Ann Gusti was chewing a buttercup-leaf.If you did such a thing yourself,I dare say it would make your tongue smart a bit.But Ann Gusti belonged to a family of blister beetles,and a peppery salad tasted very good to her.In fact,she liked it better than any other food.For this reason some people name her Buttercup Beetle.Besides that,she is often called Oil Beetle,because she can drop oil out of her joints.And when she was a baby,just hatched from an egg,she was so funny that people said she was a Tri-un-gu-lin,and every time she changed her clothes somebody gave her a new name.So you see that by the time she was grown up she had plenty of them;but I like Ann Gusti best of all.
假死虫安妮正嚼着一片毛茛叶。如果你也嚼一嚼，我敢肯定你的舌头会痛。不过，假死虫安妮是斑蝥家族的成员，对她来说，辣乎乎的色拉味道很不错。因为这个，有些人为她取名“毛茛甲虫”。另外，除了这个名字，她还经常被叫作“泌油甲虫”，因为她能从她的关节里往外滴油。她刚刚从卵里孵化出来还是个小宝宝的时候，样子非常好玩，所以，大家都说她是“三爪幼虫”。总之，她每换一次衣服，就有人给她起一个新名字。所以，你看，等她长大的时候，她就已经有很多名字了。可是，我最喜欢“假死虫安妮”这个名字。
Before she climbed up the buttercup-stem she put on the very last dress she was ever going to have,and a pretty one it was,too.It fitted her nicely,for,of course,like all beetle dresses,it grew on her body inside the dress she Wore before;and when it was ready for her to use,she crept out through a rip in the old one;and there she was,all spick-and-span!
她是换了一条连衣裙之后才爬到毛茛秆上的。这是她换的最后一条连衣裙，也是她仅有的一条连衣裙了，非常漂亮。当然，穿着也很合身，因为，像所有的甲虫连衣裙一样，这条连衣裙也是长在她身上的，就在她“穿”的那条连衣裙下面。等这条新衣裙备好能穿的时候，那条旧连衣裙就裂开一条缝，她就从里面爬出来了。所以，你瞧她现在，从头到脚，一尘不染、焕然一新！
It was a lovely dark-blue color,with some broad black stripes that were as shiny as satin.And on the back were two wing-covers that did very well for trimming,though they were not of much use,for there were no wings under them.
她的最后一条连衣裙是漂亮的深蓝色，上面还带着宽宽的、像缎子一样光滑鲜亮的黑色条纹。裙子背后还有两个翅膀罩，虽然，装饰效果不错，可是却没有什么实际用途，因为翅膀罩下面根本就没有翅膀。
No,poor Ann Gusti never had a ride with her own wings in her life.But perhaps we need not be sorry for her,because she had one good ride through the air for all that,one day when she was a baby and her name was Tri-un-gu-lin.As it was one of the most wonderful rides in the world,that was enough to last her a lifetime.
Before she climbed up the buttercup stem she put on her last dress.
她是换了一条连衣裙之后才爬到毛茛秆上的。
的确没有。所以，可怜的假死虫安妮！她从未乘着翅膀兜过风。不过，我们大可不必为她感到难过，因为尽管如此，她小时候还是痛痛快快去天上兜过一次风的，那个时候她还是一个小宝宝，名字叫“三爪幼虫”。那次兜风举世无双，简直美妙极了，够她回味一辈子的！
This was the way it happened.When Ann Gusti hatched out of an egg,she was hungry.Of course she was.All babies are hungry,or else they wouldn't eat and grow up;and most insect babies can find something to eat very near at hand.
事情是这样的。假死虫安妮刚从卵里孵化出来的时候就饿了。她当然要饿了，因为所有的小宝宝都饿，如果不饿，他们就不会吃东西，不吃东西他们就长不大。大多数昆虫宝宝刚一出生就能找到吃的。
But Ann Gusti couldn't.That was before she learned to eat buttercup-leaves!
可是，假死虫安妮却不能。那是她还没学会吃毛茛叶时候的事情。
In fact,there was only one sort of food in the whole wide world that would agree with her when she was wee and wore her first baby clothes.Now that food was way,way off in a bee's nest,and she didn't know where the nest was.Most babies in a fix like that would have starved to death.
But Ann Gusti didn't!Oh,no!She just climbed up into a flower and waited.
