Lenny the Flying Inventor1 飛行發明家萊尼

張恒

Once upon a time there was a funny guy named Lenny. Lenny was an inventor. He invented all kinds of contraptions2. His house looked like a mess3， but he had some really cool things.

從前有一個有趣的家伙叫萊尼。萊尼是個發明家，他發明了各種各樣的小玩意兒。他的房子看起來一團糟，但他也有很酷的玩意兒。

One day Lenny wanted to fly.

有一天，萊尼想飛翔。

“I am going to make some wings4 and fly，” Lenny told his friend Rudy.

“我要做出翅膀飛起來。”萊尼告訴他的朋友魯迪。

“Now I really know youre crazy. You wont even get off the ground，” said Rudy.

“現在我真的知道你瘋了。你甚至都離不開地面。”魯迪說。

“Youll see，” said Lenny.

“你等著瞧。”萊尼說。

So he went down to his workshop5 and started working. Day and night， he worked. No one saw Lenny for weeks. Then one day he came out of his workshop with a great big smile on his face.

于是他去工作室開始工作。他日夜都在工作，好幾個星期沒人見到他了。一天，他從工作室出來，臉上掛著燦爛的笑容。

He called Rudy on the phone. “Rudy， tomorrow I will fly， but I need your help，” said Lenny.

他給魯迪打電話。“魯迪，明天我會試飛，但我需要你幫忙。”萊尼說。

“Did you really build some wings？” asked Rudy.

“你真的造出了翅膀嗎？”魯迪問。

“Yeah and they are really beautiful，” said Lenny. “Theyre a little heavy though. I need you to help me take them to the top of Kill Devil Hill.”

“是啊，它們真的很漂亮。”萊尼說，“不過有點重。我需要你幫我把它們帶到屠魔山的山頂上去。”

“What did you make them out of？” asked Rudy.

“你用什么做的？”魯迪問。

“I made them out of some scrap metal6 from when I built my plane last year，” said Lenny.

“我用去年造飛機時剩下來的一些廢金屬做的。”萊尼說。

“Metal！Dont you think that will be too heavy to use for wings？” asked Rudy.

“金屬！你不覺得用它做翅膀太重了嗎？”魯迪問。

“No， I did all the work. I will be like a human airplane，” said Lenny.

“不重啊，所有的工作都做好了。我會像一架人形飛機那樣飛起來。”萊尼說。

Rudy just rolled7 his eyes. “OK， I will be over first thing in the morning and well try them out，” said Rudy.

魯迪只是翻了個白眼。他說：“好吧，我明天一早就做完最重要的事，然后我們來試試看。”

“See you then，” said Lenny.

“到時候見。”萊尼說。

The next morning they took the wings up to the top of Kill Devil Hill and Lenny strapped8 them on.

第二天早上，他們把翅膀帶到了屠魔山的山頂，萊尼把翅膀綁到身上。

“Are you sure those are not too heavy？” asked Rudy again.

“你確定它們不太重嗎？”魯迪又問。

“No， the faster I run， the lighter they will get. The wind will lift me up and I will be flying，” said Lenny， quite confidently9.

“不重，我跑得越快，它們就越輕。風會把我帶起來，我會飛起來的。”萊尼非常自信地說。

“All right， I am going to get a running start and take off，” said Lenny. So， Lenny backed up about fifty feet and started running. As he ran， the weight of the wings started to wear out his legs and he got lower and lower to the ground. Just as he got to the top of the hill， his legs gave out and he skidded10 across the ground on his face.

“好啦，我要開始跑了，然后再起飛。”萊尼說。所以，萊尼后退了大約50英尺后開始跑起來。當他奔跑的時候，翅膀的重量開始磨損他的雙腿，導致他離地面越來越近。就在他到達山頂時，他的雙腿精疲力竭，整個人從地面上滑了過去，臉朝下。

After Rudy rolled around on the ground laughing for about a minute， he got up and asked Lenny if he was OK.

