我是吱吱

在很遠很遠的地方，有一座美麗的小島坐落在水晶之海正中間，它的名字叫作奇遇島。島上有一片小小的空地，就藏在荊棘藤蔓和長刺的灌木中。空地上長著怪裏怪氣的劈啪樹。這棵樹一點兒也不好看，樹幹歪歪扭扭的，還長滿了瘤子和疙瘩；樹皮粗糙的枝條上出人意料地長著許多小小的花蕾，但是這些花蕾永遠不會綻放。

奇遇島上有一個廣為流傳的故事：永遠不要碰劈啪樹的花蕾，更不要把它們吃進肚子裏去。因為如果吃了它的花蕾，這棵樹就會越變越強壯，而吃下花蕾的人卻會越來越衰弱。家長和老師會來來回回地把這件事講給孩子們聽：“千萬不要靠近劈啪樹，千萬不要吃樹上的花蕾！因為那些花蕾太甜、太誘人了，你隻要吃過一次，就一定會忍不住再吃很多次的！”

這樣的話乍聽有點兒讓人摸不著頭腦，而且說到底，故事隻是故事而已嘛。

Beyond the horizon, farther than far, in the middle of the Crystal Sea, is a beautiful island called Serendipity. On this island was heavy, dank thicket of thorny vines and branches that hid a small gloomy glade. In this glade there grew the strangest tree, the Crickle-Crack tree all twisted and gnarled. The tree was not pretty to look at all. On its scabbed bark branches grew mutated little flowers that only budded and never blossomed.

There is a story told by all on the Island of Serendipity that you are never to touch, let alone eat, the blossoms of the Crickle-Crack tree, for if you eat the blossoms you will grow weak and the tree will grow stronger. Families and teachers alike said the same thing over and over, “Never go near the tree and never, ever eat the buds. For the buds are too sweet and you’ll never be able to eat just one!”

When you heard it the first time it didn’t make a lot of sense, and then, again, it was only a story.

這片陰沉沉的小空地附近住著不少動物，比如熊、鷓鴣、兔子和負鼠。這裏還生活著一隻差不多是上學年紀的小鬆鼠，他的名字叫吱吱。

吱吱的生活中充滿了愛與活力，他每天都拖著長長的銀色大尾巴在樹枝間鑽來鑽去，好奇地到處冒險，嘰嘰喳喳地對過路的其他動物講自己又有了什麽好玩的新發現。

就像奇遇島上的所有小動物一樣，老師和家長也對吱吱講過劈啪樹的故事。但是，和他聽過的其他故事一樣，他不知道這個故事到底是不是真事兒。

Now, near this hidden, gloomy glade lived a lot of creatures: partridges and possums, bears and bunnies and a young school-aged squirrel named Squeakers.

Squeakers was filled with love and life. Day after day he would scamper about the branches of the trees of island with his long silver tail bobbing behind him,looking for a bit of this and a bit of that. As he scampered about he would chitter and chatter to the other creatures as they walked by, telling them of all the wonderful things that he had seen.

Like all the creatures on the Island of Serendipity, Squeakers had been warned of the Crickle-Crack tree by his parents and teachers , but like a lot of stories he had been told, he didn’t know if it was true or not.

有一天，吱吱正穿越森林，走在上學的路上。他偶然路過了一片之前從來沒見過的荊棘叢。

“這可真奇怪！”他一邊想著，一邊用力地拉開長著尖刺的藤蔓，“我還以為這片森林裏沒有我沒去過的地方呢。”他扒開荊棘叢偷偷地看了一眼，發現眼前是一片陰森森的小空地，上麵長著一棵怪模怪樣的大樹。

這個新發現讓吱吱興奮極了，他甚至覺得上學遲到一會兒也沒什麽大不了的。他小心翼翼地鑽過荊棘叢，跑到那棵大樹腳下。這可真是他見過的最奇怪的樹！疙裏疙瘩的樹幹上歪七扭八地伸出不少彎彎的樹枝，樹枝上長著許多雪白的小花蕾，小花蕾閃著奇妙的微光。

“哇！”吱吱驚訝地在樹下坐了下來，“這一定就是爸爸媽媽跟我說過的劈啪樹！”

One day, Squeakers, as he scampered through the forest on his way to school,happened upon a weird thicket of thorny vine; a place he had never seen before.

