composed1 of themost beautiful colors of the rainbow， and hetruly loved to display2 his beauty.

George the rainbow rabbit lived in aburrow3 on the lane4 under a rather largeoak tree， along with his rather large family.

George had three brothers and foursisters， each of whose fur was a combinationof the most beautiful blacks， browns andwhites， but none of them could top5 thebeauty of their brother George， the rainbowrabbit. Unfortunately， George knew exactlyhow attractive he was， and he flaunted6 hisbeauty whenever possible， and often， in themost annoying ways. Georges friends wereconsiderably7 less beautiful than he was， orso George thought， anyway.

年輕的乔治是只兔子。不是你所了解的任何一种兔子。乔治是一只彩虹兔。

乔治的皮毛是由彩虹最漂亮的颜色组成的，他真的很喜欢展示他的美貌。

彩虹兔乔治和他的大家庭住在一棵相当大的橡树下小路边的一个洞里。

乔治有三个兄弟和四个姐妹，每一个的皮毛都是最漂亮的黑色、棕色和白色的组合，但没有一个比得上他们的兄弟彩虹兔乔治的美貌。不幸的是，乔治知道自己有多好看，他在任何可能的时候都常常以最让人恼火的方式炫耀自己的美貌。乔治的朋友们远不如他漂亮，至少乔治是这么想的。

George often wandered up and down thelane so that his friends， who he felt were notas beautiful， could see him， and compliment8him on his beauty.

One day as he strolled the lane， William， avery handsome gopher9 whose fur was com -prised 10 of the prettiest shades of brown，popped11 out of his hole and noticed his friendGeorge with the beautiful rainbow colored fur.

William was a good-natured12 gopher， andhe kindly complimented George on his beauty.“My goodness George， your fur certainly looksquite beautiful today，”smiled William.

“Oh， I know！ And Im sorry you cannotbe as beautiful as I，”said George. That actuallymade William feel rather badly， becauseWilliam felt that he was beautiful，too.

“I may not be as beautiful as George，”William thought，“but I think Im beautiful inmy own way.”

George continued down the lane withouta care in the world， because after all， he wasbeautiful. Martin， a sociable and good lookingcrow13 whose feathers were comprised of the most beautiful shades of black， also noticedGeorge and his beauty. Martin， who sat atopan old tree stump14， decided that on this， themost beautiful of days， he would complimentGeorge， whose fur was comprised of the mostbeautiful colors of the rainbow.

乔治经常在小路上徘徊，以便让那些他觉得没他漂亮的朋友们能看到他，并称赞他的美貌。

一天，当他在小路上散步时，非常英俊的地鼠威廉，从洞里跳出来。他的皮毛由最漂亮的棕色组成。他注意到了他有着漂亮彩虹色皮毛的朋友乔治。

威廉是一只性情温和的地鼠，他亲切地称赞乔治的美貌。“我的天啊，乔治，你的毛皮今天看起来真漂亮。”威廉笑着说。

“哦，我知道！我很抱歉你不能像我一样漂亮。”乔治说。这实际上让威廉感到很难过，因为威廉觉得自己也很漂亮。

“ 我可能没有乔治那么好看。”威廉想，“但我自己觉得我很漂亮。”

乔治毫不在意地继续走在小路上，因为毕竟他很漂亮。马丁是一只善于交际、长得很好看的乌鸦，他的羽毛由最漂亮的黑色组成。他也注意到了乔治和他的美貌。栖息在一根老树桩上的马丁决定，在这个最美好的日子里，他要赞美皮毛由彩虹最漂亮的颜色组成的乔治。

“Good golly George， you sure lookbeautiful today！ ”crowed Martin.

“Oh yes， I am the most beautifulcreature on earth， and I am so sorry that youcannot be as beautiful as I， but I cannot helpthat.”Martin quickly became unhappy， onthis the most beautiful of days. “Well， Ialways thought that I was beautiful in my ownway，”said Martin to himself， as he flew off inbewilderment15.

Continuing on， George began to thinkhimself even more beautiful because after all，so many others also noticed his beauty.

Nancy hopped into the lane. She was alovely little tree frog whose skin wascomprised of the most beautiful shades ofgreen， and she too noticed George and hisbeautiful colors.

