The Crab
An old crab grew restless. Finding himself stiff all over, he knew it was time for him to moult his shell.
He dashed here and there in search of a cave to hide. He was going to block up the mouth of cave so that he could moult in secret. He knew it would be very dangerous to shed his shell in the open because, with his new shell still being soft, he might be eaten up by other crabs. This fear was not groundless for he himself had really seen it happen to other moulting crabs.
The old crab kept moving about in a hurry.
A nearby crab asked, “Hey, brother, what’s the rush?”
“I am going to moult,” answered the old crab. “Wouldn’t it be all right to moult right here? I could help you out with it.”
“How horrible that would be!”
“You mean while you’ll not scared of other things in the cave you’re scared of your own kind?”
“No, I’m not scared of my own kind.”
“Then what are you scared of?”
“Nothing but being eaten up by you.”
注释:
《螃蟹》是近年发现的鲁迅佚文。文章发表于1919年8月间，时值五四运动方兴未艾，作者过寓言故事，提醒人们新生事物往往有被旧事物消灭于萌芽状态的危险。
(1)“觉得全身太硬了”译为Finding himself stiff al over，其中all over意即“全身”或“浑身”，作状语短语用。如逐字译为finding his whole body stiff并无不可，但语言稍欠地道。
(2)“蜕壳”译为to moult his shell，其中to moult 为专用语，意同to cast off。
(3)“外面蜕壳”中的“外面”意即“在露天”，故译为(to moult)in the open，以代替to moult outside the cave。
(4)“身子还软”意即“蜕去旧壳后新壳还软”，故译为with his new shell still being soft。如按字面直译为with his body still being soft则欠确切，因“身子”在此指“新壳”，不泛指“躯体”。
(5)“旁边的螃蟹”译为A nearby crab比Acrab beside him灵活。
(6)“就怕你要吃掉我”译为Nothing but being eaten up by you, 乃I’m scared of nothing but being eaten up by you之略。
落花生
我们屋后有半亩隙地。母亲说：“让它荒芜着怪可惜，既然你们那么爱吃花生，就辟来做花生园罢(1)。”我们几个姊弟(2)和几个小丫头都很喜欢––买种的买种，动土的动土，灌园的灌园过了不几个月，居然收获了!
妈妈说：“今晚我们可以做一个收获节(3)，也请你们的爹爹来尝尝我们底新花生，如何?”我们都答应了。母亲把花生做成好几样食品(4)，还吩咐这节期要在园里底茅亭举行。
那晚上底天色不大好(5)，可是爹爹也来到，实在很难得!爹爹说：“你们爱吃花生吗?”
我们都争着答应：“爱!”
“谁能把花生底好处说出来?”
姊姊说：“花生的气味很美。”
哥哥说：“花生可以榨油。”
我说：“无论何等人都可以用贱价买它来吃都喜欢吃它。这是它的好处。”
爹爹说：“花生底用处固然很多但有一样是很可贵的。这小小的豆(6)不像那好看的平果、桃子、石榴，把它们底果实悬在枝上，鲜红嫩绿的颜色(7)，令人一望而发生羡慕的心。它只把果子埋在地底，等到成熟，才容人把它挖出来。你们偶然看见一棵花生瑟缩(8)地长在地上，不能立刻辨出它有没有果实，非得等到你接触它才能知道。”
我们都说：“是的。”母亲也点点头。爹爹接下去说：“所以你们要像花生(9)，因为它是有用的，不是伟大、好看的东西。”我说：“那么，人要做有用的，不要做伟大、体面的人了。”爹爹说：“这是我对于你们的希望。” 我们谈到夜阑才散，所有花生食品虽然没有了，然而父亲底话现在还印在我心版上。
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