其实，她只有不丁点儿大、还穿着第一套宝宝服的时候，全世界只有一种适合她吃的东西。可是，那东西在离她很远很远的一个蜂巢里，她也不知道那个蜂巢在哪里。大多数小宝宝如果身处这样的困境，肯定早就饿死了。
可是，假死虫安妮不会！噢，绝对不会！她爬到一朵花儿上，开始耐心等待。
By-and-by a bee came buzzing to the flower,and then,quick as a flash,wee Ann Gusti grabbed hold of the hairs on Mother Bee's leg;and that is how she got her ride and that is how she got her breakfast.For she clung tightly to the hairs,and off she rode wherever Mother Bee went,from pretty flower to pretty flower,and at last right into the bee's nest,where she made herself at home and liked the food and stayed.
没过多久，一只蜜蜂嗡嗡嗡地飞了过来，落在了这朵花儿上。说时迟那时快，小不丁点儿假死虫安妮一下子抓住了“蜜蜂妈妈”腿上的茸毛。就这样，她兜了一次风；就这样，她吃上了早餐。她紧紧地抓住“蜜蜂妈妈”身上的茸毛，“蜜蜂妈妈”飞到哪儿，就把她带到哪儿。他们拜访了一朵又一朵漂亮的花儿，最后，正好落在了那个蜂巢里。到了那里，她一点儿也没感到拘束，还有吃的东西，她喜欢，于是她留了下来。
If you know a smarter baby than Ann Gusti,or a stranger ride to take before the first breakfast,I hope you'll write a story about it.
如果你知道还有哪个宝宝比假死虫安妮还聪明，或者，如果你知道第一次早餐之前，还有比这个还奇特的兜风，那么，我希望你把它们编成一个故事写下来。
So with a ride like that to start life with,it is no wonder that Ann Gusti grew up to be a clown in a circus.
假死虫安妮刚一出生就兜了这样的一次风，怪不得她长大后成了马戏团里的小丑演员。
Did you think that a circus had to be under a cloth tent,with tigers and lions in cages,and trained horses and dogs there to do tricks?
你以为马戏团必须得在布帐篷里表演吗？把老虎和狮子关在笼子里，让训练有素的马和狗表演各种把戏？
Well,Jack and Jane liked that kind,too;but they went to a different sort of circus with Uncle David one day as a special treat,and they both said his kind is the best there is.
是呀，杰克和简儿也都喜欢那样的马戏表演，但是，有一天，大卫叔叔特地款待他们，邀请他们去看了一场不一样的马戏表演。他俩都说大卫叔叔带他们看的马戏表演是世界上最好看的。
The top of the tent was the prettiest blue you can ever see,and at one side there were trees with the earliest ripe apples on them,and at another there was a river with a rocky bank and a great flat stone with a bonfire burning on it;and at a third side there was a meadow;but neither Jack nor Jane could tell what was on the fourth side,because Ann Gusti was playing her funny tricks in the meadow;and so that was as far as they got.
那场马戏表演的帐篷很不一般。篷顶碧蓝碧蓝的，你可能从来都没见过那样漂亮的蓝颜色。帐篷的第一面墙上是树，最先成熟的苹果早已挂满了枝头。帐篷的第二面墙是一条河，河岸岩石嶙峋，其中有一块石头又大又平坦，上面还有一堆熊熊燃烧的篝火。帐篷的第三面墙是一片青草地。帐篷第四面墙上有什么，杰克和简儿都说不上来，假死虫安妮正在青草地上表演她那有趣的把戏呢，所以，他们没顾上往那边看。
As I said to begin with,Ann Gusti was chewing a buttercup-leaf.She was right in plain sight at first,but the minute the toe of Uncle David's boot hit the buttercup-stem she was gone.Now you know she couldn't fly,because she had no wings under her wing-covers;and if a bee had come along just then it would have done no good,for by this time she was grown up and much,much bigger than a bee;so she couldn't have ridden off that way,either.
一开始我就说过，假死虫安妮正嚼着一片毛茛叶。起初，她就在那里，一目了然。可是，大卫叔叔的靴子尖刚一碰到毛茛的茎秆，她就不见了。你知道的，她不会飞，因为她的翅膀罩下面根本就没有翅膀。那个时候，即使有蜜蜂过来也没什么用。因为这个时候，她早已经长大了，可比蜜蜂大多了，所以，她也不可能扒在蜜蜂腿上腾空而去。
After a hunt among the leaves she was found on the ground,lying on one side with her head held so close to her body that her yellow neck did not show.Her little feelers were reaching up,but they were still;and her legs looked limp,and there were oily drops coming out at the joints.
他们拨开叶子找了好半天，才在地上发现了她。只见她侧身躺在地上，头紧紧地缩在身子里，连她那黄灿灿的脖子都看不见了；一对小触角朝前伸着，可是，一点儿动静都没有；腿松松垮垮地耷拉着，关节里正往外滴油乎乎的东西。
"Oh!"said Jane,"she's dropped down dead!"