“天哪，喬治，你今天看起来真漂亮！”马丁高兴地说。

“哦，是的，我是世界上最漂亮的生物，我很抱歉你不能像我一样漂亮，但我没有办法。”在这最美好的日子里，马丁很快就变得不开心了。“唔，我自己一直认为我很漂亮。”当马丁困惑地飞走时，他对自己说。

就这样继续着，乔治开始觉得自己更漂亮了，因为毕竟其他很多人也注意到了他的美貌。

南希跳上了小路。她是一只可爱的小树蛙，她的皮肤由最漂亮的绿色组成。她也注意到了乔治和他漂亮的颜色。

“Goodness George， dont you lookbeautiful today！ ”croaked16 Nancy.

“Well， of course I am，”acknowledged17George. “Everyone can see how beautiful Iam， and Im sorry that you cannot be asbeautiful as I， but I cannot help that.”Georges response left Nancy feeling ratherlow， and as she hopped away she thought toherself， “I may not be quite as beautiful asGeorge， but Im special too， arent I？”

At the end of the lane was aplayground where the youngsters18 of theforest gathered to play. On this the mostbeautiful of days， William Gopher， MartinCrow and Nancy Tree Frog entered theplayground feeling about as low as theypossibly could.

“Whats wrong with you two？”askedMartin Crow. “Well， to tell you the truth， Idont feel very good about myself today，”croaked Nancy.“And I dont feel very goodabout myself either，” sighed William.“Something George said to me earlier todaymade me feel pretty miserable19.”

“Same here，”croaked Nancy.

“天哪，乔治，你今天看起来真漂亮！”南希呱呱叫道。

“我当然漂亮。”乔治承认说，“每个人都能看到我有多漂亮，我很抱歉你不能像我一样美，但我没有办法。”乔治的回答让南希感到相当沮丧。当她跳走时，她心里想：“我可能没有乔治那么漂亮，但是我也很特别，不是吗？”

小路的尽头是一个游乐场，森林里的小动物们聚集在这里玩耍。在这最美好的日子里，地鼠威廉、乌鸦马丁和树蛙南希走进了游乐场，感到前所未有地低落。

“你们俩怎么了？”乌鸦马丁问道。“好吧，说实话，我今天自我感觉不太好。”南希呱呱地说。“我也自我感觉不太好。”威廉叹了口气，“乔治今天早些时候对我说的话让我感到很难受。”

“我也是。”南希呱呱叫道。

“Thats what happened to me too，”William said. Then he thought for a moment.“Perhaps from now on we should just ignoreGeorge the not so beautiful rainbow rabbit，”he suggested.

So on that day it was agreed， there wouldbe no more compliment to George the not sobeautiful rainbow rabbit.

The next day， George was feelingexceptionally20 beautiful， and he went for ahop down the lane so that others might admirehis beauty. George came across WilliamGopher and he strolled21 closer so that itwould be easier for William to compliment himon his beauty. But William ignored George，and refused to notice Georges beautiful fur.“Well， that is strange，”thought George.“Hedidnt notice me.” So George hopped on，thinking it weird that he went unnoticed onthis the most beautiful of days， particularlysince he considered himself the most beautifulof all creatures on this earth.

Soon， George came upon Martin Crow.“Iwill make my beauty extremely obvious toMartin，”thought George， so he hopped right in front of Martin.“Hello， Martin，”said George.Martin ignored him. He flew away withoutspeaking a word to George or complimentinghim on his beauty. George was beginning tofeel a little bit upset， but he continued on.He thought it strange that he was beingignored by two friends who at the very leastshould have acknowledged him as being themost beautiful creature on earth.

