海外疫情散記之《惠言童話》——海豚和鯊魚

編輯寄語

受疫情影響，自3月16日起，大紐約地區學校陸續關閉，孩子們在家，除了上網課外，各種活動受到限制。如何幫助孩子們度過這個非常時期的枯燥生活，讓家長們十分操心。惠言先生在徵得參與創作者和組織者同意後，主動向我們編輯部提議，把他正在籌划出版的《惠言童話》18篇繪畫本稿子贈給我們網站連載，可以讓孩子們在網上看到和聽到這些故事，有助於提高他們的中文閱讀和聽力水平。

故事文稿是基於惠言先生前幾年在《世界日報》上發表的故事修改的，中美兩地34個孩子們參加了插畫稿創作，上海五里橋文化中心張煒瑋主任組織「音之魅」誦讀沙龍的語言藝術家們創作了9個朗誦作品。希望這些生動有趣的故事、童趣洋溢的圖畫和美妙的朗誦藝術作品，能伴隨孩子們度過新冠疫情這個困難時期。對此，我們向惠言先生；英文稿的校閱者Jason Kenny先生和趙蒙皓女士；上海五里橋文化中心及「音之魅」誦讀沙龍語言藝術家們；參與畫稿創作的孩子們及其家長表示衷心感謝！

本網站將於5月4日（周一）起，每逢周一、三、五連載推出，每次一篇《惠言童話》故事，大約持續六周，歡迎大家下載收看收聽。

2. 海 豚 和 鯊 魚
The Dolphin and the Shark

文： 惠言
畫： 李可心（12歲，圖1-8）；郎予（9歲，圖9-16）
英文校閱： Jason Kenny & 趙蒙皓
朗誦： 採蓮

2.海豚和鯊魚中文朗誦

3.海豚和鯊魚英文朗誦

 

大海里住著兩家人，一家是海豚爸爸、媽媽和他們的女兒小海豚蘭蘭，另一家是鯊魚爸爸、媽媽和他們的兒子小鯊魚灰灰。

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.

海豚家被認為富有智慧，而鯊魚家以游泳速度快出名，這兩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。

可是鯊魚爸爸認為游得快比智慧更重要，平日看海豚一家在海面上時起時伏，慢慢悠悠地游泳，看上去他兒子灰灰都比海豚爸爸游得快，覺得他們不值得大家那麼敬仰。總想找個機會和海豚比試一下，讓大家知道我們鯊魚要比海豚游泳快得多，以便自己贏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，鯊魚家和海豚家在一個狹長的小島附近海面相遇。鯊魚爸爸對海豚爸爸說：「我們想和你們比一比，看短距離誰游得快。」海豚爸爸謙虛地回應說：「鯊魚大哥，那還用比嗎，肯定你們鯊魚游得快。」鯊魚忙說：「海豚老弟，話可不能那麼說，我們兩家從沒有同場競技，只有正式比一下，分出勝負，讓大家知道我們兩家之間有多大的差距。」

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：「你這麼說話，那好吧！」於是鯊魚跟海豚約定好比一百米，一對一，比三局，贏一局得一分，得分多者為贏家。而在鯊魚爸爸的心中，他們家是穩拿三分的。

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.

海豚首先問道：「那你家誰先出賽？」鯊魚爸爸想也沒有想就說：「當然是我先上。」海豚回家把成員聚在一起商討對策後，海豚爸爸決定讓女兒小海豚先上，囑咐她：「蘭蘭，就按照平時那樣游。」

“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.

這一局只見鯊魚爸爸把他那三角形背鰭高聳在海面上，如箭一般衝刺，可是蘭蘭卻同平時那樣游泳，慢條斯理，不時躍出海面換氣，當鯊魚爸爸到達終點時，蘭蘭才遊了五十米，鯊魚家輕鬆地贏得了一分，鯊魚爸爸洋洋得意。

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.

第二局鯊魚爸爸讓鯊魚媽媽出賽，海豚爸爸知道後就說：「這一局我上。」 鯊魚媽媽見第一局以很大差距得勝，有點驕傲大意，一路晃動著她那漂亮的背鰭，不緊不慢地往終點游去，海豚爸爸則一改平時的游法，屏住呼吸潛泳，不讓鯊魚媽媽看到，結果以領先鯊魚媽媽二十米的優勢贏下這一局。海豚家智取一分，兩家打成平手。
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.

前兩局游泳比賽，鯊魚跟海豚打成平手，這個結果讓鯊魚爸爸感到意外。第三局該小鯊魚上了，鯊魚爸爸給兒子施加一點壓力：「灰灰，加油，給我家爭氣！」海豚爸爸則鼓勵海豚媽媽：「別在乎輸贏，儘力而為！」

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!”

灰灰知道自己身負重任，收攏背鰭，全力衝刺。海豚媽媽不敢大意，力拚到底，快到終點時，使勁躍出水面衝刺，以領先灰灰半個身體的優勢取勝。海豚家以三戰兩勝贏得勝利。

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.

鯊魚爸爸這才知道，原來海豚的短距離游泳速度並不差，不過他認為海豚是利用比賽規則上的漏洞，僥倖取勝，輸得不服。他對海豚爸爸說：「這個小島背面的海面上有一群馬鮫魚，從這裡游到那裡大約五十海里，我們來比長距離游泳，以先到達、吃上馬鮫魚為勝。」海豚爸爸知道長距離游泳是鯊魚的長項，心想：比就比，即使輸了，也沒關係，何況能吃到我們喜愛的馬鮫魚，於是點頭同意。

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.

長距離比賽進行得很激烈，一開始就你爭我奪，兩家人都是爸爸領頭、孩子居中、媽媽殿後。前一個小時，不分上下，一小時後，鯊魚則顯現出了因體內沒有魚鰾，須每天二十四小時不停游泳而煉成的體力優勢，領先游在了前面。

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.

就在此時，落在後面的海豚群頭部回聲系統探測到海島有一處橫貫全島的隱蔽海峽。海豚爸爸喜出望外，趕緊改變航向，從這條狹窄的海峽，抄近路游到海島背面，沖入馬鮫魚群。

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.

半個小時後，鯊魚群趕到了，看到海豚群在興高采烈地吃著馬鮫魚，顯然長距離比賽又輸了。

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

鯊魚爸爸驚訝萬分：「明明你們落在後面，沒見你們追上，怎麼游到我們前面去了？」海豚爸爸告訴他：「說實話，長距離游泳我們海豚不如你們鯊魚，一個小時後你們游在前面，我們已經輸了比賽。只是我們發現一條隱蔽的海峽，受到美味的吸引，顧不上按照你們行進的線路比賽，抄近道趕來，謝謝你告訴我們這裡有馬鮫魚群。」這次，鯊魚爸爸覺得海豚的認輸也是與眾不同，確實智慧超群，打心裡佩服海豚。

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.

從此以後，兩家人友好相處，鯊魚家看到海豚家都會晃一晃他們漂亮的背鰭，向海豚家致敬；海豚家則躍出海面，用熱情的口哨聲，向鯊魚家致敬。

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.