Turtle Tom
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
I’ve got the worst name in the world.
我得到了世界上最糟糕的名字。
There is none worse.
没有比这更糟的了。
My name is Tom T.
我叫汤姆・T
Terdle.
特德尔.
Pretty dumb, huh?
挺笨的,对吧?
I don’t have a middle name, only the initial.
我没有中间的名字,
It has something to do with my grandfather and his father’s father.
与我祖父及父亲有关。
And, my first name is Tom—not Thomas, just Tom.
我的名字是汤姆 不是托马斯 只是汤姆
It lends itself to all kinds of things, all of which are pretty mean.
其能出出种种相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相相.
People, all kinds of people, call me all sorts of things.
众生等种种众生作是念已.
I haven’t had one teacher who hasn’t laughed after calling my name on the first day of school.
我还没有一位老师在上学第一天打电话给我,
It usually goes like this: “Robert Miller?”
一般是这样的:“罗伯特·米勒? “
“Here!”
"这里!"
“Becky-Sue Porter?”
“贝基-苏·波特? “
“Here.”
“这里。”
“Tom T.
“汤姆·T.
Terdle?”
特德尔? “
“Here.”
“这里。”
“Does the ‘T’ stand for ‘The, ’ as in ‘Tom The Turtle’?
" `T ' 代表`The'吗?
Heh, heh, heh!”
嘿,嘿,嘿,嘿! "
Groan.
唉。
I’ve heard that every year and sometimes twice.
我每年都听到,
That’s because my dad has to move around with his job, and one year I went to three different schools.
因为我爸必须搬家,
I’m in the fourth grade, and already I’ve gone to six grade schools.
我进入四年级,
Every time we move, I have to get ready for the stupid names and a fight or two.
每次我们行动,我都要准备好 愚蠢的名字和一两次战斗。
This time my dad was transferred to Port Aransas, Texas.
这次我爸爸被调到德克萨斯州阿兰萨斯港
We had been living in Utah, and at first I thought it would be really cool to live on the ocean.
我们一直住在犹他州, 起初我以为住在海洋上会很酷。
Port Aransas is on Padre Island, which is on the Gulf of Mexico.
阿兰萨斯港位于帕德雷岛,位于墨西哥湾.
It wasn’t what I expected.
这不是我所期望的。
Because the water is protected, the waves are pretty small, and the water is warm.
因为水是被保护的,所以波浪相当小,而水是温暖的.
The land is warmer than the water, and when we first got here it was hot.
陆地比水暖和 当我们刚到这里时,这里很热.
I mean really hot!
我的意思是,真的很热!
If that wasn’t bad enough, Texas schools start in the middle of August, so I didn’t get much of a vacation.
德克萨斯的学校从8月中旬开始,
I didn’t meet any of the other kids in my class until school had started.
直到学校开学,
By now it was too late to meet anyone.
现在跟任何人见面都太晚了
I would probably get into another fight.
我可能会再打一场
I don’t like to fight, but some of the things other kids say are pretty nasty.
我并不喜欢打架,
One thing leads to another, and usually I hit somebody.
有一件事导致另一件事 通常我打人。
Then, I end up in the principal’s office with my mom having to drive over to the school.
然后,我最后在校长办公室 我妈妈开车去学校。
All of which is the reason I ended up alone on the beach on a weekday.
所有这一切都是为什么我 独自在海滩上一个平日。
I got kicked out of school for three days for fighting.
我因为打架被开除了三天
Still had to do my homework, but I couldn’t go to school, which was just fine with me.
但我不能上学,
Don’t get me wrong, I like school—I just don’t like the other kids always teasing me.
不要误会,我喜欢上学 我只是不喜欢其他孩子总是嘲笑我。
If there’s any salvation in what happened yesterday, it’s that the principal kicked out the other four kids, too.
如果昨天发生的事情有救赎的话, 校长也赶走了其他四个孩子。
He said I was provoked.
他说我被激怒了
That still didn’t help me much at home.
这在家中仍然无济于事。
In the first day, I got all my homework done for the entire three days.
第一天,我做了三天的功课
So I was allowed to go down to the beach and look for stuff along the shore.
所以我被允许去海滩 沿岸找东西
What I found is the last thing I wanted to find — turtles.
我发现的是我最不想找到的东西——龟.
Actually, what I found first was eggs—lots of eggs buried under the sand.
其实,我首先发现的是鸡蛋——许多被埋入沙子下的鸡蛋.
I thought it was a joke.
我以为那是个玩笑
Maybe somebody had buried a bunch of hard-boiled eggs after a beach party.
也许有人在沙滩派对后 埋了一堆被煮熟的鸡蛋
But the eggs were weird.
但鸡蛋是奇怪的。
They were soft and kind of leathery.
它们是柔软和有皮革的。
They didn’t look like chicken eggs at all.
