《绿野仙踪》开篇：英文原著带中文翻译

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

多萝西住在堪萨斯的大草原上，和农夫亨利叔叔、农妇埃姆婶婶住在一起。他们的房子很小，因为建造房子的木材必须用马车从许多英里外运来。房子有四堵墙、一个地板和一个屋顶，构成一个房间；房间里有一个锈迹斑斑的炉灶、一个放盘子的碗柜、一张桌子、三四把椅子和几张床。亨利叔叔和埃姆婶婶在一个角落有一张大床，多萝西在另一个角落有一张小床。根本没有阁楼，也没有地窖，只有一个在地上挖的小洞，叫做旋风地窖，万一那些巨大的旋风出现，足以摧毁任何挡路的建筑，全家就可以躲进去。地板上中间有一个活板门，从那里有一架梯子通到那个又小又暗的洞里。

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

当多萝西站在门口环顾四周时，她只能看到四周都是灰蒙蒙的大草原。没有一棵树，也没有一座房子，打破那一片平坦的广阔田野，它向四面八方延伸到天边。太阳把耕地烤成一片灰色，上面布满了小裂缝。连草也不是绿色的，因为太阳把长草的顶端晒焦了，直到它们和到处可见的东西一样灰。房子曾经漆过，但太阳把漆晒得起泡，雨水把它冲掉了，现在房子和其他一切东西一样暗淡灰暗。

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

埃姆婶婶刚来住的时候，是个年轻漂亮的妻子。太阳和风也改变了她。它们夺走了她眼中的光彩，留下了一双严肃的灰眼睛；它们夺走了她脸颊和嘴唇上的红润，它们也变成了灰色。她瘦削憔悴，现在从不微笑。当孤儿多萝西第一次来到她身边时，埃姆婶婶被孩子的笑声吓了一跳，每当多萝西欢快的声音传到她耳朵里，她就会尖叫，把手按在心上；她仍然带着惊奇看着这个小女孩，不明白她怎么能找到任何可笑的事情。

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

亨利叔叔从不笑。他从早到晚辛勤工作，不知道什么是快乐。他也是灰色的，从长长的胡子到粗糙的靴子，他看起来严厉而严肃，很少说话。

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

是多萝西让多萝西发笑，并拯救了她，使她不会变得像周围其他东西一样灰暗。托托不是灰色的；他是一只小黑狗，有着长长的丝滑毛发和一双小黑眼睛，在他那有趣的小鼻子两边欢快地闪烁。托托整天玩耍，多萝西和他一起玩，深爱着他。

Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

然而今天，他们没有玩耍。亨利叔叔坐在门阶上，焦急地看着天空，天空比平时更加灰暗。多萝西站在门口，怀里抱着托托，也看着天空。埃姆婶婶正在洗碗。

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

从遥远的北方，他们听到风的低低哀号，亨利叔叔和多萝西可以看到长草在即将到来的风暴前波浪般弯曲。这时从南方传来一阵尖锐的呼啸声，当他们把目光转向那个方向时，他们看到草中的涟漪也从那个方向传来。

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

突然，亨利叔叔站了起来。

“There’s a cyclone coming, Em,” he called to his wife. “I’ll go look after the stock.” Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.

「埃姆，旋风来了，」他朝妻子喊道。「我去照看牲口。」然后他朝关着牛马的棚子跑去。