"What can it be?" said one person.
“那是什么東西呀?”其中一個(gè)人說。
"How strange!" said another.
“多么奇怪呀!”另一個(gè)人說。
"It can not be a comet; for comets have tails," said a third.
“它不可能是彗星,因?yàn)殄缧嵌加虚L長的尾巴,”第三個(gè)人說。
"Perhaps it's a big firefly," said another.
“或許,它是一只大螢火蟲。”又傳來另外一個(gè)人的聲音。
At last some of the men determined to find out what this strange light was—whether it was a hobgoblin dancing in the air, or something dropped from the sky.
最后,其中幾個(gè)人決定要去探個(gè)究竟,到底這個(gè)燈光是什么怪物——到底是妖怪在空中亂舞呢,還是從天上掉下來的什么東西。
So off they started to get as near it as they could.
于是,他們開始盡可能地慢慢靠近那個(gè)燈光。
While this was taking place, Ray, who had got tired of standing, was seated in a fence corner, behind a tree.
就在人們猜測時(shí),一直站在那里的芮感到有些疲憊,便在柵欄旁的角落里坐了下來,背靠著一棵大樹。
He could see the men as they approached; but they did not see him.
當(dāng)那些人慢慢走過來時(shí),他能看到了人們,但是人們卻看不到他。
When they were directly under the light, and saw what it was, they looked at each other, laughing, and said, "This is some boy's trick; and it has fooled us nicely.
當(dāng)人們徑直走到燈光下,看清楚了它的本來面目時(shí),互相看看,都笑了起來,有人說:“這不過是孩子們的鬼把戲;卻愚弄了我們。
Let us keep the secret, and have our share of the joke.
大家都保守這個(gè)秘密,和他們一起開這個(gè)玩笑吧。
Then they laughed again, and went back to the village;
然后,他們又笑了起來,紛紛走回村子里;
and some of the simple people there have not yet found out what that strange light was.
有一些頭腦簡單的人卻還沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)奇怪的光到底是什么東西。
When the men had gone, Ray thought it was time for him to go; so he wound up his string, picked up his kite and lantern, and went home.
人們離開后,芮也覺著是時(shí)候該回家了;于是,他收緊了風(fēng)箏線,撿起風(fēng)箏和燈籠回家了。
His mother had been wondering what had become of him.
媽媽也正在納悶,他究竟去干什么了。
When she heard what he had been doing, she hardly knew whether to laugh or scold;
當(dāng)她聽完芮的描述,都不知道應(yīng)該笑他還是該罵他了;
but I think she laughed, and told him that it was time for him to go to bed.
但是,我認(rèn)為她笑了,而且還會告訴芮應(yīng)該去睡覺了。