My Shadow

by Robert Louis Stevenson

请跟英语兔我一起读:

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

小小影子跟随我左右,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

他的魔力超乎我想象,

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

从脚到头, 与我神似;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

抢先一步, 跳上床铺。

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—

最有趣的, 是其成长方式,

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

丝毫不像平常小孩子般慢慢见长;

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball,

有时如橡皮球般蹿高,

And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

有时却缩得无影无踪。

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,

好动贪玩, 毫无规章,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

设计耍我, 他最擅长。

He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;

你看他那胆小样儿, 寸步不离我身旁;

I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

他这样粘着我, 让我想起粘着保姆是如此的难堪!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

某天清晨, 太阳还没露脸,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

我起床发现, 每颗毛茛都闪着露珠点点;

But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,

但我那慵懒的小影子, 活活像一大懒虫,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

躲于身后窝在家中, 赖在床上转眼入梦。