萤火虫小亮亮的国庆节：昆虫的故事

No one had ever given Lampy so much as a penny.He had never earned any money.He had never found any.Here it was the Fourth o'July,and he couldn't buy even one fire-cracker!Not any of his little gang of Will-o'-the-Wisps had fire-crackers either,so you might think that they were going to have a dull time of it that night.

谁也没给过小亮亮钱，一分钱都没给过。他也从来没有挣过钱，更没有捡到过钱。现在是七月四号国庆节，他连一个鞭炮都买不起！他的“小鬼火帮”里，也没有哪个能买得起鞭炮。所以，你可能以为那个晚上他们会过得很无聊吧？

For the Will-o'-the-Wisps had a habit,during the summer,of meeting every evening about the time the stars came out,and having a frolic together.They never did any harm in the world.If the policeman saw them darting about after the curfew rang,he just smiled and never thought of such a thing as sending them to bed.

夏天的时候，这些鬼火帮的小家伙们有个习惯，每天晚上星星出来的时候，他们都要聚在一起嬉戏玩耍。他们从不做坏事。宵禁铃拉响之后，要是警察看到他们还在东游西窜，也只会笑笑而已，绝不会想到要赶他们回去睡觉。

Why,indeed,should Lampy go to bed by night?He rested all day,like a little owl.Of course it is all right for some folk to sleep while it is dark.Van and Poly and Jack and Nata and Carol are awake all day,and so they need to rest at night.They are made that way,just as chickadees and robins are.Some flowers are like that,too,and shut up their pretty eyes as soon as it grows dark.

的确，晚上小亮亮干吗要睡觉呢？他像小猫头鹰一样，白天可是一直在休息呀。当然了，有些人天一黑就睡觉。蝴蝶帆儿、蝴蝶波丽、角蝉杰克和蜻蜓娜塔，还有蚱蜢欢欢，他们白天兴奋了一天，所以，晚上需要休息。他们生来如此，就像山雀和知更鸟一样。有些花儿也是这样的，天一黑，就闭上美丽的眼睛。

But Lampy!My,no!Miss the night-time?Sleep while the Big Dipper in the sky whirled slowly around the steady North Star?Doze while the evening primrose opened its lovely yellow cups of nectar and filled the air with sweet smells?Nap while the new moon sailed the skies like a little boat?

可他是小亮亮！要他错过夜晚的大好时光？当天上的北斗七星围着纹丝不动的北极星旋转时，让他睡觉？当夜来香打开黄色的蜜杯，夜空中弥漫着浓郁的芬芳时，让他打盹？当新月像一只小船，在夜空中徐徐航行时，要他小睡？噢，天哪，这可不行！

Why,even the bat,the cunning flying mouse,came out to enjoy the night air.Gryl was fiddling merrily in the fields.Luna was floating,like a fairy robed in white and green,through the woodland.

再说了，连蝙蝠，狡猾的小飞鼠也都出来尽情享受夜晚的空气了；田野里，蟋蟀唧唧欢快地拉起了小提琴；月形天蚕蛾卢娜也在树林里飘然而行，像穿着白绿两色长袍的仙女。

Oh,no!Lampy could not miss the night.Not that he listened to Gryl's music,or smelled the evening primrose,or watched the beautiful Luna,or even looked at the sky!But the night was good to him even without these joys.He was a part of it,and,besides,the whole gang of Will-o'-the-Wisps would be out for a Fourth-o'-July dance.

噢，不！小亮亮可不能错过美妙的夜晚！不是因为她听到了蟋蟀唧唧的音乐，也不是因为他闻到了夜来香的芬芳，也不是因为他看到了漂亮的月形天蚕蛾卢娜，更不是因为他仰望夜空看到了群星和月亮。即使没有这些令人赏心悦目的事情，他也喜欢夜晚。因为，他是夜的一部分，再说了，他们“鬼火帮”还要全体出动去参加国庆舞会呢。

Oho！Here was Lampy.
哦哈！小亮亮来了。

And the dance,just think of it,the dance was going to be in the air!

A Fourth-o'-July dance without fireworks,though—dearie,dearie,me!