“This is strange,” he thought, as he pulled at the vines. “I thought I had seen all that there was to be seen in the forest.” He peered inside and in the middle of the thicket he could see a dark, gloomy glade wherein stood an odd-looking tree.

Curious about this discovery and sure that it was alright to be just a little late to school, he carefully slipped into the thicket of thorn and vine, and there was the tree in all its twisted glory — the oddest tree he had ever seen. Twisted branches wrapped themselves around a gnarled truck, and here and there, growing at the ends of the twisted branches, were tiny, tight, white buds.

“Wow!” he muttered in wonder as he sat looking at the tree. “This must be the Crickle-Crack tree that Mother and Father always warned me about.”

微風拂過這棵古怪的老樹，樹上稀疏的葉子被吹得沙沙作響，就像在對吱吱說：“來拿一個花蕾吧！反正是白拿的，來拿一個吧！”

吱吱還記得大家是怎麽說劈啪樹的：“千萬不要靠近劈啪樹，千萬不要吃樹上的花蕾！因為那些花蕾太甜、太誘人了，你隻要吃過一次，就一定會忍不住再吃很多次的！”

“可是我不明白，”吱吱自言自語道，“這樣一棵老樹上的花蕾怎麽可能那麽甜、那麽誘人呢？也許我可以嚐一個，就嚐一個。”他一邊想著，一邊從樹枝上摘了一個花蕾，飛快地把它塞進了自己的嘴裏。花蕾慢慢地在嘴裏融化了，吱吱有點兒失望，因為它嚐起來一點兒也不甜，甚至有點兒苦。就在吱吱仔細地品嚐著花蕾的味道的時候，一邊的劈啪樹似乎高興地發出了一陣邪惡的笑聲。

The old, gnarled tree seemed to sigh as the wind whispered through its tattered leaves. To Squeakers it seemed to be saying, “Take a bud from me, they’re free!Take a bud from me!”

Squeakers remembered what he had been told about the Crickle-Crack tree,“Never go near the tree and never, ever eat the buds. For the buds are too sweet and you’ll never be able to eat just one!”

“I wonder,” said Squeakers, “how a bud from an old tree can be too sweet?Maybe, I’ll try… just one.” With that, he quickly plucked a bud from the end of a branch and popped it into his mouth. The bud slowly dissolved, and Squeakers was disappointed to find that it didn’t taste sweet at all. If anything, the bud tasted a little bit bitter. As he stood there savoring the flavor, the Crickle-Crack tree creaked and groaned in glee.

Just When Squeakers was sure that all the stories had been wrong, things around him began to change. The grass seemed to glow a little greener right before his eyes. The songs of the singing birds seemed a little louder. Squeakers began to think that he saw more than he saw and heard more than he heard.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “Everyone was wrong! The buds of the Crickle-Crack tree are great. I don’t want to eat another, and I don’t have to eat another but I think I will anyway.”

So, he ate another bud, and then another and another. Soon he was dancing to songs that had never been sung and the Crickle-Crack tree groaned in evil satisfaction.

就在吱吱認定故事裏說的都是假的時，一切突然看起來有點兒不一樣了。草地似乎變得更綠了，鳥兒的歌聲也變得更響亮了。吱吱開始看見一些從來沒見過的東西，聽見一些從來沒聽過的動靜。

“哎呀，看來大家都說錯了！”吱吱說，“劈啪樹的花蕾不是很棒嗎？我其實不想再吃了，也沒必要再吃了，但我還是要再吃一個。”

吱吱就再吃了一個，接著又吃了一個，一個接一個地吃了很多花蕾。很快，吱吱就開始隨著隻有他能聽見的歌聲跳起舞來了。劈啪樹的大笑聲變得越來越滿足、越來越邪惡。

這一天很快就在這種暈暈乎乎的感覺裏過去了。吃花蕾的時候是早上，但是，等到花蕾的勁頭終於過去，吱吱發現周圍已經暗了下來，太陽都快要落山了。

“糟糕！我本來應該去學校的！”他懊惱地嘟囔著，“現在天都快黑了，我回家以後一定會有麻煩的！”

