雙語故事:伐木巨人保羅·班揚

【英文原文】

摘要：保羅·班揚是美國傳說中的英雄，他是個伐木工，住在美國西北的伐木營地裏。他由於力大無窮，伐木快如割草而威震四方。

Paul Bunyan was a hero in American folk tales. He was a lumberjack, living in lumber camps of the American Northwest. He became famous for his great strength and great skill in cutting trees. According to legend, Paul Bunyan was a giant. He was so big that a small step he took was about three city blocks. He created much of America. He dug Puget Sound in Washington to float huge logs to the mill. He cleared trees from North and South Dakota and made the land in those states suitable for farming. He dragged his huge ax in the field of Colorado, and thus created the Grand Canyon. He also scooped out the Great Lakes to provide drinking water for his giant blue ox, Babe. Babe weighed fifteen tons before breakfast and stood sixty feet tall. From the tip of one horn to the tip of the other, it measured 42 ax handles and a plug of chewing tobacco. The ox ate tremendous amounts of hay and potato peels and could haul a whole forest of logs. When Babe needed new shoes, the blacksmith had to open a new iron mine in Minnesota. The shoes were so heavy that the blacksmith sank knee-deep into solid rock while carrying them. Babe hadn’t always been blue. But nobody knew for sure how it had come to be that colour. Some said it had turned blue from playing outdoors too long during the Winter of the Blue Snow.

【中文譯文】

保羅·班揚是美國傳說中的英雄。他是個伐木工，住在美國西北的伐木營地裏。他由於力大無窮，伐木快如割草而威震四方。保羅是個巨人，他只須邁一小步就能跨過三條街。美國的大部分山山水水據說都是他創造的。他掘出了華盛頓州的皮尤吉特灣，好把木材從水路運到鋸木場。他伐光了南北達科他所有的樹木，將林地改做農田。他在科羅拉多的田野裏拖了一下他的巨斧，結果劃出了大峽谷。他的藍牛貝貝口渴時，他就從五大湖裏舀出水來給他喝。藍牛貝貝高六十英尺，早飯前重十五噸。兩角之間的長度爲四十二斧柄外加一塊嚼煙。貝貝飯量極大，須爲他準備大量乾草和土豆皮。但它的力氣也極大，一次就能拉走一座森林的木材。貝貝需要釘掌時，鐵匠就得在明尼蘇達新開一座鐵礦。那副牛蹄鐵重得嚇人，鐵匠搬它們時，兩腿陷在堅硬的岩石裏，深達膝蓋。藍牛並非生下來就是藍色的。它究竟是怎麼變藍的，誰也說不清。有人說這是因爲下藍雪那年冬天，貝貝貪玩兒，在外頭待得太久了。

題外話：舊大陸的人初到北美，常被它的巨大所震驚。那裏有巨大的峽谷、巨大的瀑布、巨大的湖泊、巨大的平原、巨大的森林。一切似乎都是大號的。難怪移民們喜歡這些牛皮故事。