他们根本不像鸡蛋。
I kept digging and the deeper I dug, the more eggs I found.
我不停地挖 挖得越深 我发现的鸡蛋就越多
I felt like a dog digging for bones, and minutes later I really felt like a dog.
几分钟后我觉得自己像条狗
My digging was interrupted by an angry woman’s voice, “What in tarnation are you doing?”
我的挖掘被一个愤怒的女人的声音打断了,“你在拖延什么? “
“Huh?”
“啊? “
I looked up, sand all over my face and an egg in my hand.
我抬起头来 脸上满是沙子 手里还有个鸡蛋
Standing behind me, hands on her hips, was an old lady with fluffy white hair.
站在我身后 手放在她臀部上 是个长着毛发的老太太
“You are going to kill every one of those if you don’t stop it!”
“如果你不阻止, “
she said.
她说。
“Kill what?”
“杀死什么? “
I asked.
我问。
“The turtles,” she said, taking the egg out of my hand.
她说,“乌龟”,把鸡蛋从我手中取出。
“Don’t you know how to read?”
" 难道你不知道如何阅读吗? “
She snapped her thumb at a sign on a weathered post not twenty feet away: “Be Aware!
她在20英尺外被风化了的岗哨上,用一个标语砍断了拇指:“要注意。
Sea Turtle Nesting Area!
海龟巢穴区!
Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!”
违法者将受到法律的彻底起诉!”
I felt bad.
我感觉糟透了
I started pushing sand back onto the remaining eggs.
我开始把沙子推回剩下的鸡蛋上
“No, no, no!”
“不,不,不!”
she said, kneeling down beside me.
她说,跪在我旁边。
“The entire clutch has got to be put back—and gently.”
“必须把整个离合器放回去,并轻轻地放回去。 “
Together we carefully put the eggs back in the hole and began covering them with the warm sand.
我们一起小心地把鸡蛋放回洞里 开始用温暖的沙子覆盖它们
“What’s your name, boy?”
“你叫什么名字,孩子? “
she asked.
她问。
I took a long look at her.
我花了很长时间看她。
She was even older than I thought, eighty or more, but she didn’t act like it.
她甚至比我想象的还大,
“My name is Tom T.
“我的名字是Tom T.
Terdle,” I answered.
Terdle,“我回答。
“Don’t you go getting smart on me, young man,” she snapped.
“不要对我耍聪明,
“You can keep a civil tongue.
“你可以保留一门口语。
I want your real name.”
我要你的真名 “
“I’m not joking,” I answered, slipping into my normal defensive mode.
“我不是在开玩笑,”我回答说,
“My name is Tom Terdle.
“我的名字是汤姆·特德勒。
T -E-R-D-L-E.”
T-E-R-D-L-E（特德尔）。”
“Harrumph,” she grunted.
她叫道:“Harrumph,”
“Well, Tom, they call me the Turtle Lady around these parts, and I’m a deputy with the Port Aransas Police Department.
“汤姆,他们称我为海龟夫人,
Now what am I going to do with you?
现在我要拿你怎么办?
Besides endangering an endangered species, you are also skipping school.”
除了危及濒危物种,你还逃学。 “
“I am not skipping school,” I said.
我说,“我不是逃学。”
“I got suspended for three days.”
“我被停职了三天。 “
“For what?”
“为什么? “
she asked as we finished burying the eggs.
她问,当我们 埋葬鸡蛋。
She was easy to talk to, and I told her everything.
她很容易说话, 我告诉她一切。
When I say everything, I mean everything.
当我说一切,我是说一切。
I told about all the schools, and the kids making fun of me, everything.
我告诉了所有的学校, 和孩子们嘲笑我,一切。
She smiled and laughed, “Well, I take a lot of pride in being called the Turtle Lady.
她笑道:“嗯,我非常自豪地被称作"龟女"。
I love turtles.
我爱海龟
So I really can’t sympathize with you about your name.
我无法同情你,
Personally, I’d take it as a compliment, but then again, I’m not you.”
我个人认为这是赞美, “
We began walking along the beach.
我们开始沿着海滩走
“Look, Tom.
“看,汤姆。
You’re out of school for a few days.
你离开学校几天。
You help me patrol this area, especially tomorrow night when the eggs will probably hatch.
特别是明天晚上 鸡蛋可能孵出的时候
If you help me, I won’t arrest you for digging up the nest.”
如果你帮我, 我不会因为挖巢而逮捕你。 “
I would have agreed even if I wasn’t going to be arrested.
我本会同意,
She may have been old, but she was instantly my friend.
她可能已经老了, 但她立刻是我的朋友。
That night, after convincing my folks that I had to help the Turtle Lady, I met her down at the beach.
当晚,在说服我父母我必须帮助"龟女"之后,我在海滩上遇见了她.