他開始匆匆忙忙地準備回家。但是，他轉念一想，又在跑出去之前抓了滿滿一把花蕾帶了回去。

吱吱一到家，就直接上樓想回自己的房間。媽媽連忙叫住他：“你今天在學校過得還好嗎？”那些花蕾似乎讓吱吱輕而易舉地說出了謊話：“媽媽，我過得還不錯！”

“你不吃晚飯嗎？”媽媽問，“今天有你最愛吃的樹莓豆子濃湯。”

“媽媽，我還不餓呢。”吱吱又說了一句謊話，“我放學後和同學們一起吃了好多山核桃什麽的。”他飛快地溜回了房間，有點兒為自己的機智而沾沾自喜。

As the forest spun and whirled around him, the day simply disappeared. It started off as morning and then, just like that, the sun was setting. To soon,Squeakers found himself in the fading darkness of sunset as the effects of the buds began to wear off.

“Oh no! I was supposed to be in school today,” he groaned, “and now it’s nearly dark. Boy am I going to be in trouble when I get home!”

He started to leave and then, as an afterthought, he grabbed a handful Crickle-Crack buds and scampered home.

Once home as he started upstairs to his room, his mother called out to him, “How was your day at school?” The Crickle-Crack bud easily lied for him as he muttered,“Just fine, Mom!”

“Aren’t you going to have supper?” she asked. “We’re having your favorite, beanberry stew.”

“Oh, Mom, I’m just not hungry. Besides, I ate some hickory nuts with the guys after school,” he lied again, and with that he sneaked into his room, pleased with his deception.

吱吱躺在**，準備開始看書，但他總是忍不住要打盹兒。“這樣可不行，我必須把這段看完，要不然明天到了學校可就麻煩了。我不如再吃一個劈啪樹的花蕾吧！”他從藏在床頭櫃抽屜裏的一把花蕾中拿出了一個，把它塞進嘴裏。這樣一來，吱吱感覺自己一下子又有了精神，可以接著看書了——至少他覺得自己是在看書。

過了很久很久以後，媽媽打開了他的房門：“吱吱，你該睡覺啦，明天再看書也不晚呀。”

媽媽都這樣說了，吱吱隻好吹滅了床頭的蠟燭，努力讓自己睡著。可是，不管他多想睡，都隻能在**翻來覆去地睡不著。到了天蒙蒙亮的時候，吱吱終於睡著了。他做了可怕的噩夢，夢見一棵陰森邪惡的大樹對著他的窗框又是敲又是撓。吱吱被嚇醒了，感覺自己累得好像根本就沒有睡過一樣。

他的樣子看起來糟透了，眼睛底下冒出了大大的黑眼圈，一條大尾巴也耷拉了下來。唉，吱吱已經筋疲力盡了！

He lay on his bed and tried to read, but he kept falling asleep. “This is no good. I have to read this story or I’ll be in trouble in school tomorrow. Maybe I should eat another Crickle-Crack bud.” He took a bud from his dresser drawers where he had hidden his handful of buds and popped it into his mouth. Just like that, he felt wide awake and read and read or at least he thought he read.

Much, much later his mother opened his door and said, “Squeakers, it’s time for bed. Best put out your candle and go to sleep, your book can wait until tomorrow.”

As he was told, Squeakers put out the candle and tried and tried to fall asleep.But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t fall asleep. He lay on his bed and tossed and turned in the filtered moonlight. Finally, at nearly the crack of dawn, he fell into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares of an evil tree knocking and scraping at his window-sill. Squeakers woke, but felt like he had hadn’t slept at all.

He looked terrible. He had big black circles under his eyes and his tail kind of drooped. He was pooped!

