（注：Nymph：希腊罗马神话里居于山林水泽的女神；也指美丽的女子。有时候，人们把蜻蜓叫作water Nymph，而蜻蜓的幼虫若虫的英文也是nymph。）
Once upon a time Nata could not walk or fly or swim.Of course that was when she was an egg.
While she was a helpless little thing like that,her mother dropped her into the water and flew off and left her.
以前，娜塔不会走，不会飞，也不会游泳。当然，那时，她还是一颗卵。
当时，她还是那么一个小不点，不能自立，她的妈妈就把她丢进水里飞走了，离开她了。
This sounds cruel,and when you know that Nata's mother was the creature that people sometimes call the devil's darning-needle,and that children sometimes talk about,with scared looks on their faces,when they say that she will sew up their lips and maybe their eyes and ears,too,if she catches them—when you know that was Nata's mother,maybe you will think she was just wicked enough to let Nata drown.
听着有点残忍，是吧？如果你知道，娜塔的妈妈就是那个有时候被称作“魔鬼缝衣针”的家伙，就是那个孩子们一提到就会面露恐惧，说一旦被她抓住，嘴巴就会被缝起来，甚至连眼睛和耳朵也会被一起缝起来的家伙，如果你知道，她就是娜塔的妈妈，你可能会想：她简直就是个巫婆，存心想淹死娜塔。
But it is always the best way not to be quick to believe bad things about anybody,because most of the time they are not true.That is how it was with Nata's mother.She never tried to catch a girl or boy in her life and she wasn't anybody's darning-needle,and she couldn't sew up anything even if you held her right up to it.
可是，聪明人是不会轻信谣言的，因为，人们常常无中生有。娜塔的妈妈就是被冤枉的。她一辈子从来没有抓过谁，不管是男孩还是女孩；她也不是谁的缝衣针，就算我们拿着她去缝东西，她也根本缝不了。
And Nata did not drown.She hatched out as well in the water as Lampy did in the ground,or as Luna did on a green oak leaf.It was just the right place for her,and her mother had done her no harm in putting her there.
再说了，娜塔也根本没有被淹死。她好好地在水里孵化呢，就像萤火虫小亮亮在地里孵化、芦娜在绿油油的橡树叶上孵化一样。那里就是最适合她的地方，她的妈妈把她放在那儿，对她没有一点儿害处。
In fact,Nata's mother is known to have done much good in the world—She caught so many flies and mosquitoes that she was sometimes spoken of as a mosquito hawk.She was a great hunter all her days,and her real name,after she got her wings,was Dragonfly.
其实，大家都知道，娜塔在这个世界上做了很多好事。她抓了那么多苍蝇和蚊子，有时候人们干脆称她为“吃蚊子的鹰”。她毕生都是一个捕蚊高手，有了翅膀之后，她的真名是“蜻蜓”。
When Nata hatched she had no wings and she was called a nymph,which was just a name she had while she lived in the water—the same as Poly was called a caterpillar while she was living on a parsnip plant.
娜塔刚孵化出来时没有翅膀，被叫作若虫，那只是她生活在水里时的名字，就像蝴蝶波丽生活在防风草上时被叫作毛毛虫一样。
Nata,the nymph,looked as much like a grownup dragonfly as Poly,the caterpillar,looked like a butterfly.Maybe she looked a little bit more like one,for she had six legs from the first to the last,while Poly started out with sixteen and ended up with six.But it would take more than the same number of legs to make Nata,a nymph,look like her mother,a dragonfly.What she did look like,it would be hard to say.Perhaps,more than anything else,she just looked comical.
毛毛虫波丽的模样有多像蝴蝶，若虫娜塔的模样就有多像成年蜻蜓。也许，若虫娜塔更像蜻蜓一点，因为她自始至终就六条腿，而毛毛虫波丽刚开始是十六条腿，后来就只剩六条腿了。可是，若虫娜塔长得像她的蜻蜓妈妈，不仅仅是因为她们的腿一样多。那么，她到底哪里长得像妈妈呢？这个很难说。也许，最像的就是她那副滑稽样吧？
At first,of course,she was tiny,as all things are that hatch out of small-sized eggs.From time to time,as she grew,she had several different bathing-suits,each one larger than the one before.The first one didn't have a sign of wings on it;but as she grew bigger and changed one bathing suit after another,the signs of wings began to come,and then to grow bigger with each new suit.Not real wings,you know—just signs of them that are called wing-pads,and that look like four little flat flaps on her back.