“那也是我的遭遇。”威廉說。然后他想了一会儿。“也许从现在起，我们应该忽略乔治这只不那么漂亮的彩虹兔。”他建议道。

因此，在那一天，人们一致同意不再赞美并不那么漂亮的彩虹兔乔治了。

第二天，乔治觉得自己异常漂亮，然后他沿着小路跳了跳，这样其他人就可以欣赏到他的美貌了。乔治遇到了地鼠威廉，他走近他，这样就更容易让威廉称赞他的美貌。但是威廉不理乔治，拒绝去看乔治漂亮的皮毛。“这很奇怪。”乔治想，“他没有注意到我。”于是乔治继续向前跳，觉得奇怪的是，在这最美好的日子里，他没有被人注意到，尤其是他认为自己是地球上最漂亮的生物。

不一会儿，乔治遇到了乌鸦马丁。“我会让马丁一看便知我的美貌。”乔治想，于是他跳到了马丁面前。“你好，马丁。”乔治说。马丁不理他。他没有对乔治说一句话，也没有赞美他的美貌，就飞走了。乔治开始感到有点沮丧，但他继续向前跳。他觉得奇怪的是，他被两个朋友忽视了，他们至少应该承认他是世界上最漂亮的。

George noticed Nancy hopping throughthe lane and he called out“， Hi，Nancy！ ”But she continued hopping down the path，totally ignoring his beauty. George didntunderstand.“I am beautiful today， arentI？”thought a worried George.

George， who by now felt very disap -pointed on this the most beautiful of days，hopped on down to the playground， where hesaw that William Gopher， Martin Crow andNancy Tree Frog were all playing together.

George had a sad look on his face ashe hopped over to his friends.

“Why are you all ignoring me？”heasked them.

乔治注意到南希正蹦跳着穿过小路，他喊道：“嗨，南希！”但她继续沿着小路蹦蹦跳跳，全然不顾他的美貌。乔治不明白。“我今天很漂亮，不是吗？”烦恼的乔治想。

现在对这最美好的日子感到非常失望的乔治跳到游乐场上，看到地鼠威廉、乌鸦马丁和树蛙南希都在一起玩。

乔治跳到朋友身边时，脸上露出伤心的表情。

“为什么你们都不理我？”他问他们。

“You may be comprised of the mostbeautiful colors of the rainbow，” crowedMartin，“but lately you are not nice inside.”

“It doesnt matter if were not asbeautiful as you， because each of us isbeautiful in our own way. But you George，have been acting like one rude andconceited22 little rabbit.”

“Beauty is， as beauty does， George，”said Nancy Tree Frog. “If you treat othersbadly， and act as if youre better thaneverybody else， pretty soon nobodys goingto think you are beautiful at all！ ”

“But if you were the plainest little rabbiton the face of the earth， it still wouldnt matterto any of us，”said Martin.“We care aboutwhats on the inside， not whats on theoutside！ ”

“Sharing kind words and thoughtfulactions and respecting our feelings is whatstruly beautiful，”explained William.

George realized how badly he had hurthis friends feelings.

“Theyre right，”thought George.

“你可能是由彩虹中最漂亮的顏色组成的。”马丁叫道，“但最近你内心并不美好。”

“如果我们不如你漂亮，这无关紧要，因为我们每个都有自己独特的美。但乔治你一直表现得像一只无礼自大的小兔子。”

“美丽是一种行为表现，乔治。”树蛙南希说，“如果你对别人不好，表现得好像你比别人都好，很快就没有人会认为你很漂亮了！”

“但如果你是地球上最普通的小兔子，那对我们任何人来说都无关紧要。”马丁说，“我们关心的是内在的东西，而不是外在的东西！”

“分享善意的话语和周到的行动，以及尊重我们的感受，才是真正美好的东西。”威廉解释道。

乔治意识到他深深伤害了朋友们的感情。

“他们是对的。”乔治想。

“Im so sorry，”he told them. “Ill domy best to never be rude or act conceitedagain，”he promised. Then George cocked hishead and took a good long look at his friends.“Have I mentioned how beautiful each of youlooks to me today？”he asked.

Martin， William and Nancy smiled.

“Ah， come on， George，”they said.“Letsall go and play.”

And it was beautiful.

On this， the most beautiful of days！

“我非常抱歉。”他告诉他们。

“我会尽我最大的努力，不再无礼或自大。”他承诺道。然后，乔治抬起脑袋，仔细打量了他的朋友们。

“我有没有说过你们今天看起来有多漂亮？”他问。

马丁，威廉和南希笑了。

“啊，来吧，乔治。”他们说，“我们都去玩吧。”

这很美好。

在这最美好的日子里！

（英语原文选自院the-office.com）