海外疫情散记之《惠言童话》——海豚和鲨鱼

编辑寄语

受疫情影响，自3月16日起，大纽约地区学校陆续关闭，孩子们在家，除了上网课外，各种活动受到限制。如何帮助孩子们度过这个非常时期的枯燥生活，让家长们十分操心。惠言先生在征得参与创作者和组织者同意后，主动向我们编辑部提议，把他正在筹划出版的《惠言童话》18篇绘画本稿子赠给我们网站连载，可以让孩子们在网上看到和听到这些故事，有助于提高他们的中文阅读和听力水平。

故事文稿是基于惠言先生前几年在《世界日报》上发表的故事修改的，中美两地34个孩子们参加了插画稿创作，上海五里桥文化中心张炜玮主任组织“音之魅”诵读沙龙的语言艺术家们创作了9个朗诵作品。希望这些生动有趣的故事、童趣洋溢的图画和美妙的朗诵艺术作品，能伴随孩子们度过新冠疫情这个困难时期。对此，我们向惠言先生；英文稿的校阅者Jason Kenny先生和赵蒙皓女士；上海五里桥文化中心及“音之魅”诵读沙龙语言艺术家们；参与画稿创作的孩子们及其家长表示衷心感谢！

本网站将于5月4日（周一）起，每逢周一、三、五连载推出，每次一篇《惠言童话》故事，大约持续六周，欢迎大家下载收看收听。

2. 海 豚 和 鲨 鱼
The Dolphin and the Shark

文： 惠言
画： 李可心（12岁，图1-8）；郎予（9岁，图9-16）
英文校阅： Jason Kenny & 赵蒙皓
朗诵： 采莲

2.海豚和鲨鱼中文朗诵

3.海豚和鲨鱼英文朗诵

 

大海里住着两家人，一家是海豚爸爸、妈妈和他们的女儿小海豚兰兰，另一家是鲨鱼爸爸、妈妈和他们的儿子小鲨鱼灰灰。

Once there lived two families in the sea. One of them was the dolphin family, which consisted of the father, the mother and their daughter Lanlan. The other was the shark family, which consisted of the father, the mother and their son Huihui.

海豚家被认为富有智慧，而鲨鱼家以游泳速度快出名，这两家人受到海洋生物同等的尊敬。

The dolphin family was well known as a wise family, and the shark family was famous for their swimming ability. The two families were respected by all the other members of the sea。

可是鲨鱼爸爸认为游得快比智慧更重要，平日看海豚一家在海面上时起时伏，慢慢悠悠地游泳，看上去他儿子灰灰都比海豚爸爸游得快，觉得他们不值得大家那么敬仰。总想找个机会和海豚比试一下，让大家知道我们鲨鱼要比海豚游泳快得多，以便自己赢得海洋世界更多的尊敬。

But the father shark thought the ability to swim well was more important than having great wisdom. He saw the dolphins playing on the sea surface, swimming leisurely, and noted that his son Huihui could swim faster than the father dolphin. The father shark thought the dolphin family was not worthy of such admiration by the sea community. He looked for a chance to have a swimming race with the dolphins in order to show everybody that the sharks could swim much faster than the dolphins; he wanted the shark family to win and be the most respected in the sea world.

一天，鲨鱼家和海豚家在一个狭长的小岛附近海面相遇。鲨鱼爸爸对海豚爸爸说：“我们想和你们比一比，看短距离谁游得快。”海豚爸爸谦虚地回应说：“鲨鱼大哥，那还用比吗，肯定你们鲨鱼游得快。”鲨鱼忙说：“海豚老弟，话可不能那么说，我们两家从没有同场竞技，只有正式比一下，分出胜负，让大家知道我们两家之间有多大的差距。”

One day, the shark family and the dolphin family met near a long and narrow island in the sea. The father shark said to the father dolphin, “We want to compete with you, to see who swims the fastest over a short distance.” The dolphin humbly replied, “My friend, it is not necessary to have a contest. I am sure you sharks swim faster.” The shark said, “My dear neighbor, you cannot be so sure. We two have never competed against each other. We need to have a formal contest to see who wins and let everybody see the difference in swimming speed that exists between our two families.”

