The Mad Hatter

疯帽匠

One morning, Lucas sat outside with his grandfather. They looked past the gravel road that led to a natural reservoir on the delta. On the other side of the water, there was a cottage.

一天早上，卢卡斯和他的祖父坐在外面。他们越过通往三角洲一个天然水库的砾石路往下看。在河的另一边，有一间小屋。

Does a ghost live there? Lucas asked.

“那里住着鬼吗?”卢卡斯问道。

No, a mad hatter lives there, said his grandfather. Lucas didn't know what a mad hatter was, but the image of a scary man haunted him.

“不，那里住着一个疯帽匠，”他的祖父说。卢卡斯不知道疯帽匠是什么，但一个可怕的形象萦绕着他。

Later, Lucas went for a walk in the forest. He collected pieces of amber and granite that he found on the ground. He looked at the moss on the trees and watched a bird peck at the ground. But the forest was like a maze. Soon, Lucas was lost.

后来，卢卡斯去森林里散步。他收集了地上的琥珀和花岗岩碎片。他看着树上的青苔，看到一只鸟啄着地面。但是森林就像一个迷宫。卢卡斯很快就迷路了。

Lucas heard somebody behind him. He wanted to run away, but he fell. He had a streak of blood on his shirt and some pebbles stuck in his skin.Then a man appeared.

卢卡斯听到身后有人。他想逃跑，但他摔倒了。他的衬衫上有一道血迹，皮肤上有几颗石子。然后一个男人出现了。

I will take you home. First, let's get you cleaned up, he said.

“我带你回家。首先，让我把你弄干净，”他说。

Lucas followed him. When they arrived at the cottage, he realized the man was the mad hatter!

卢卡斯跟着他。当他们到达小屋时，他意识到这个人就是疯帽匠!

He sat down inside. It smelled like charcoal, but it looked like a normal house. The man brought Lucas back some medicine.

他在里面坐了下来。房子里面闻起来像木炭，但外观看起来像一个普通的房子。那个人给卢卡斯带回了一些药。

It's a bit old, but it's not expired, the man said.

“时间有点长了，但还没有过期，”那人说。

While Lucas cleaned his cut, the man washed the blood out of his shirt with detergent.

卢卡斯清洗伤口时，那人用洗涤剂把衬衫上的血迹洗掉了。

Lucas asked, "Are you a mad hatter?"

卢卡斯问:“你是个疯帽匠吗?”

The man laughed and replied, "That's a euphemism for a crazy person.Actually, I'm pretty normal. I'm a columnist for a newspaper," said the man.He pointed to his credentials which hung on the wall.

那人笑着回答说:“这是对疯子的委婉说法。事实上，我很正常。我是一家报纸的专栏作家。”他指着挂在墙上的证件。

Lucas could hear the crickets outside. It was getting dark, so he asked, "Could you take me home now?"

卢卡斯能听到外面蟋蟀的叫声。天渐渐黑了，他问:“你现在能带我回家吗?”

The man said yes. Lucas was surprised that people thought the man was crazy. He was actually very courteous. Maybe Lucas should have a more liberal attitude. Next time, Lucas wouldn't make judgments about people without getting to know them first.

那人答应了。卢卡斯很惊讶人们竟然认为这个人疯了。他其实很有礼貌。也许卢卡斯应该有自己的判断。下一次，卢卡斯不会在不先了解别人的情况下对他们做出判断了。

单词表

amber n. 琥珀

charcoal n. 木炭

columnist n. 专栏作家

courteous adj.有礼貌的

credentials n. 证书

cricket n. 蟋蟀

delta n. 三角洲

detergent n. 清洁剂

euphemism n. 委婉语

expire v. 期满

granite n. 花岗岩

gravel n. 碎石

haunt v. 作祟

liberal adj.自由主义的

maze n. 迷宫

moss n. 苔藓

pebble n. 卵石

peck v. 啄食

reservoir n. 水库

streak n. 条纹

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