英语童话：查理和巧克力工厂
2010-08-07 13:16:49   来源：少儿英语学习   评论：0 点击：

查理和巧克力工厂Ｃｈａｒｌｉｅ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　Ｃｈｏｃｏｌａｔｅ　Ｆａｃｔｏｒｙ　
罗尔德·达尔 (Roald Dahl,1916～1990)是世界闻名的奇幻文学大师,20世纪最重要的儿童文学家之一。他以与生俱来的幽默、奇特大胆的想象,以及时时散发的温情,成为最受孩子喜爱的作家之一。
　　罗尔德·达尔的作品中多有怪诞情节和闹剧风格,故事构思奇特、想象力丰富,力图打破现实和幻想之间的常规定位。更重要的是,他的作品反映了每个人儿时对成人世界的不解与困惑,可以说是真正站在儿童的角度讲故事。他曾两度摘得爱伦坡文学奖,并夺得了英国文学的最高奖——惠特布莱德奖。他的代表作有《查理和巧克力工厂》(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)、《女巫》(The Witches)和《飞天巨桃历险记》(James and the Giant Peach)等,都曾被改编成电影。
　　《查理和巧克力工厂》于1964年出版,深受孩子们和成年人的喜爱。四十多年来,这本书经久不衰,已售出1300万册,被翻译成32种语言,并两度被改编成电影,受到广泛好评。
　　
　　The house wasn't nearly large enough for so many people, and life was extremely uncomfortable for them all. There were only two rooms in the place altogether and there was only one bed. The bed was given to the four old grandparents because they were so old and tired. They were so tired; they never got out of it.
　　Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine on this side, Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina on this side.
　　Mr and Mrs Bucket and little Charlie Bucket slept in the other room, upon mattresses1) on the floor.
　　In the summertime, this wasn't too bad, but in the winter, freezing cold draughts2) blew across the floor all night long, and it was awful.
　　There wasn't any question of them being able to buy a better house—or even one more bed to sleep in. They were far too poor for that.
　　Mr Bucket was the only person in the family with a job. He worked in a toothpaste factory, where he sat all day long at a bench and screwed3) the little caps on to the tops of the tubes of toothpaste after the tubes had been filled. But a toothpaste cap-screwer is never paid very much money, and poor Mr Bucket, however hard he worked, and however fast he screwed on the caps, was never able to make enough to buy one half of the things that so large a family needed. There wasn't even enough money to buy proper food for them all. The only meals they could afford were bread and margarine4) for breakfast, boiled potatoes and cabbage for lunch, and cabbage soup for supper. Sundays were a bit better. They all looked forward to Sundays because then, although they had exactly the same, everyone was allowed a second helping.
　　The Buckets, of course, didn't starve, but every one of them—the two old grandfathers, the two old grandmothers, Charlie's father, Charlie's mother, and especially little Charlie himself—went about5) from morning till night with a horrible empty feeling in their tummies6).
　　Charlie felt it worst of all. And although his father and mother often went without their own share of lunch or supper so that they could give it to him, it still wasn't nearly enough for a growing boy. He desperately wanted something more filling and satisfying than cabbage and cabbage soup. The one thing he longed for7) more than anything else was...CHOCOLATE.