当然，刚开始的时候，她很小，和所有从小个儿的卵中孵化出来的东西一样。后来，她渐渐长大，这期间，她时不时地换泳衣，换了好几套，一套比一套大。第一套没有翅膀的痕迹，可是，当她越长越大，泳衣换了一套又一套的时候，就出现了翅膀的痕迹，而且，泳衣越大，痕迹也越明显。你知道的，不是真正的翅膀，只不过是一点儿痕迹，被叫作翅芽，看上去像是垂在她背上的四个小薄片。
When she got large enough for a change,a new suit grew under the one she had been wearing,and then the old one ripped far enough for her to step out of the tear.She did this under water,so you may think she must have been washed very clean all the time.But,you see,she waded around where it was muddy so much that it was hard to tell what was mud and what was Nata,the mud-covered nymph;just as it was hard to tell what was sand and what was Carol,the sand-colored locust.So some of the mud would have to be washed off before we could see that Nata was comical.
每次发育到需要换衣服的时候，在她正穿着的泳衣下面就会长出一套新的来，然后，那套旧泳衣就裂开一个大口子，一直裂到脚底，她一迈脚就能从裂开的口子里出来。所有这一切都是在水下完成的，所以，你可能会想，她身上肯定总是洗得干干净净的。可是，你错了。她经常在泥糊糊的地方滚来滚去，弄得浑身是泥，结果，很难分清哪里是泥，哪里是若虫娜塔。就好像很难分清哪里是沙子，哪里是灰头土脸的蚱蜢欢欢一样。所以，得把娜塔身上的泥洗掉一些，我们才能看清她有多滑稽。
To begin with,she wore a mask which covered nearly all of her face,as far up as her feelers in front and as far as her eyes at the side.This mask was as big for her as one would be for you if you make one by holding your arms together in front of you,bent up from the elbow so that you can cover your mouth and nose with your hands.If you do that,you can throw your mask out in front of you so that your face shows,and then draw back again and cover it up.Nata's mask was hinged like that,so that she could throw it out quickly and pull it back.Most of the time it was folded up tightly over her big mouth.It kept the mud out when she dived down head-first.
先让我们来看看她的那副面具。它往上最远到触角，往两边最远到眼睛，差不多把她的整个脸都遮住了。这副面具的大小，你自己比画一下就知道了。伸出双臂，弯肘，用双手蒙住嘴巴和鼻子。哎，对了，就那样。你可以往前拿开你的双手，露出你的脸；你也可以往后收回双手，又蒙住你的脸。娜塔的面具就是这种折叠式的，可以迅速地移开，也可以迅速地蒙上。大多数时候，她的面具都紧紧地折起盖住她那大大的嘴巴。这样，当她头冲下潜入水中的时候，嘴巴里就不会进泥了。
It did something else,too.For Nata was a hunter,and her mask was a little trap she carried around with her all the time.She hunted in the water as her mother hunted in the air,and as Lampy hunted in the ground;only when her mother and Lampy hunted,they went after things.Nata didn't have to.She sat still with her trap folded over her face,and when a wriggler(that is the name of a young mosquito before it has wings)or something like that came near,she would just throw out her trap and pull her food right up to her mouth.It was a pretty good trap;it never got out of order,and every new bathing suit had hitched to it a new mask that was of the same sort only bigger than the one before.
Nata was a hunter.
娜塔是个捕捉能手。
她的这个面具还另有用途呢。娜塔是个捕捉能手，面具就是她的小捕捉器，她总是把面具走到哪里就带到哪里。她在水中捕食，就像她的妈妈在空中捕食，萤火虫小亮亮在地上捕食一样。只不过她妈妈和萤火虫小亮亮捕食的时候需要追着目标跑，而娜塔不用。她把捕捉器叠起来放在脸上，静静地坐在那里。如果有孑孓（还没有长翅膀的小蚊子）或者类似的小东西靠近时，她只需伸出她的捕捉器，把它直接拽到嘴里。小捕捉器很好使，从不出毛病。每套新泳衣上都有一个新面具，和前一个一样，只不过要大一些。
Her feelers were just above the edge of the mask,so that she could move them around in the water.They were slender,and the seven joints in them were all very short so that she could not feel very far.