这个舞会，哇，想想吧，这个舞会将在空中举行！

一场没有烟花的国庆舞会，噢，天哪，天哪，我的天哪！

Oho!Here was Lampy!He had crept out of bed at dusk,had lifted his upper wings,which covered the ones he used for flying,had shaken the wrinkles out of his thin under ones,and here he was,ready for the dance.And here was Jack-o'-Lantern,and here was Wah-wah-taysee,and here were Tinker Bell and Star-Light and Eye-Bright and Ray and Beam and Flash and Gleam-here were,indeed,the whole gang of Will-o'-the-Wisps!And every one of them carried a candle.

哦哈！小亮亮来了！黄昏时分，他从床上爬起来，把盖在飞翅上面的上翅抬起来，抖平薄薄的底翅。现在，他来了，一切就绪，只待开跳。南南灯来了，哇哇熄来了，叮叮当、星星光、亮亮眼、光线线、光柱柱、小闪闪、小烁烁都来了。真的，整个“鬼火帮”都来了！大家都带着一只烛灯。

Over the marsh the mist is white,

The owl is calling through the night;

While,like a flock of dancing stars,

The Will-o'-the-Wisps are taking flight.

沼泽上方白雾蒙蒙，

猫头鹰的叫声划破夜空；

吓得“小鬼火”四处奔逃，

仿佛一群蹦蹦跳跳的小星星。

It was a dance to be happy about,for there was a time when none of these Will-o'-the-Wisps had any wings;and,as their six little tiptoes were not made for dancing,they had kept very close to the ground.So close,indeed,that they had lived right in it all the while they were growing up.

这个舞会真令人兴奋！曾经有一段时间，“小鬼火帮”谁也没有翅膀。另外，由于六个小脚尖不适合跳舞，他们只能紧紧地扒住地面。他们扒得太紧了，长大之前，他们简直就是整个儿直接生活在地上。

No,Lampy had not always been flying through the air at night and resting wherever he happened to be by day.He had stayed where his mother had put him.

那时，小亮亮可不是每天晚上都在夜空中飞来飞去，也不是大白天想在哪儿休息就在哪儿休息。他很听话，妈妈把他放在哪儿，他就待在哪儿。

His mother,whose name was Firefly,wore over her head something that looked like a flat red-andblack hat,and her eyes were hidden under the broad yellow brim.She had a candle very much like Lampy's,only not quite the same in shape;and her wings were dark,with a light yellow edge all round.Like Lampy,she had rested by day,and had flown with her kind at night.

他的妈妈叫“萤火虫”，头上好像戴着一顶红黑两色的平顶帽，黄色帽檐宽宽的，把眼睛都给遮住了。她也有一根蜡烛，和小亮亮的差不多，不过形状不太一样。她的翅膀颜色很深，镶着一圈淡黄的边。和小亮亮一样，她也是白天休息，晚上跟她的同伴一起到处飞。

Her candle,it is thought,was a signal to other firefly beetles to come and join the dance,for they flew in large flocks near the swamps and over the low meadows.Her bright light did not give a steady glow like the North Star,but flashed and then went out and flashed again;as you can make a little pocket-light do by pressing it.So she could give"wig-wag"signals to her friends;and,as it was night,of course a flashing candle was better than a flag.

据说，她的小蜡烛是信号灯，可以召唤其他萤火虫来参加舞会，因为他们喜欢聚在沼泽地和矮草地的上空翩翩起舞。她那盏小灯发出的光不如北极星的光稳定，但是，却一闪一闪的，就像小手电筒那样，你一摁它就亮，再一摁它就灭。所以，她能给朋友们发信号，当然，因为是晚上，所以闪动的烛光要比信号旗管用。

It is thought,too,that her candle was a warning to the night birds.It showed them just where she was,and they needn't swallow her up if they didn't like the taste of fireflies;just as Poly's bright dress showed the day folk where she was,so that they need not meet her unless they wished to.

据说，她的小蜡烛还是警示灯，可以让夜鸟清楚她的位置，让她们知道如果不喜欢萤火虫的味道，就不要一口吞了她。这就像蝴蝶波丽，大白天穿着鲜艳的衣服，就是为了让大家知道自己的位置，这样，如果不想和她打照面，完全可以躲得远远儿的。

Well,Firefly did not spend all the time in dancing at night and in resting when it was day.She had some eggs to take care of,and no matter how they may have looked to others,they were as good as gold to her.

She buried her treasure—Lampy and the other little eggs.So their cradles were right in the dirt.