“噢！她摔死了！”简不由得喊道。
That shows how Ann Gusti fooled them!That shows how well she could do her trick!No trained dog could have looked deader if he had practiced a year!
知道了吧？假死虫安妮多会骗人！知道了吧？她的把戏耍得有多高明！就算一条训练有素的狗训练一年，装起死来也赶不上她！
The children lay down on the ground with their chins in their hands,and waited and waited and waited.Just before their necks ached so that they couldn't wait another minute,Ann Gusti wiggled her toes.Then she moved her feelers the least little bit.Then after a while,as everything was quiet,she got up on her feet and climbed the buttercup-stem and went on chewing a leaf as if there was nothing at all the matter with her.And there wasn't.She was just fooling them.That was Ann Gusti's trick.
Ann Gusti wiggled her toes.
假死虫安妮的脚指头动弹了一下。
孩子们双手托着下巴趴在地上，等呀等，一直等到脖子发酸，连一分钟都不能再等了。就在这个时候，假死虫安妮的脚指头动弹了一下。接着，她的触角也微微动了一下。又过了一会儿，等四周静悄悄的，没有一点声息的时候，她立起身来，爬到了毛茛秆上，好像没事人儿似的继续大嚼起毛莨叶来。的确没事。刚才她只不过是骗骗他们。那是她表演的把戏。(www.xing528.com)
"She's a clown!"said Jack.
And that is how it happened that Ann Gusti had a circus on Labor Day before school began,when the friends of Jack and Jane could come.
“哇，她是小丑演员！”杰克喊道。
于是，就有了假死虫安妮的劳动节马戏表演。那时还没有开学，所以，杰克和简儿的朋友们都能来看。
The children played the woodshed as a tent.Beside the tent door there was a sign made by cutting big letters out of a newspaper and pasting them on card-board to make the words:—
SIDE SHOW
THREE WONDERS OF THE WORLD
1.ANN GUSTI,THE FAMOUS FAT CLOWN
2.THE THINNEST LIVING SKELETON
3.THE SPRY AMERICAN ACROBAT
孩子们把柴火棚当成马戏帐篷。用报纸剪出大大的字母，拼成一个个单词贴在硬纸板上，当作告示牌，放在了帐篷的门旁边。
杂耍表演
世界三大奇观
1.假死虫安妮，顶级“小丑人”
2.顶级骷髅“芦柴棒”
3.身手敏捷的美国杂技演员
Inside there were three cages for the animals.Ann Gusti was in the middle one,chewing buttercup-leaves.And when Jack touched her and said,"Now,you are a dead beetle,"she would tumble down to the bottom of the cage and play she was dead—every single time.Good Ann Gusti—she knew her trick and did it,just as her mother and father and all the Gusti family had done as far back as any one can remember!They were all clowns,those Gustis.
他们的马戏帐篷里面有三个关着马戏动物的笼子。假死虫安妮在中间的那个笼子里，她正嚼毛茛叶呢。只要杰克一碰她，说声“喂，你死定了，”她就滚到笼底，开始装死。假死虫安妮是个好演员，就像她的爸爸妈妈和那些能够数得着的假死虫先辈那样，她对自己要表演的节目了然于心，完成得很好。他们都是小丑演员，假死虫家族的所有成员都是。
The minute they hatched out of their eggs they were ready for their bee-riding trick;and then late in life,when they wore wing-covers that didn't cover any wings,they played they were dead before they were.In fact they had all saved their lives many a time by playing they were dead.
刚从卵里孵化出来的那一刻，他们就已经准备好了要玩跟着蜜蜂去兜风的把戏；后来，他们戴上了没有翅膀的翅膀罩，还没死呢，就玩起了装死的把戏。实际上，他们大家都通过装死才多次得以逃命。
The thinnest living skeleton
顶级骷髅“芦柴棒”
So,being used to this trick,Ann Gusti could do it just as well with everybody watching her as she could out in the field when some bird or little animal came too near.
所以，习惯成自然。在旷野里，鸟儿或小动物靠得太近时，她能成功完成表演；大家围着她看的时候，她照样也能成功完成表演。
In the cage to the right of Ann Gusti was the"Thinnest Living Skeleton,"whose body looked like one little twig and her six thin legs like six others.She was a sort of distant cousin to Carol and Gryl,but you would never think it to look at her.They both had large thick strong jumping hind-legs to hop with,and if the"skeleton"had ever tried to hop,it would have made anybody laugh to see her.But I don't think she ever tried.