早上，吱吱像平常一樣帶好書本去上學。他跑著穿過森林，再次路過了劈啪樹藏身的那片荊棘叢。他並不打算回到那裏去，實際上，他已經決定再也不吃劈啪樹的花蕾了。但是，當那棵老樹的歌聲再次在他的耳邊響起時，他不由自主地又停下了腳步。

雖然荊棘叢的尖刺劃壞了他的皮毛，但他還是鑽了進去，摘了滿滿一把花蕾，匆匆忙忙地往學校跑去了。吱吱跑開的時候，一個花蕾從他的手裏落下來，悄悄地滾到了小路的一邊。

Like he did every morning, Squeakers grabbed his books and dashed out of the tree, heading toward school. He ran through the forest and right past the thorny thicket that hid the Crickle-Crack tree. He hadn’t planned on going back.If anything, he had resolved never ever to touch a Crickle-Crack blossom again,but the tree sang its song and Squeakers stopped to listen.

As the thorns tore at his flesh and fur he crawled into the thicket grabbed a handful of buds, slipped back outside, and scurried on to school. As he ran, one of the buds fell from his furry paw to the side of the path.

雖然差一點兒就遲到了，但吱吱總算及時趕到了學校，在老師開始講課前到座位上坐了下來。他很想專心地聽老師講課，但實在是太困了，眼皮止不住地要打架。這時候，吱吱突然想起了自己手裏的劈啪樹花蕾，連忙往嘴裏塞了一個。

這讓他馬上有了精神，不光是眼睛亮了，連耷拉下去的尾巴也再次變得毛蓬蓬的。但他還是沒辦法認真聽講，腦子裏總是忍不住想去玩，或者做其他傻乎乎的事情。想著想著，吱吱突然忍不住咯咯大笑起來。班裏的其他同學盡量不讓自己被他影響，繼續聽老師講課，但吱吱就是笑個不停，而且越笑越響。最後，老師忍無可忍了，叫他去對著一旁的老橡樹罰站，什麽時候能不笑了再回來。

這卻讓吱吱更想笑了，他把鼻子頂在老橡樹上，不停地笑啊笑啊。等到終於停下來的時候，他就會再往嘴裏塞一個花蕾，這樣他就又開始笑得停不下來啦！

Squeakers got to school in the nick of time and hurriedly took his place on the log just as the teacher began. He sat there trying to pay attention, but his eyes kept shutting and he almost fell asleep. Then, he remembered the Crickle-Crack buds in his hand and popped one into his mouth.

Just like that, he was wide-awake bright-eyed and bushy-tailed again.Unfortunately he was having a hard time paying attention to the teacher as his mind wandered to silliness and games, and then, he began to giggle out loud. All the other students in class tried to ignore him, but he simply laughed louder still.Finally, the teacher ordered him to stand alone, facing the old oak tree until he could stop his giggling.

Squeakers thought this was even funnier yet, and he laughed and laughed with his nose pushed into the bark of the wise, old tree. Every time he stopped laughing, he would pop another bud in his mouth, and the whole process would start all over again!

課間休息過去了，午休也過去了，吱吱還是站在老橡樹前頭，像個小瘋子似的不停笑著。其他同學實在想不明白吱吱這是怎麽了，因為他平時一直是個好學生。最終，一隻小兔子走過去問他：“你為什麽要笑啊？什麽事情這麽好笑，讓你寧願罰站也要笑個不停呢？”

“哈哈，那可不是什麽‘事情’，”吱吱笑著回答，“應該說是什麽‘東西’才對！”

“不是‘事情’而是‘東西’，那是什麽意思？”小兔子完全沒有聽明白。

“就是這個東西！”吱吱攤開手掌，給小兔子看那些被他捏扁了的花蕾，“你也可以來一個呀！”吱吱想給小兔子一個花蕾，但聰明的小兔子沒有拿。吱吱就把剩下的花蕾一股腦兒地塞進了自己的嘴裏。

小兔子感覺事情非常不對勁，就跑去告訴了老師。老師立刻通知了吱吱的家長，吱吱的爸爸媽媽飛快地趕到了學校。吱吱開始覺得暈乎乎的，眼前的一切似乎都飛快地轉起圈圈來。這隻可憐的小鬆鼠感覺難受極了！

Recess came, then lunch, and still Squeakers stood at the tree giggling crazily. The other kids in school didn’t know what to think. Squeakers had always been such a good student. Finally, a bunny, one of his fellow students, asked, “Why are you laughing? What could be so funny that you would want to be punished all day?”

