LESSON 20 A MOMENT TOO LATE 為時已晚

1.A moment too late, my beautiful bird,

A moment too late are you now;

The wind has your soft, downy nest disturbed—

The nest that you hung on the bough.

2.A moment too late; that string in your bill,

Would have fastened it fi rmly and strong;

But see, there it goes, rolling over the hill!

Oh, you staid a moment too long.

3.A moment, one moment too late, busy bee;

The honey has dropped from the fl ower:

No use to creep under the petals and see;

It stood ready to drop for an hour.

4.A moment too late; had you sped on your wing,

The honey would not have been gone;

Now you see what a very, a very sad thing

’T^[1] is to stay a moment too long.

5.Little girl, never be a moment too late,

It will soon end in trouble or crime;

Better be an hour early, and stand and wait,

Than a moment behind the time.

6.If the bird and the bee, little boy, were too late,

Remember, as you play along

On your way to school, with pencil and slate,

Never stay a moment too long.

【中文閱讀】

1.只是遲了一點點，我美麗的小鳥，

你只是晚了那么一點點，

你筑在樹枝上柔軟溫暖的巢，

已被風吹毀不見。

2.只是遲了一點點，你嘴里的繩線，

本來可以把巢緊緊綁牢；

可是你看，它已滾落到山那邊！

噢，你逗留的時間短一點點多好。

3.一點點，忙碌的蜜蜂就遲了一點點，

花朵上的蜜已經滴落在地；

現在再也不必爬到花瓣下察看，

它在那兒搖曳欲滴足有一小時。

4.只是遲了一點點，如果你快點扇動翅膀，

蜂蜜就不會滴落在地；

現在你看這事多么令人傷心，

哪怕它再多停留一小會兒。

5.小女孩兒，千萬不要遲到，哪怕一點點，

很快就會招致麻煩和惡果；

寧可提早一小時站立等候，

勝過落后遲到一點點。

6.小男孩兒，如果小鳥和蜜蜂為時已晚，

那么，當你帶著你的鉛筆和小石板，

在上學途中玩耍流連，

記住，千萬不要停留太久，

哪怕只是一點點。

注釋

[1]’T，古英語用法，同“It”。