We sat there around a driftwood fire and watched for some sign that the eggs were going to hatch.
我们坐在一个漂流木火周围, 看着一些迹象 鸡蛋要孵出。
She told me about the sea turtles.
她跟我说海龟的事
I learned more in that night than I had in all my science classes.
那晚我学到的比所有科学课都多
I got to stay up all night, but nothing happened.
我得熬夜,但什么都没有发生。
As we put out the fire she chuckled, “It’s going to be tomorrow night.
我们扑灭了大火,
Always happens in the dark of the moon.
常出于月之阴.
Get some sleep, Turtle Tom.
睡一觉吧 Turtle Tom
Tomorrow night we’ll see some turtles.”
明天晚上我们会看到一些乌龟。 “
For the first time ever, I wasn’t insulted by that name.
我第一次没有受到这个名字的侮辱。
In fact, coming from the Turtle Lady, it felt very special.
实际上,从"龟女"那里传来,感觉非常特别.
I got home just as my dad was getting up.
我爸起床的时候我就回家了
I told him all about the night.
我告诉他夜里的一切
He ushered me toward my room and told me to sleep.
他带我到我的房间 让我睡觉
“One more night, son,” he said gently.
他轻轻地说,“再过一晚,儿子”。
“No turtles tonight and you’re going to be out of luck.”
「今晚没有乌龟, “
I didn’t argue.
我没有争论。
I was too tired.
我当时太累了
I slept all through the day and at about six o’clock, Mom woke me up.
我整天都睡着,
I ate some dinner and then rushed back down to the beach.
我吃了晚餐,然后赶回海滩
That night was a wild night, a night I will never forget.
那晚是疯狂的夜晚 我永远不会忘记
We stood around the fire, and at first I thought we were out of luck.
我们站在火边 一开始我以为我们运气不好
Then, the Turtle Lady said, “Hear that?”
然后,"龟女"说:"听到了吗? “
I could hear a funny scrabbling sound like something was crawling across the sand.
我能听到一个滑稽的叫声 就像在沙地上爬来爬去
“Turtles,” I shouted.
我喊出“Turtles”,
“No,” she laughed, “crabs.
她笑道:“不,”她笑道:“crabs。
But that’s a good thing in a bad way.”
但这是好事, “
She flipped on her flashlight and drew the light across the beach.
她翻开手电筒,把灯画到海滩对面.
There, scuttling across the sand against the fluorescent foam from the surf were hundreds of crabs.
在那里,冲浪在沙地上对流出荧光泡沫的有上百只螃蟹.
“Crabs?
“蟹?
What’s that got to do with the turtles?”
这和乌龟有什么关系? “
As we watched she explained that the crabs prey on the turtles.
当我们看着她解释 螃蟹捕食龟。
“It’s a good thing,” she said, “because it means the turtles are hatching.
她说:「这是一件好事,
It’s a bad thing because they will kill a lot of them.”
因为他们会杀死很多人。 “
I grabbed a big stick and said, “Then I’ll just kill some crabs.”
我拿起一根大棍子说道:“那我就杀了一些螃蟹。 “
“No,” she said gently, “the crabs are a part of nature.
她轻而易举地说,“螃蟹是自然的一部分。
The turtles that survive will be the strongest.
活下来的海龟最强了
That is the way of nature.
这就是大自然的方式。
The weak die so that the species will be stronger.”
弱者会死,这样物种才会更强大. “
In thirty minutes or so, they came.
大约30分钟后,他们来了。
Starting like a trickle, then like a bigger wave, the little turtles began digging from the sandy nests and scurrying down to the surf.
开始像一股小花,然后像一股更大的浪,小龟从沙质的巢穴开始挖出并跑去冲浪.
The crabs caught some of them, but many more made their way to the water.
螃蟹捕到一部分,但更多的蟹去取水.
All in all that was the most amazing night of my life, some fifteen years ago.
这一切是我生命中最奇妙的一晚 大约15年前
I long since have gotten rid of my sensitivity to being called T urtle T om, and now as a marine biologist I am flattered when school kids who come to the marina call me that.
我早就摆脱了被称作"海龟"的敏感感,现在作为一个海洋生物学家,我受宠若惊的是,来到码头的学校孩子这么叫我。
I often walk the beaches at Port Aransas.
我经常去阿兰萨斯港的海滩
She is still there in spirit, guarding the sea turtles.
她仍然在那里 守护着海龟
By the way, all my friends call me Turtle Tom.
顺便说一句 我的朋友都叫我Turtle Tom
Who was the Turtle Lady?
龟女是谁?
Her real name was Ila Loetscher, and she loved and protected the turtles like nobody else in Texas.
她的真名是"伊拉·洛埃舍"(Ila Loetscher),她像德克萨斯州其他人一样爱并保护了龟.