2012-06-15

        宾夕法尼亚“山林”州蒙哥马利“巨人山”小学每年都有“祖父母日”。那天，大多数学生的爷爷奶奶、外公外婆会从四面八方赶来学校，与孙辈一起体验课堂生活、观摩教学，还要欣赏孩子们表演的传统童谣《老妇人》。今年非同以往，卡利科夫太太别出心裁，号召全班重新编撰童谣里老妇人吃掉的动物——按从小到大顺序排列，将原版的“苍蝇→蜘蛛→鸟→猫→狗→蛇→猪→山羊→牛→驴→马”改成“苍蝇→甲虫→淡水螯虾→青蛙→猫→狐狸→猪→鲨鱼→蓝鲸”，严格遵循“后吃者能逮住先吃者”的套路。每位学生还需亲手绘制自己扮演的动物道具，并用文字加以说明。我家童少选择了鲨鱼。

        那天，他举着一块画着鲨鱼的大纸板站在教室前排，纸板上的鲨鱼张着锯齿状的嘴，牙齿涂成了亮白色——他说这样才够吓人。轮到他念台词时，他大声说：“老妇人吞下一只猫，正好抓住那只青蛙；她又吞下一头猪，正好抓住那只狐狸；最后她吞下一条鲨鱼——可是鲨鱼太大了，她再也吞不下别的东西了。”全班哄笑起来。坐在后排的外婆低声对我说：“他画的那条鲨鱼，长得有点像他自己。”我仔细一看，确实——那鲨鱼的眼睛画得又圆又亮，带着一种不凶反而有点好奇的神情。也许孩子总是会在无意中把自己放进所有他创造的东西里。而那句“鲨鱼太大了，她再也吞不下别的了”，仿佛也在替他说出一句他自己未必意识到的话：有些东西，一旦进入了一个人的身体，就会改变消化一切的方式。那条鲨鱼，此刻正用它纸板上永不闭合的嘴，帮他吞下整个三年级的最后一个春天。

【Aiden in English】

        Are you interested in underwater fish? Here is how to draw a fish on paper.

        First, you should put on a body with the left side sharper. Next, you need to draw a fin on both sides since you don't have X-ray vision, and the fin on the other side is covered. Then, you add scales to its body. Lastly, you should erase the blocked lines and add a tail.

        Now you know what a fish looks like. You can decide whether to see them alive or not.

【红霞译】

        你对水中生活的鱼感兴趣吗？在这里，让我来简单介绍一下如何画鱼呗。

        首先，你应按比例画好鱼身，左面要尖；其次，在身体两边加上鱼鳍，因为你无法透视另一侧，所以看不到对面的翅膀；下一步，沿身体四周再添些鱼鳞；最后，别忘记画上尾巴，并且去掉多余的线条。

        现在，你掌握了鱼的形状，接下来是你怎样使它唯妙唯肖！

【附：《老妇人》】

            There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,

            有一位老妇人吞了一只苍蝇，

            I don't know why she swallowed a fly - don't ask me why!

            搞不懂她为啥要吞苍蝇──千万别问我为什么！

            There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,

            有一位老妇人吞了一只蜘蛛，

            That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her;

            在她肚里扭啊闹啊痒啊；

            She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

            她吞下蜘蛛来抓苍蝇，

            I don't know why she swallowed a fly - don't ask me why!

            搞不懂她为啥要吞苍蝇──千万别问我为什么！

            There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;

            有一位老妇人吞了一只鸟；

            How absurd to swallow a bird.

            好荒谬啊吞了只鸟。

            She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

            她吞下鸟来抓蜘蛛，

            She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;

            她吞下蜘蛛来抓苍蝇，

            I don't know why she swallowed a fly - don't ask me why!

            搞不懂她为啥要吞苍蝇──千万别问我为什么！

            There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;

            有一位老妇人吞了一只猫，

            Fancy that to swallow a cat!

            真稀奇啊吞了只猫！

            She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,

            她吞下猫来抓鸟，

            She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

            她吞下鸟来抓蜘蛛，

            ……

            循环往复！最后依次出场的动物如下：

            Dog─ "She went whole hog." (她使出全力吞下狗)

            Snake─ "What a mistake." (昏头昏脑吞下蛇)

            Pig─ "Her mouth was so big." (胆大包天吞下猪)

            Goat─ "She just opened her throat." (走投无路吞下山羊)

            Cow─"I don't know how." (莫名其妙吞下牛)

            Donkey─ "It was rather wonky." (吃饱了撑的吞下驴)

            Horse─She's dead, of course." (她真死定了)

Heritage Day @ Montgomery ES

(蒙哥马利小学·文化节 03-27-2012)

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小学三年级(3rd Grade)