(单词翻译:单击)
"Didn't you ever see the little black tadpoles wiggling about in the pool?" asked her aunt,
你没有见过黑色的小蝌蚪在池塘里摇摆的样子吗?贝蒂的姨妈问道 。
"Before Brother Green-Coat puts on his green coat and white trousers, he is a big tadpole, with arms and legs and long tail.
在绿衣兄弟穿上绿外衣和白裤子之前,它还是个大蝌蚪,长着胳膊、腿和长长的尾巴 。
And before that, he is a tiny tadpole, all head and tail and very black."
而在那之前,它只是个小蝌蚪,只有头和尾巴而且是黑黑的 。
"Has Brother Green-Coat really a home under the ground?" asked the little girl.
绿衣兄弟在地下真的有个家吗?小姑娘问道 。
"Yes," said Aunt Molly. "When winter comes, he lives in a warm home deep in the mud at the bottom of the pool.
是的,莫莉姨妈说 。冬天来的时候,它住在泥塘底部泥沼的深处,那里有它温暖的家 。
But even down there in the dark he knows when spring is here.
但即便是住在最低下的黑暗处,它还是知道春天什么时候到来 。
Then he leaves his winter home, to come up into the bright sunlight."
那时它便会离开冬天的家,浮上水面,沐浴在明媚的阳光之中 。
"How clean Brother Green-Coat is!" said Betty.
绿衣兄弟真干净啊!贝蒂说 。
"He doesn't look as if he had been living in the mud."
它看起来不像是住在泥里面的 。
"I haven't told you all about him yet, "said Aunt Molly." Come with me to the old log.
关于它的故事我还没跟你说完呢,莫莉姨妈说,跟我到那块旧木头那里
I think we may find something there that looks as Brother Green-Coat did the very first time I saw him."
我想在那我们能找到一些东西,它们看起来就像是我第一次看到的绿衣兄弟一样 。
Yes! There, on top of the water, was something that looked like clear, white jelly, full of little black dots.
没错!水上面飘着的看上去像是透明的白色果冻一样的东西,里面充满了小黑点 。
"The black dots are frogs' eggs," said Aunt Molly.
这些小黑点就是青蛙卵,莫莉姨妈说 。
"The little tadpoles are hatched from them."
小蝌蚪就是从它们中孵化出来的 。
"So big Brother Green-Coat was once only a tiny black dot!" laughed Betty.
所以绿衣兄弟曾经只是小黑点!贝蒂笑着说 。
"There! he has jumped into the pool. No wonder his green coat is so bright, and his white trousers are so clean.
快看啊,它跳进了水里,难怪它的绿衣那么鲜亮,白裤子那么干净 。
They get washed whenever he goes for a swim."
它什么时候跳进去游泳什么时候就顺便把衣服洗了 。
"Good-by, Brother Green-Coat!" she called, as she and her aunt turned to go home.
再见,绿衣兄弟!贝蒂和姨妈转身回家时说 。
"I will come back every day to see you, for you are more wonderful than anything I have read about in my fairy-story book."
我每天都会回来看你,因为你比我在童话故事书里读到的任何东西都要有趣 。