不过，萤火虫并不是整个晚上都跳舞，也不是一到白天就睡觉。她还有一些卵需要照顾。不管在别人眼里他们是怎么样的，对她来说，他们就像金子一样宝贵。

她把她的宝贝——小亮亮和别的几个小卵埋了起来。所以，他们的摇篮就在土里。

That was a handy place to be in,as Lampy found when he hatched and crept out of the egg,for he was born a hunter,and had to catch every bit of his own food.

小亮亮孵化好，从卵里爬出来之后，才发现待在这里可真方便，因为他生来就是个辛苦命，所有的食物都得自己去捕去捉。

Underground there were as many little things that Lampy liked to eat as there are on top of the ground for Biddy and her chicks,when they go hunting,or in the air for Nata,when she is grown up and flies about,or in the water for her,when she is a nymph and hides at the bottom of the pond.

地底下蕴藏着丰富的小东西，都是小亮亮爱吃的。到底有多少呢？这么说吧，地上有多少母鸡叨叨和她的宝宝们喜欢吃的东西，地下就有多少小亮亮爱吃的东西；天上有多少蜻蜓娜塔喜欢吃的东西，地下就有多少小亮亮爱吃的东西；水里有多少若虫娜塔喜欢吃的东西，地下就有多少小亮亮爱吃的东西。

Like a flock of dancing stars the Will-o'-the-Wisps are taking flight.
沼泽上方白雾蒙蒙，猫头鹰的叫声划破夜空。(www.xing528.com)

Food enough in the world for everybody,if everybody goes about getting it in the right way;and the right way for Lampy was hunting in the ground!

这个世界上的食物足够所有的人吃，只要大家取食得当。对小亮亮来说，在地下捉东西就是他得当的取食之道。

So he dug little holes wherever he went,and made little caves and crept through them,and hunted and hunted and hunted all the time he was growing up.There,too,underground in his own dark hole,he changed his clothes when they felt too tight.

所以，没长大之前，他每到一处，都会挖小洞，做成小巢穴，然后爬过去，捉呀，捉呀，一直捉个不停。也就是在那里，在他自己那黑乎乎的地下小洞穴里，他换掉了一件件紧得无法再穿的衣服。

He was a queer-looking little thing,with a small head,and then a lot of joints for the rest of his body that were very much alike,except that the tail one had a little tool on it,and the three nearest his head had each a pair of short legs.

他是个长相奇怪的小家伙。小小的脑袋，身体有好多节，差不多都一样，只不过尾巴上的那个节带一个小工具，接近脑袋的那三个节各有一双短短的腿。

But one day he stopped looking like that.This was after he slipped out of his last suit of jointed clothes and went to sleep as soon as they were off.For little Lampy had grown to the time when he was to hunt no more through holes in the ground.He was going to sleep,and then he was going to waken and have wings to fly with and a candle to flash in the night-air.Think of that!

可是，突然有一天，他变了模样。这是他脱掉最后一套关节服，倒头入睡之后发生的事情。因为，小亮亮已经长大，不需要再在地下的那些洞里捕食了。他要睡觉，然后，他要醒来，长出几只能飞的翅膀和一个能在夜空中闪烁的小烛灯。想想吧，太令人神往了！

So he slept in the earth,and his bed under him was good clean dirt,and his blanket over him was good clean dirt,too.

Then,when it was the right time in the summer,he climbed up out of the ground.And that evening he flew over the low meadow to the marsh.There he found Jack-o'-Lantern and Wah-wah-taysee and Tinker Bell and Star-Light and Eye-Bright and Ray and Beam and Flash and Gleam.

所以，他睡在地下。身下的床是上好的净土，身上的毯子也是上好的净土。

接下来，在夏天时机成熟的时候，他爬出了地面。那天晚上，他飞过矮草地，来到了沼泽地。在那里，他碰到了哇哇熄、叮叮当、星星光、亮亮眼、光线线、光柱柱、小闪闪和小烁烁。

They all danced in the air with their wings;and their candles,twinkling in the dark,were more beautiful than any other lights that could be seen—except the stars.

他们都扇动着翅膀在空中飞舞。身上的小烛灯在黑暗中一闪一闪的，比所有能看见的灯都美丽，当然，星星除外。

Oh,is it,then,a fairy sprite,

That frolics with the elves at night?

The Will-o'-the-Wisps,on dancing wings,

But wake the dark with their delight.

哦，难道是仙界的小精灵，

在夜色里与捣蛋鬼们嬉闹？

荧光闪闪乘着舞动的翅膀，

黑夜也因他们的欢乐而睁开了眼睛。

Way,way off over the city,the sky-rockets and other fireworks showed where a crowd of men were having their Fourth o'July,too;but,do you know,with all their money,they had not been able to buy anything so lovely as the dance of the Will-o'-the-Wisps over the marsh!