海豚回答：“你这么说话，那好吧！”于是鲨鱼跟海豚约定好比一百米，一对一，比三局，赢一局得一分，得分多者为赢家。而在鲨鱼爸爸的心中，他们家是稳拿三分的。

The dolphin replied, “In that case, let’s do it!” The shark and the dolphin agreed to have a swimming contest over a distance of one hundred meters. They agreed on the contest rules as follows: one shark races one dolphin, the winner gets one point for the family, total of three rounds, and the family that scores more points is declared the winner. The father shark thought his family would almost certainly win all three points.

海豚首先问道：“那你家谁先出赛？”鲨鱼爸爸想也没有想就说：“当然是我先上。”海豚回家把成员聚在一起商讨对策后，海豚爸爸决定让女儿小海豚先上，嘱咐她：“兰兰，就按照平时那样游。”

“Who will swim the first round from your family?” the father dolphin asked. “Of course I will be the first,” the father shark replied without thinking. The father dolphin discussed with the family members, and figured out a game plan. The father dolphin selected his daughter for the first round. “Lanlan, just swim as you usually do,” he told his daughter.

这一局只见鲨鱼爸爸把他那三角形背鳍高耸在海面上，如箭一般冲刺，可是兰兰却同平时那样游泳，慢条斯理，不时跃出海面换气，当鲨鱼爸爸到达终点时，兰兰才游了五十米，鲨鱼家轻松地赢得了一分，鲨鱼爸爸洋洋得意。

In the first round, the father shark put his fin in the sea, and swam fast like a darting arrow, but Lanlan swam slowly as usual, jumping up for breath frequently. When the father shark reached the finish line, Lanlan had just passed the 50-meter point. The shark family easily won the first point. The father shark smiled with great pride.

第二局鲨鱼爸爸让鲨鱼妈妈出赛，海豚爸爸知道后就说：“这一局我上。” 鲨鱼妈妈见第一局以很大差距得胜，有点骄傲大意，一路晃动着她那漂亮的背鳍，不紧不慢地往终点游去，海豚爸爸则一改平时的游法，屏住呼吸潜泳，不让鲨鱼妈妈看到，结果以领先鲨鱼妈妈二十米的优势赢下这一局。海豚家智取一分，两家打成平手。
When the father dolphin found out that the mother shark was to swim in the second round, he said: “It is my turn now.” The mother shark saw the first contest end with a large margin of victory for her family. She did not swim with all her might, shaking her beautiful fin all the way, swimming leisurely toward the end. The father dolphin changed his usual swimming behavior and held his breath to swim underwater. He did not let the mother shark see him and lead by 20 meters. He reached the finish line first and won the second round. The dolphin family outsmarted the sharks for one point, leaving the score one to one.

前两局游泳比赛，鲨鱼跟海豚打成平手，这个结果让鲨鱼爸爸感到意外。第三局该小鲨鱼上了，鲨鱼爸爸给儿子施加一点压力：“灰灰，加油，给我家争气！”海豚爸爸则鼓励海豚妈妈：“别在乎输赢，尽力而为！”

After two rounds, the shark and the dolphin families had reached a tie. The father shark was very surprised by the result. For the third round, it was the little shark Huihui’s turn. The father shark gave his son a bit of pressure, “Huihui, come on, for our family glory!” However, the father dolphin encouraged the mother dolphin, “Don’t worry about winning or losing, just do your best!”

灰灰知道自己身负重任，收拢背鳍，全力冲刺。海豚妈妈不敢大意，力拼到底，快到终点时，使劲跃出水面冲刺，以领先灰灰半个身体的优势取胜。海豚家以三战两胜赢得胜利。

Huihui knew the responsibility he carried. He tightened his dorsal fin and went all out. The mother dolphin did not dare to lose focus and made every effort. She approached the finish line with a hard jump. She had half of a body length advantage to Huihui and won the third round. The dolphin family won the contest by a score of two to one.