她的触角就在面具的边上，可以在水里四处打探。由于触角纤细，七个关节也都很短，所以，她打探不了多远。
When the top of her head showed,the two eyes stuck out round like those of a frog.This made her look very wide-awake indeed.But when the front and side of her head showed,her eyes were different from any other kind I have ever seen.They had wide stripes of pale green and narrow ones of dark purple,and the stripes were slanted.Now eyes with green and purple stripes are pretty—very pretty;but they are funny,too,and her queer eyes and her queer mask,both together,were what made Nata's head so comical.
等到她露出脑袋顶来的时候，就能看到两只眼睛像青蛙的眼睛那样圆鼓鼓地瞪着，一副非常警觉的样子。可是，等她露出脑袋前面和侧面的时候，我就发现她的眼睛和我见过的所有其他眼睛都不一样。上面有条纹，宽的是浅绿色的，窄的是紫色的，而且都是斜的。带绿色条纹和紫色条纹的眼睛一般都很漂亮，非常漂亮，不过，也很搞笑。怪怪的眼睛和怪怪的面具，正是这两样加起来，让娜塔看起来这么的滑稽。
If her head was a strange one,so was her tail,for that was where the breathing tube was.
如果说她的脑袋很奇怪，那么她的尾巴也很奇怪，因为她的呼吸管在那里。
Of course no little Hexapod ever breathes through his head.Not Van or Gryl or Old Bumble or any of them.Grown-up ones,by the time they have wings,breathe through a row of little holes on each side of their bodies.Most baby Hexapods breathe the same way,but Nata,the nymph,was different.She had a breathing tube with an opening at the tip of her tail.So it was almost as if she had a mouth at each end of her body—one to eat with and one to breathe with.
当然，没有哪个六脚节足小昆虫是用脑袋来呼吸的。蝴蝶帆儿不是，蟋蟀唧唧不是，黄蜂老奔奔不是，他们都不是。成年昆虫长出翅膀后，就用身体两侧的一排小孔来呼吸。大部分六脚节足昆虫宝宝的呼吸方式都一样，但是若虫娜塔除外。她有一根开口在尾巴尖的呼吸管，所以，几乎像是她有两个嘴巴，身体两头一头一个。一个用来吃饭，而另一个则用来呼吸。
You know that most animals that live in the water have gills to breathe with.Nata did,too,and her gills were on the inside of her breathing tube.
你知道大部分生活在水里的动物都是用鳃呼吸的。娜塔也有鳃。她的鳃就长在她的呼吸管内侧。
When you breathe,you have to get oxygen out of the air.When Nata breathed,she had to get some oxygen that was in the water.So she would draw the water into her tube as we draw air into our lungs,and then push it out again as we push out the air.
你呼吸的时候，得从空气中吸取氧气。娜塔呼吸的时候，也得吸取一些水里的氧气。所以她会把水吸到呼吸管里，就跟我们把空气吸到肺里一样，然后把水排出去，就跟我们把空气排出去一样。
So now you can see why,when Nata used to dive down head-first,she left the tip of her tail up out of the mud where there was some water.If she had stayed tail down and head up,she would have smothered.
所以，现在你明白了吧？为什么当初娜塔头冲下潜入水中的时候，要把尾巴尖露在泥水的外面。如果尾巴朝下、头朝上，她会窒息的。
Nata liked diving and did a great deal of it.Sometimes she would stand on her head down deep in the mud for a long time.It seemed to be one of her ways of hiding.
娜塔喜欢潜水，而且经常潜水。有时候，她会倒立在深深的泥水里，一待就是很长时间。这似乎是她的一种隐身术。
When she hid another way,she would lie down in the mud and then kick with all six of her little feet until she scratched out a hole in the mud,and her body would sink down deeper and deeper until she would be all covered up except her eyes and the top of her trap at her head-end and her breathing hole at her tailend.While she was hiding that way,she was usually hunting.
她的另外一种隐身术是躺在泥里，六条腿齐上阵，使劲地踢，直到在泥里踢出一个洞为止。她的身体也会慢慢沉到洞里，越沉越深，直到整个儿埋在泥下面，只露出眼睛和头下面的那点小捕捉器，还有尾巴尖上的呼吸孔。她这样隐藏时，多半是在捕捉什么东西。(www.xing528.com)
The mud Nata played in and hunted in was at the bottom of a pool a little off at one side in Shanty Creek.Now,you can tell from this something about what part of the country she lived in,because if it had been in some other places the name would have been Shanty Stream or Shanty Brook.
