张恒

Billy was getting excited. It was the day of the circus！Billy loved the circus—all the animals and the people. It was so much fun！

比利很兴奋。这是马戏团要来的日子！比利喜爱马戏团——包括里面所有的动物和人，都非常有趣！

At eight oclock Billy and his parents arrived at the large red and white tent called the “Big Top”.

八点钟的时候，比利和他的父母来到了一个巨大的红色和白色的帐篷，人们叫它“大顶篷”。

The ringmaster3 shouted happily， “Good evening， ladies and gentlemen！”

驯兽师愉快地大声喊道：“女士们，先生们，晚上好！”

Then the lights went up to the top of the tent and Billy saw a man and a woman dressed in nice clothes on a large swing4. They flew through the air. “Ooooo！” shouted the people every time they flew. It was very， very exciting.

然后帐篷顶部的灯亮了，比利看到一个男人和一个女人穿着漂亮的衣服，在巨大的秋千上保持着平衡。他们从空中飞过。“噢！噢！”他们每次飞过时人们都会叫喊。这是非常，非常激动人心的。

A door opened and the lions jumped into the ring5. There were six of them all looking large and dangerous. The man in the middle was the lion tamer6. Billy watched as he put his head in the biggest lions mouth. “Ooooo！” shouted the people with scared faces.

一扇门打开了，狮子跳入表演场地中，其中有六只看起来都很巨大而危险。中间的那个人是驯狮员。比利看到他把头伸到了最大那只狮子的嘴里。“噢！噢！”人们脸上满是惊恐地喊着。

After the lions came the clowns7. They were wearing clothes with many colors—blue and yellow and red. They had red noses， painted faces， and funny red hair. They fell over， told lots of jokes8 and did lots of very funny things. “Ha， ha， ha！” laughed9 the people and Billy laughed too.

在狮子之后，小丑们来了。他们穿着颜色鲜艳的衣服，有蓝色、黄色和红色。他们有着红鼻子，涂了颜料的脸，还有滑稽的红头发。他们摔倒了，讲了很多笑话，做了很多非常可笑的事情。“哈！哈！哈！”人们笑了，比利也笑了。

At last the elephants arrived in the ring. There were three big elephants and one smaller one. The small one balanced10 on one leg and did lots of tricks11.

最终，大象上场了，有三只巨大的象和一头较小的象。小的那只用一只脚平衡站立，做了很多表演。

Then it stopped and looked up at Billy. “Hello，” said Billy to the elephant. “Im Billy.” “Im Minny，” replied the elephant to Billys surprise.

然后小象停下来，抬头看向比利。“你好。”比利对小象说，“我是比利。”“我是明尼。”小象回道，比利感到很惊讶。

Then the small elephant turned around and ran to the door of the tent. It ran out of the tent into the street and off into the town. All the people went out of the circus tent screaming12， “Aagh！The elephant—its escaped！”

接著，小象突然转过身朝帐篷门口跑去。它从帐篷里跑到街上，然后跑到镇上去了。所有人都冲出马戏团的帐篷，尖叫着说：“啊！大象——它逃跑了！”

“Help！” shouted the ringmaster. “Minny the elephant has escaped！”

“救命啊！”驯兽师叫道，“小象明尼逃跑了！”

Minny was a very happy elephant. It was the first time she had been out of the circus！It felt good to be free！

明尼是一头非常快乐的象。这是她第一次离开马戏团！自由的感觉真好！

She ran along the main street to the main square13. She saw the fountain14 in the middle of the square. She climbed into the big fountain and sat down in the water.

它沿着大街朝中央广场跑去，看到了广场中央的喷泉就爬了进去，在水中坐下。

People tried to walk by but Minny sprayed15 water at them using her huge trunk16！ “Oh， this is much more fun than the circus！” shouted Minny.

人们试着走过去，但是明尼用它那巨大的鼻子向他们喷水！“哦，这比马戏团好玩得多！”明尼喊道。

After a while Minny wanted to go around. She went along the street and into the big supermarket. All the people who saw Minny ran out of the supermarket screaming！Minny had a great time. She helped herself to the bananas and ate a large cake， lots of biscuits and a large number of bread.

過了一会儿，明尼想继续逛。它沿着这条街走进了一家大超市。所有看到明尼的人都尖叫着跑出超市！明尼度过了一段美好的时光。它自己吃了香蕉，吃了一个大蛋糕，许多饼干和大量的面包。

When she had finished eating， Minny went out into the street again. She saw a big house， but there was something different about it. There was red light all around it.

吃完东西后，明尼又走出去来到街上。它看见了一个大房子，但它有个不同的地方——周围有红光。

Minny got nearer to the house and then she heard the people in the house shouting and screaming. “Help！” they shouted. “Save us！”

明尼走近房子，然后听到房子里的人们在大喊，叫着：“救命！救救我们！”

Minny ran into the garden near the house. There was a big lake with lots of water. She put her trunk in the water and took in as much water as she could. Then she ran over to the house and sprayed the house with water. She did this many times and the fire was put out.

明尼冲进了房子旁边的花园。那里有一个湖，里面有很多水。它把鼻子放在水中，尽可能多地吸水，然后冲到房子那里，给房子洒水。它做了很多次后，火被扑灭了。

From the top window Minny could see a small boy. He opened the window and Minny took him out of the house using her trunk.

明尼看到最顶层的窗户那儿有一个小男孩。他打开窗户，明尼用鼻子把他带出了房子。

“Minny！” he shouted. “Its me！” “Hello， Billy，” said the elephant. “You saved me！” said Billy. “You are the bravest17 elephant in the world！”

“明尼！”他哭了，“是我！”“你好，比利！”小象说。“你救了我！”比利喊道，“你是世界上最勇敢的大象！”

Billys mother and father ran out of the house. They couldnt believe18 what they saw！ Billy was safe and their house was safe—and all because of an elephant.

比利的父亲和母亲冲出家门。他们简直不敢相信自己所看到的！比利安全了，他们的房子也安全了——都是因为有这只象。

The next day all the people in the town made a crowd outside the town hall. They gave Minny the elephant a special medal19. Billy rode around the square on Minnys back， waving20 at all the people.

第二天，镇上的所有人都在市政厅外面围观。他们给了小象明尼一个特别的勋章。比利骑着明尼走在广场上，向所有人微笑挥手。

They went slowly back to the circus to join the other elephants. Minny was so happy that she never wanted to escape from the circus again.

他们慢慢走到马戏团和其他大象在一起。明尼非常高兴，它再也不想逃离马戏团了。