鲨鱼爸爸这才知道，原来海豚的短距离游泳速度并不差，不过他认为海豚是利用比赛规则上的漏洞，侥幸取胜，输得不服。他对海豚爸爸说：“这个小岛背面的海面上有一群马鲛鱼，从这里游到那里大约五十海里，我们来比长距离游泳，以先到达、吃上马鲛鱼为胜。”海豚爸爸知道长距离游泳是鲨鱼的长项，心想：比就比，即使输了，也没关系，何况能吃到我们喜爱的马鲛鱼，于是点头同意。

The father shark knew the dolphins were good at short distance swimming, but he felt the dolphins won because they took advantage of the competition rules. In his mind the dolphin family won by luck and he did not concede his defeat. The father shark said to the father dolphin, “There is a school of mackerels at the back of the island. The distance from here to there is about fifty miles. Let’s have a long distance swimming contest. The family that arrives first and eats a fish is the winner.” The father dolphin knew the shark’s strength in long distance swimming. But he did not care if he lost, and thought they could eat their favorite mackerels even if the dolphins should lose, so he nodded in agreement to the race.

长距离比赛进行得很激烈，一开始就你争我夺，两家人都是爸爸领头、孩子居中、妈妈殿后。前一个小时，不分上下，一小时后，鲨鱼则显现出了因体内没有鱼鳔，须每天二十四小时不停游泳而炼成的体力优势，领先游在了前面。

The long distance swimming race was very intense and involved a fight from the start. The two families both had the father in the lead, child in the middle, and mother at the back. No one was winning during the first hour. After one hour the shark family was faring better. Because the shark’s body has no swim bladder, the shark could swim 24 hours a day and never need a rest. The shark family was leading the race.

就在此时，落在后面的海豚群头部回声系统探测到海岛有一处横贯全岛的隐蔽海峡。海豚爸爸喜出望外，赶紧改变航向，从这条狭窄的海峡，抄近路游到海岛背面，冲入马鲛鱼群。

Just then, the dolphin family’s echo system detected that the island had a covert channel crossing it. The father dolphin was overjoyed. They immediately changed course and swam through the narrow strait. They reached the back of the island and descended on the mackerel school.

半个小时后，鲨鱼群赶到了，看到海豚群在兴高采烈地吃着马鲛鱼，显然长距离比赛又输了。

The shark family arrived half an hour later to find the dolphins eating mackerel happily. The shark family lost the long distance race too.

鲨鱼爸爸惊讶万分：“明明你们落在后面，没见你们追上，怎么游到我们前面去了？”海豚爸爸告诉他：“说实话，长距离游泳我们海豚不如你们鲨鱼，一个小时后你们游在前面，我们已经输了比赛。只是我们发现一条隐蔽的海峡，受到美味的吸引，顾不上按照你们行进的线路比赛，抄近道赶来，谢谢你告诉我们这里有马鲛鱼群。”这次，鲨鱼爸爸觉得海豚的认输也是与众不同，确实智慧超群，打心里佩服海豚。

The father shark was very shocked, “You obviously lagged behind, and we didn’t see you catch up with us. How did you get here ahead of us?” The father dolphin told him, “To be honest, you sharks are much better than us at long distance swimming. After one hour, you swam in front, we have lost the game. But we found a hidden channel. Drawn by the delicious food, we did not swim along your route, but took a short cut. Thank you for telling us about the location of the mackerel fish.” This time, the father shark felt that the dolphin’s confession was also different, and the dolphin family possessed great wisdom. The father shark admired the dolphin in his heart.

从此以后，两家人友好相处，鲨鱼家看到海豚家都会晃一晃他们漂亮的背鳍，向海豚家致敬；海豚家则跃出海面，用热情的口哨声，向鲨鱼家致敬。

Since then, the two families have become friends. The shark family would shake their beautiful fins in greeting when seeing the dolphin family. The dolphin family would jump up with enthusiastic whistles to greet the shark family.