Nat was Nata's mate.
奈特是娜塔的伴儿。
娜塔是在一个水塘底的淤泥里玩耍和捕食的。水塘的一边不远处是一个叫“木屋溪”的地方。现在，从这一点你就能判断出她住在乡下的什么地方了吧？因为如果是别的什么地方，那个地方就要叫“木屋河”或者“木屋江”了。
Nata did not stay in the mud at the bottom of the pool all the time.Now and then,though not often,she would walk out near the edge where the water was not deep,and put the mouth of her breathing tube up into the air;and it would look as if she could breathe that way,too.And sometimes she would run about among the wet dead grass-stems and other rubbish in the water near the edge.
娜塔并没有一直待在水塘底的淤泥里。偶尔，她会走到塘边水浅的地方，把她的呼吸管口伸出水面，好像那样她也能呼吸似的。有时候，她会在池塘边那些湿漉漉的枯草丛中和其他蚊蝇孳生的地方跑来跑去。
One day she did this after a heavy rain,when there was a flood that had filled a hollow next the pool she lived in.The water spilled over from the pool into the hollow,and Nata happened to walk into the hollow where there were some good things to hunt that had gone over with the water.
一天，一场大雨之后，她就是这么过的。大水把水塘旁边的一个水坑给填满了。池塘里的水溢出来，流到了那个坑里，有一些好东西也随着流了进来。那天，她碰巧也走进了坑里，刚好就赶上了。
That did very well for a day or two,and Nata stayed.She stayed so long that the water went lower and lower,until it no longer spilled over from the pool into the hollow.
头一两天，她收获颇丰，所以，就一直待在那个坑里没出来。可是后来，水塘的水位越来越低，最后，水就不再从水塘溢到坑里了。
Now,the hollow was small,and it did not take her many days to trap all the good things there were in it.After that,of course,there was nothing for her to do but wait;for she did not know anything about going from the hollow up the dry bank and over into the pool again.She couldn't think things out like that.She had a brain in her little head,too,and a wonderful one it was;but it didn't help her back into the pool.
水坑小了。几天工夫她就捉完了里面所有的好东西。当然，从此，她除了等待没什么事可干了。因为，她不知道她还能从坑里上来，越过干坑堤，重新返回水塘。她产生不了这样的念头。她的小脑袋瓜里也有大脑，很棒的大脑，可是，这个大脑却无助于她返回水塘。
It could help her wait,though,and that is what she did.She waited for seven days,and nothing—not so much as one mosquito wriggler—got into her trap.And all this time the water was sinking lower and lower in the little hollow,until by the end of the week there was not more than a cupful left.Then it rained until there was as much as would fill a dishpan.
不过，这却有助于她耐心等待。她就一直在等待，等了七天，连一只蚊子孑孓都没有捉到。这期间，小坑里的水位越来越低，一周之后，坑里存的水连一杯都不到了。就在这个时候，开始下雨了，一直下到坑里的水差不多能装满一个洗碗盆了。
Nata still waited,with her trap held up closed about her hungry mouth,for days and days and nights and nights,until another week went by,and she had nothing to eat even then.
By that time the water was gone from the hollow.There wasn't enough left to fill a thimble!
The dirt at the bottom was still soft and wet,though,and there Nata stayed,all alone and very hungry.
娜塔还在等，合起小捕捉器举在饥饿的嘴巴跟前。一天又一天，一夜又一夜。又一个星期过去了，她依然没有东西可吃。
那个时候，坑里的水所剩无几，连一个顶针都装不满了。
不过，坑底的土依然松软、潮湿。娜塔就待在那里，孤立无援、饥肠辘辘。
Poor little Nata,waiting in the mud!Four days went by while she had just air to draw into her breathing tube,for all the water was gone.So there were four more days to add to the other fourteen without food!
可怜的小娜塔，在泥里苦苦等待着！又过去了四天，这期间，她只能用呼吸管吸一点儿空气，因为一点儿水都没有了。也就是说忍饥挨饿十四天之后，她又有四天没有吃东西！
And Nata still waited.Do you wonder how she lived so long?Perhaps it was partly because she didn't tire herself all out fretting.She waited quietly most of the time,and rested.Partly too,it was because she was strong and because she was a hunter,and very often hunters have to wait a long time between meals.But eighteen days was longer than usual,and unless something happened to get Nata back into her pool,she would—Oh dear,oh dear!What would become of her?
