LESSON 20 A MOMENT TOO LATE 为时已晚

1.A moment too late, my beautiful bird,

A moment too late are you now;

The wind has your soft, downy nest disturbed—

The nest that you hung on the bough.

2.A moment too late; that string in your bill,

Would have fastened it fi rmly and strong;

But see, there it goes, rolling over the hill!

Oh, you staid a moment too long.

3.A moment, one moment too late, busy bee;

The honey has dropped from the fl ower:

No use to creep under the petals and see;

It stood ready to drop for an hour.

4.A moment too late; had you sped on your wing,

The honey would not have been gone;

Now you see what a very, a very sad thing

’T^[1] is to stay a moment too long.

5.Little girl, never be a moment too late,

It will soon end in trouble or crime;

Better be an hour early, and stand and wait,

Than a moment behind the time.

6.If the bird and the bee, little boy, were too late,

Remember, as you play along

On your way to school, with pencil and slate,

Never stay a moment too long.

【中文阅读】

1.只是迟了一点点，我美丽的小鸟，

你只是晚了那么一点点，

你筑在树枝上柔软温暖的巢，

已被风吹毁不见。

2.只是迟了一点点，你嘴里的绳线，

本来可以把巢紧紧绑牢；

可是你看，它已滚落到山那边！

噢，你逗留的时间短一点点多好。

3.一点点，忙碌的蜜蜂就迟了一点点，

花朵上的蜜已经滴落在地；

现在再也不必爬到花瓣下察看，

它在那儿摇曳欲滴足有一小时。

4.只是迟了一点点，如果你快点扇动翅膀，

蜂蜜就不会滴落在地；

现在你看这事多么令人伤心，

哪怕它再多停留一小会儿。

5.小女孩儿，千万不要迟到，哪怕一点点，

很快就会招致麻烦和恶果；

宁可提早一小时站立等候，

胜过落后迟到一点点。

6.小男孩儿，如果小鸟和蜜蜂为时已晚，

那么，当你带着你的铅笔和小石板，

在上学途中玩耍流连，

记住，千万不要停留太久，

哪怕只是一点点。

注释

[1]’T，古英语用法，同“It”。