魯迪笑得在地上打滾，大約笑了一分鐘后，他才站起來問萊尼他是不是沒事。

“Yeah， yeah， real funny，” said Lenny. “I guess you may be right they are a little heavy， but I know the shape is just right. I will just go back to the workshop and make them out of another material11. Something lighter.”

“沒事，沒事，真有趣。”萊尼說，“我想你可能是對的，它們有點重，但我知道形狀沒什么問題。我會回工作室用另一種材料做翅膀，更輕的一種。”

A few weeks later Lenny called up Rudy.

幾周后，萊尼打電話給魯迪。

“Ive done it，” said Lenny.

“我做出來了。”萊尼說。

“Youve done what？” asked Rudy.

“你做出什么了？”魯迪問。

“I reworked the wings. I made them out of wood and tissue paper12. These things are so light I may get going by just jumping off the roof. Come on over， I need a witness13，” said Lenny.

“我重新做了對翅膀，用木頭和紙巾做的。這些東西太輕了，我只要從屋頂上跳下去就行了。過來吧，我需要一個見證者。”

“Im on the way，” said Rudy.

“我在路上了。”魯迪說。

When Rudy arrived， Lenny was already up on the roof with these funny looking pink wings.

魯迪到的時候，萊尼已經站在屋頂上了，身著看起來很滑稽的粉色翅膀。

“Pink wings！” laughed Rudy.

“粉色的翅膀！”魯迪大笑。

“Yeah， this is the thing I had left over from when I invented that large Pig robot we used on Halloween last year，” said Lenny.

“是啊，這是我去年發明萬圣節用的大型小豬機器人時剩下的。”萊尼說。

“So you think youre just going to jump off and fly？” asked Rudy.

“所以你覺得你只用跳下來就可以飛起來嗎？”魯迪問。

“Yeah. Here goes，” said Lenny.

“是啊。我來了。”萊尼說。

He backed up a little and took a quick dash14 and a jump.

他往后退了一點，然后快速沖刺跳躍起來。

The wings broke right off and Lenny landed on his head in the middle of some bushes next to the house.

翅膀突然折斷，萊尼頭朝下跌在房子旁邊的灌木叢中。

After Rudy rolled around on the ground laughing for about a minute， he got up and asked Lenny if he was OK.

魯迪笑得在地上打滾，笑了一分鐘后，他才站起來問萊尼他是不是沒事。

“Yeah， Yeah， real funny，” said Lenny. “I guess they may have been a little weak15， but I know the shape is just right. I will just go back to the workshop and make them out of another material. Something not as heavy as the scrap metal and not as light as the tissue paper.”

“沒事，沒事，真有趣。”萊尼說，“我想它們可能有點脆弱，但我知道它們的形狀正合適。我馬上回工作室用另一種材料做。沒有廢金屬那么重，也沒有紙巾那么輕的材料。”

“Sounds like a good idea to me，” said Rudy as he rolled his eyes.

“聽起來是個好主意。”魯迪翻著白眼說。

A few weeks later Lenny called up Rudy.

幾周后，萊尼打電話給魯迪。

“Ive really done it this time，” said Lenny.

“我這次真的做出來了。”萊尼說。

“Youve done what？” asked Rudy.

“你做出什么了？”魯迪問。

“I reworked the wings. I made them out of wax16 and balsa wood17. These things look just like birds wings. Meet me at Kill Devil Hill， I need a witness，” said Lenny.

“我重新做了翅膀，用蠟和軟木做的。這些東西看起來就像鳥的翅膀。在屠魔山和我碰頭，我需要一個見證者。” 萊尼說。

“Im on the way，” said Rudy.

“我在路上了。”魯迪說。

When Rudy arrived， he saw the wings. They did look good！

當魯迪到達時，他看到了那對翅膀，看起來確實很不錯！

“I need you to help me strap them on，” said Lenny.

“我需要你幫我系上帶子。”萊尼說。

Rudy helped him strap on the wings. There was a handle18 under each wing out near the tip19 for Lenny to use to move the wings up and down and a belt20 that went around his waist21 so that they would not fall off.