“Oh, ho!” laughed Squeakers. “It’s not a what. It’s an it!”

“What’s an it?” asked the bunny, totally confused.

“These are it!” said Squeakers as held out his paw and showed the bunny his smashed of Crickle-Crack buds. “You can have one, too!” He tried to give a bud to the bunny, but the bunny wisely refused. So, Squeakers shoved the rest of the buds in his mouth.

The little bunny knew there was something very wrong and told the teacher,who told Squeakers’ parents, who came rushing to school.

Squeakers’ head began to reel, and the world began to spin around and around and around. This poor, little squirrel was very sick indeed!

回到家以後，吱吱哭著對媽媽說：“我錯了，媽媽！我真的不想做壞事的！”

“隻要劈啪樹還在，就肯定有壞事！”爸爸氣呼呼地說，“我們早就應該把那棵邪惡的樹砍掉了！”他拿起斧子衝出房門，和一大群鄰居一起走進森林，去找那片被荊棘包圍的陰森森的空地了。

Later, at home in his room he cried, “I am so sorry, Mother! I never meant any harm!”

“Harm always comes from the Crickle-Crack tree!” His father said angrily. “That evil tree should have been cut down years ago!” He grabbed his ax and stormed out the door. Joined by his neighbors they moved into the forest toward the thorny thicket and the gloomy glade.

爸爸和鄰居們一找到那個地方，就奮力鑽過荊棘叢，開始用手裏的斧子砍起樹來，一直到把它砍成了一堆破破爛爛的碎木頭。

“別忘了掉在地上的花蕾！”吱吱的爸爸喊道，“得把它們都撿起來一起燒掉！”

全都收拾幹淨以後，爸爸在劈啪樹的碎片上點起了一把火。他們站在安全的地方，看著黑沉沉的濃煙像毒蛇鑽進沼澤裏一樣緩緩地升上天空，看著劈啪樹和花蕾完全燒成了細細的灰燼。直到他們把灰燼全都埋進了地底，爸爸和鄰居們才終於放心了。

Once there, they forced their way passed the thorns and began chopping and hacking at the tree until it was nothing more than a pile of rotten wood.

“Gather all the buds that have fallen to the ground and throw them on the pile,too!” shouted Squeakers’ father. “All must be burned!!”

When all was in place he set the chopped tree on fire and stood back safely,watching the greasy smoke rise into the sky like a snake slithering into a swamp.They watched and watched, until all was burned to a fine gray ash. Then, to make absolutely sure that tree was totally destroyed, they even buried the ash.

劈啪樹被毀掉了，森林裏的生活逐漸回歸正常。吱吱一點點地從花蕾的影響下恢複了，他也認識到了自己的錯誤。在爸爸媽媽和鄰居們的關愛與支持下，吱吱現在清楚地知道劈啪樹多麽邪惡，也明白了為什麽那些花蕾給他帶來了那麽大的傷害。

一切似乎都好了起來……

但是，就在那片荊棘叢下麵的小路邊，一個小小的、永遠不會開花的雪白花蕾悄悄地紮了根。全新的劈啪樹在那裏生根發芽了。

Satisfied that the tree was destroyed, all went back to normal in the wood.Squeakers slowly recovered from the effects of the buds, and understood that it had been wrong to take them. The love and understanding of his parents and neighbors had helped him see how bad the tree was, and how the buds had hurt him.

All went back to normal…

But near the path, beneath a bit of thorny thicket, a tiny white bud that would never blossom thrust its shoots into the ground, and a new Crickle-Crack tree began to grow.

千萬小心，擦亮雙眼，別被劈啪樹的花蕾欺騙。

BE AWARE

OF ALL YOU SEE AND NEVER BE TEMPTED BY THE CRICKLE-CRACK TREE.