假死虫安妮右边的笼子里关的是“芦柴棒”。她的身子像一根小树枝，她的六条小细腿像六根小树枝。她和蚱蜢欢欢、蟋蟀灰灰有点亲戚关系，好像是远房堂姐妹或表姐妹什么的。可是，看她那样子，你永远也不会往这方面去想。欢欢和灰灰的后腿都粗壮发达，弹跳能力很强，可是，如果“芦柴棒”也能跳起来试一试的话，所有看到她的人都会忍俊不禁。不过，我想她从来就没试过。
As she had no wings or wing-covers whatever,she couldn't fly like Carol and she couldn't fiddle like Gryl.
由于她没有翅膀或翅膀罩之类的东西，她不会像蚱蜢欢欢那样飞，也不会像蟋蟀唧唧那样拨弄琴弦。
In fact,there wasn't much she could do but look like a twig.But she did that perfectly!If a person can do just one thing very well indeed,she gets along pretty well in this world.The"skeleton"had always been in a little oak tree before she came to the circus;and if you had tried to see her there,you would have found out that she could hide herself in plain sight on an oak-branch as well as Carol could hide herself in plain sight on the sand.Maybe that's how she came to look so like a twig that people call her a"walkingstick."
实际上，除了摆出一副芦柴棒的样子之外，她没什么会干的。不过，摆样子这件事她做得真是棒极了，简直是惟妙惟肖！一个确确实实有一技之长的人在这个世界上是能够应付自如的。“芦柴棒”来马戏团之前，一直住在一棵小橡树上。如果你以前去那里找过她，你就会发现她的隐身术和蚱蜢欢欢一样高明。蚱蜢欢欢能躲在沙土地里让你视而不见，而“芦柴棒”让你视而不见的高招就是躲在橡树上。也许，就因如此，她才长得这么像树枝，结果，人们都叫她“会走路的棍子”。
In the cage to the left of Ann Gusti was a beetle who had a queer spring on the under side of his body;and whenever he found himself on his back,he had the funniest way of getting on his feet you ever thought of.He would jerk his spring with a"click"sound,and that would throw him way up in the air,and then he would come down right-side up.If he didn't do it the first time trying,he would keep on clicking and jumping until he did.
So altogether Ann Gusti's side-show pleased the children and did the little animals no harm.
假死虫安妮左边的笼子里关的是一只小甲虫。他的身子下侧有一个奇怪的发条。只要他仰面朝天跌倒在地，他都会重新翻过身子站起来，那样子简直好玩极了，你连想都想不到。只见他“咔嗒”一声拉开那个小发条，一下子把自己抛到半空中，然后，腿脚朝下落到地上。如果第一次翻身没有成功，他就会不断地咔嗒、咔嗒拉发条、一次又一次地往上跳，直到把身子翻过来为止。
A beetle who had a queer spring
一只有奇怪发条的甲虫
总之，孩子们很喜欢假死虫安妮的杂耍表演，再说，这些表演对小虫子本身没有什么伤害。
By the next day,though,she became tired of her cage and tried her best to get out.She climbed up to the top and clung with her six little feet at the crack,and pushed and poked and bumped with her head,trying to find a place where she could squeeze through.If Jack lifted the top,she would stop just where she was as if frightened,and keep still without moving a feeler or toe.When the cover was put down,she would wait a long time,and then begin all over again,creeping round and round and round the top of the cage,clinging at the crack with her feet,and pushing,pushing,pushing,with her hard little head.
可是，到了第二天，假死虫安妮就厌倦了笼子里的生活，她竭尽全力想爬出去。她爬到笼子顶上，六条腿紧紧地抓住笼缝，伸出头，连推带戳，还不停地撞，想找到一个地方挤出去。可是，如果杰克掀开笼顶，她就好像很害怕，立刻停下来，待在原地，触角和脚指头一动也不敢动。放下笼盖后，她还会一动不动地等很长时间，然后才重整旗鼓，又开始在笼顶上爬呀、爬呀，六条腿紧紧抓着笼缝，伸着她那坚硬的小脑袋，使劲地推了又推，挤了又挤。
That made both Jack and Jane so sorry for her that they gave her back to Uncle David,who took her home to her own wide meadow.And the last that was ever known of Ann Gusti,she had the great big beautiful sky for a circus-tent,and the little clown was chewing a buttercup-leaf whenever she felt hungry.
看她这样，杰克和简儿都难过极了。于是，他们把她还给了大卫叔叔。大卫叔叔把她送回了辽阔的青草地，让她回到了自己的家里。我们最后听到的关于假死虫安妮的消息，就是这位小巧可爱的小丑演员已经把广阔无垠的美丽天空当作了表演马戏的帐篷，而且，只要饿了，就大嚼毛茛叶。
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