娜塔还在等。你想知道她怎么坚持了这么长时间吗？也许是因为她没有烦躁不安消耗体力。大部分时间，她都在静静地待着休息。也许是因为她比较强壮，因为她要捕猎。猎人经常是吃了上顿后要等很长时间才能有下顿的。可是，十八天的时间有点太长了。如果不发生点什么事把她带回到水塘里，她就……噢，天哪，噢，天哪！那她会怎么样呢？
But something did happen.It was rain!There was thunder and lightning with it,but Nata didn't mind that.And there was a flood—a nice big one that spilled the pool over into the hollow.
不过，真的发生了点事情。下雨了！电闪雷鸣、大雨滂沱，然而，娜塔可不介意。发大水了，很及时的大水，从池塘里溢出来流进了坑里。
In a little while after that,Nata found her way back to her old hunting-ground in the mud at the bottom of the pool.Perhaps she felt the motion of things swimming about in the pool.Perhaps she smelled something that tempted her back.Perhaps she just went walking around and happened to get home again as she happened to get lost.
没过多久，娜塔终于回到了她那位于塘底的淤泥捕捉场。也许是她感觉到池塘里有东西在游动。也许是她闻到的什么气味把她吸引回来了。也许是她四处闲逛的时候，碰巧就回了家，就跟当初她碰巧迷了路一样。
Whatever way it was,she had a good time all the rest of the days she was a nymph.She caught plenty of food in her trap—nice tender juicy food.She played in the mud,sometimes diving down in it head first,and sometimes kicking it out from under her so that the trap on her head was where she could use it as well as the opening of the breathing tube in her tail.
不管是怎么回事，总之，若虫时期，她后来的日子过得都很开心。她的小捕捉器收获甚丰，都是可口、鲜嫩、汁液丰富的美食。她在淤泥里尽情玩耍，时而头冲下潜到泥里，时而又把泥从身子底下踢开，让脑袋上的小捕捉器和尾巴尖上的呼吸管的管口各就各位，随时准备工作。
Then one day,right in the midst of all this fun of diving and wading and hunting—one day she stopped doing the things that she had done all her life,and walked up out of the water to the shore of the pool,and climbed a little way up the stem of a plant,and then pretty soon all there was left of Nata,the nymph,was an empty bathing suit,just her shape,clinging to the plant.
后来有一天，她在淤泥里进进出出、滚来滚去、追逐美食，玩得正开心的时候，突然间，就停了下来，终止了这些她一直都在做的事。她从水里走出来，来到水塘堤岸上的一棵植物跟前，顺着茎秆往上爬了一段，没过多久，那茎秆上就只剩下若虫娜塔的泳衣了，空空的一个外壳，还紧紧地抓着茎秆。
Nata the Nymph is no more.She has gone,leaving her water-clothes all whole and good except the opening at the back where she pulled herself out of them.They look as if they were left waiting for her to come and slip into them again.
若虫娜塔消失了。她走了，留下了她的泳衣。除了后背上那个她用来脱身的开口之外，泳衣依然完好，看样子，好像是在等她回来再钻进去一样。
When will she come back and live in her pool?
什么时候她才能回来，继续水塘里的生活呢？
Ah,Nata can never do that.Look,and you will know why!
Well—She came out of Nata's bathing suit.
对了，从娜塔的泳衣里出来的就是她。
哎呀！告诉你吧，娜塔永远不会回来了。往那边看，你就知道这是为什么了！
See—flying along the bank of Shanty Creek,a beautiful creature with four wonderful strong wings and with eyes that gleam like living jewels!Oh,now she has stopped and is resting in the sunshine near Nat.
瞧！沿着“木屋溪”的溪岸，一个美丽的小家伙正翩翩起舞。她的四只翅膀精美绝伦、强劲有力；眼睛闪闪发光，像熠熠生辉的有生命的宝石！哇，瞧，现在，她收起了翅膀，正沐浴着阳光在“娜塔”旁边休息呢。
Well—She came out of Nata's bathing suit.Do you think she will ever need it again?
对了，从娜塔的泳衣里出来的就是她。你想她还会需要那身泳衣吗？
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