很远、很远的城市上空，流星焰火和其他焰火五彩缤纷，那里的人们也在欢度国庆节。可是，你知道吗？就算他们花光所有的钱，也买不到沼泽地空中舞会上“小鬼火帮”们的快乐！

For Lampy's candle was a secret,and no man has ever been able to make one like it.Not in this country or way over on the other side of the world in China,or anywhere,has any man ever made a candle such as Lampy and the other Willo'-the-Wisps carried that night as they danced in the air above the marsh.

因为，小亮亮的烛灯是个秘密，还没有人能制造出这样的一只烛灯。就是小亮亮和其他“鬼火帮”小家伙们在沼泽上空跳舞时拿着的那种烛灯。我们这儿没有，地球那一端的中国也没有，别的地方也没有。

The most wonderful thing about it was that it was a cool light.You know that you cannot put your hand into the flame in the fireplace without getting burned.The rays of the sun are warm even when they have come many miles to us.You know that the light from kerosene or alcohol is hot enough to cook your dinner with,if there is an oven over it.

最神奇的是，那烛灯是凉的。你知道的，如果你把手伸进炉火里，肯定会烧伤你的手；太阳光穿越了很远的距离才来到我们这里，但是依然暖洋洋的；你也知道，如果在煤油灯或者酒精灯上架一个锅，其热量足可以用来做饭。

And every one of them carried a candle.
大家每人都带着一只烛灯。

But Lampy's candle was pure light,with no heat.It was ten times as good a light as electricity makes,and fifty times as good as gas;and it was so cool that it did not burn his wings when they were folded right over it.It did not even make the end of his body,where he carried it,one bit warmer than his head.

可是，小亮亮的蜡烛只发光，不发热。它要比电灯好十倍，比油灯好五十倍。他的烛灯凉凉的，翅膀直接叠放在上面，也不会烧坏。烛灯就装在他的尾部，但是，那里一点儿也不比他的头热。

Think of a light like that for a hot summer night!Think of Lampy,without a penny in the bank,owning a candle such as the richest man in the world cannot buy!Think of having a secret that the wisest man never has guessed!

想想吧，夏日炎炎的夜晚，能点这样的一盏灯多好！想想吧，连一分存款都没有的小亮亮，竟然有一盏这样的灯，连世界上最有钱的人都买不到的灯！想想吧，他掌握的秘密，连最聪明的人都没猜出来过！

Mind,I do not say that no one ever will find out the secret of Lampy's candle.Maybe you will yourself,when you are grown up.Who knows?Just because no man or woman ever has,there is no reason to say that no one ever can.

注意！我可没说将来也没人能发现小亮亮蜡烛的秘密。也许等你长大了，你就能。谁知道呢？现在还没有，并不等于将来也不能呀。

If you ever do learn how to make a pure light that is not hot or even warm,what will you do with it?Will you keep your secret all your days?Will you sell it and be very rich?Will you give it to poor people in hot cities,that they may have a light that is cool?Will you give it to the sick,who should not have a warm light near their heads while they read?Or will you take it as Lampy did,and dance in the night with your friends,making the dark earth beautiful with your candles as the dark sky is beautiful with stars?And will you sing as you go:—

假如你真的掌握了这个秘密，学会如何制作一盏只发光不发热，甚至连一点温度都没有的灯，那么，你会怎么样呢？你会一辈子都守着这个秘密吗？你会卖掉它，然后变成富人吗？你会把它送给炎热城市里的那些穷人，让他们拥有一盏凉爽的灯吗？你会把它送给那些头顶附近不能有热光的病人，让他们也能享受阅读的快乐吗？你会像小亮亮那样，拿着它和朋友们一起在夜色里翩翩起舞，让漆黑的大地因你们的烛灯而熠熠生辉，就像茫茫的夜空因群星而璀璨夺目吗？当你手舞足蹈的时候，你会唱起这首歌吗？

"The flowers of dusk are gleaming bright,

And give their sweetness to the night;

While day-folk sleep the dark away,

We dance by pretty candle-light!"

“黄昏之花闪闪发光，

夜色里弥漫着芬芳；

日出而作的人们在漫漫长夜里睡去，

我们在美丽的烛光中翩翩起舞！”