魯迪幫他綁好翅膀。在每個翅膀下面，靠近翼尖的地方都有一個小把手，是萊尼用來上下移動翅膀的，還有一條腰帶繞在他的腰上，這樣翅膀就不會掉下來。

“Here we go，” shouted Lenny as he backed up and began running towards the top of the hill.

“我們走吧。”萊尼一邊喊，一邊后退，接著開始向山頂跑去。

He didnt slow down and just as he got to the edge22 of the hill， he started to lift up into the air. He was flying！

他沒有放慢腳步，一跑到山邊他就騰空而起。他飛起來了！

YAHOOO！ Shouted Lenny.

哇哦！萊尼大喊道。

He flew and flew just laughing and hooting23. He flew higher and higher. He was really getting high now， and he started to worry. “How do I land these things？” he asked himself.

他飛來飛去，又笑又叫，飛得越來越高。他現在真的很興奮，接著他開始擔心了。“我怎么用這些翅膀著陸呢？”他問自己。

That question was about to be answered. All of a sudden， he saw that his wings were starting to melt24. He had been lifted up so high， that the sun was starting to melt the wax he used to make the wings. Pretty soon he had little tiny wings and he was flying about a hundred miles an hour down towards the woods.

那個問題就要有答案了。突然，他看到翅膀開始融化。他飛得那么高，以至于太陽開始融化他用來做翅膀的蠟。很快，他的翅膀就變小了，他以每小時100英里的速度向樹林墜去。

“Boy this is going to hurt again，” said Lenny to himself.

“我這次又要受傷了。”萊尼自言自語地說。

He fell into the woods.

他掉進了樹林里。

Rudy ran up. “Are you all right？” he asked.

魯迪跑了過來。“你沒事吧？”他問道。

“Yeah， I think so， but I am surely going to stop trying to fly. This is too hurt on the body，” said Lenny.

“沒事，我想還好，但我肯定不會再嘗試飛行了。這太傷身了。”萊尼說。

To this day， no one believes25 Rudy when he tells the story of how Lenny flew like a bird. It may be good that they do not believe him， because others would probably get hurt， as did Lenny.

直到今天，當魯迪講述萊尼如何像鳥一樣飛翔的故事時，沒有人相信他。他們不相信他也許是好事，因為其他人可能會受到傷害，就像萊尼那樣。

He often tells people， “If people were meant26 to fly， they would have wings！”

他經常告訴人們：“如果人注定要飛，他們就會長出翅膀！”

（英語原文選自：bedtime.com）

【Notes】

1. inventor [? ? ? ? ? ?] n. 發明家;[專利]發明人;創造者

2. contraption [? ? ? ? ? ? ?] n. 奇妙的裝置;精巧的設計

3. mess [? ? ?] n. 混亂，凌亂;臟亂的東西 4. wing [? ? ] n. 翼;翅膀

5. workshop [? ? ? ? ? ?] n. 車間;工作室 6. scrap metal廢金屬

7. roll [? ? ] v. 滾動，（眼睛）轉動 8. strap [? ? ? ?] v. 用帶捆綁，用帶固定

9. confidently adv. 自信地 10. skid [? ? ?] v. 剎住，使減速;滾滑;打滑

11. material ] n. 材料 12. tissue paper紙巾

13. witness [n. 證人;目擊者;證據 14. dash [ n. 猛沖

15. weak [<] adj. 疲軟的;無力的;不牢固的 16. wax [? ? ? ?] n. 蠟;蠟狀物 17. balsa wood軟木 18. handle [? ? ? ? ] n. （門的）把手;柄 19. tip [? ? ] n. 尖端;小部件 20. belt [? ? ?] n. 帶;腰帶 21. waist [] n. 腰，腰部 22. edge [? ? ] n. 邊緣 23. hoot [? ? ?] v. 鳴響;大聲叫囂;轟趕;呵斥 24. melt [? ? ?] v. 熔化，溶解 25. believe [? ? ? ?] v. 信任;料想;相信;認為

26. mean [? ? ? ] v. 注定