大家看到的这个黄色盒子，就是童趣出版社出版的最新、最全版的《奇先生妙小姐》了。

《奇先生妙小姐》的作者——罗杰·哈格里维斯是知名的英国作家、儿童书籍插画家。他的插画画风大胆、颜色鲜艳，他的《奇先生妙小姐》系列丛书享誉全球，畅销40多年，风靡80余国，被译成22种语言，全球销量过2亿册。它的译者就是有名的翻译家任溶溶老先生。任老的翻译的文字通俗，语言流畅，非常符合幼儿的阅读习惯和阅读水平。全新版本收集了83个故事，每个故事讲了孩子在成长中会遇到的一个问题或是孩子的一种性格。这些性格或问题被拟人化成83个小人，这83个奇先生、妙小姐，用最活泼有趣的人物形象，最诙谐幽默的语言，生动地诠释了孩子们成长中会遇到的各种毛病或难题。

 

   通过阅读故事，让孩子们了解到各种性格特征，让孩子好好地“改正自己，了解别人”。 

 大家看，翻开盒盖，我们就能看到83本书整齐地排列，拼成了两个小人的图案。 

 

    

《奇先生妙小姐》适合3到8岁的孩子阅读

 这个时期正好是孩子们性格培养的关键期，对于提高孩子的情商，社交能力具有非常重要的帮助。

 而且能帮助孩子认识各种性格，帮助他们长大后，在社会里正确地为人处世。 

 

         

 

        It was a warm, sunny morning.

        这是一个温暖而晴朗的早晨。 

        In his small house at the other side of the wood

        Mr Tickle was asleep.

        在树林另一边的一座小房子里，挠痒痒先生还在睡觉。 

       You didn’t know that there was such a thing as a

       Tickle, did you?

       你知道有一种东西叫痒痒挠吗？

 

 Well, there is!

确实有这种东西！

 

Tickles are small and round, and they have arms that

stretch and stretch and stretch.

它们小小的，圆圆的，手柄可以拉长，拉长，再拉长。

 

Extraordinarily long arms!

超级长的手柄！

 

             

 

 

Mr Tickle was fast asleep. He was having a dream.

挠痒痒先生睡得很熟。他正在做梦。

 

It must have been a very funny dream because it

made him laugh out loud, and that woke him up.

梦一定非常有趣，因为他被逗得哈哈大笑，

都笑醒了。

 

He sat up in bed, stretched his extraordinarily long

arms, and yawned an enormous yawn.

他从床上坐起来，伸了伸超长的手臂，

打了一个大大的哈欠。

 

Mr Tickle felt hungry, so do you know what he did?

挠痒痒先生觉得饿了。你知道他怎么拿吃的吗？

 

              

He reached out one of his extraordinarily long arms,

opened the bedroom door, reached down the stairs,

opened the kitchen door, reached into the kitchen

cupboard, opened the biscuit tin, took out a biscuit,

brought it back upstairs, in through the bedroom door

and back to Mr Tickle in bed.

他伸出一只超长的手臂。手臂打开卧室门，伸下楼梯，打开厨房门，伸进橱柜，打开饼干盒，拿出一块饼干，然后缩回楼上，缩进卧室门里，最后回到床上。

 

As you can see, it’s very useful indeed having arms as

long as Mr Tickle’s.

明白了吧，有这样的长手臂真是非常有用。

 

Mr Tickle munched his biscuit. He looked out of the

window.

挠痒痒先生一边嚼着饼干，一边看着窗外。

 

“Today looks very much like a tickling day,” he

thought to himself.

“今天很适合挠痒痒！”他心想。

 

         

 

So, later that morning, after Mr Tickle had made his

bed and cooked his breakfast, he set off through the

wood.

于是，当天上午，挠痒痒先生整理好床铺，吃过早饭

以后，就出门了。

 

As he walked along, he kept his eyes very wide open,

looking for somebody to tickle.

Looking for anybody to tickle!

他穿过树林，眼睛睁得大大的，寻找可以挠的人。

随便谁都行！

 

          

 

Eventually, Mr Tickle came to a school.

挠痒痒先生来到一所学校。

 

There was nobody about, so, reaching up his

extraordinarily long arms to a high window ledge,

Mr Tickle pulled himself up and peeped in through

the open window.

 

他把超长的手臂伸到一个高高的窗台上，

然后攀上窗台，从开着的窗户往里张望。

 

         

 

Inside he could see a classroom.

他看到了一间教室。

 

There were children sitting at their desks, and a

teacher writing on the blackboard.

孩子们坐在各自的座位上，老师正在黑板上写字。

 

          

 

 

Mr Tickle waited a minute, and then reached in

through the window.

挠痒痒先生把手伸进了窗户。

 

Mr Tickle’s extraordinarily long arm went right up to

the teacher, paused, and then – tickled!

他那超长的手臂一直伸到了老师那里，然后——挠痒痒！

 

The teacher jumped in the air, and turned round very

quickly to see who was there.

老师猛地跳了起来，立刻转身寻找那个挠他痒痒的人。

 

But there was nobody there!

可是他周围根本没有人！

 

         

 

Mr Tickle grinned a mischievous grin.

挠痒痒先生淘气地咧开嘴笑了。

 

He waited another minute, and then tickled the

teacher again.

过了一会儿，他又开始挠那个老师。

 

This time he kept on tickling, until soon the teacher

was laughing out loud and saying, “Stop it! Stop it!”

over and over again.

就这样，他不停地挠，一直挠到那个老师一边笑，一边

不停地求饶，“停下来！快停下来！”

 

All the children were laughing too at such a

funny sight.

看到这么滑稽的一幕，孩子们也都哈哈大笑。

 

There was terrible pandemonium.

整个课堂就像炸开了锅。

 

       

 

Eventually, Mr Tickle thought that he had had enough

fun, so he gave the teacher one more tickle for luck,

and then very quietly brought his arm back through

the open window.

最后，挠痒痒先生觉得玩够了，又挠了一下那个老

师，然后悄悄地把手臂从窗户里收了回来。

 

Chuckling to himself, he jumped down from the

window, leaving the poor teacher to explain what it

was all about.

他窃笑着跳下窗户，留下那个可怜的老师去解释刚才

发生的事情。

 

Which of course he couldn’t.

当然，他解释不清。

 

Then Mr Tickle went to town.

随后，挠痒痒先生就去小镇了。

 

        

 

And what a day Mr Tickle had.

对挠痒痒先生来说，这真是很过瘾的一天！

 

He tickled the policeman on traffic duty at the

crossroads in the middle of town.

他挠了正在镇中心十字路口指挥交通的交警，

 

It caused an enormous traffic jam.

造成了严重的交通堵塞。

 

         

 

He tickled the greengrocer just as he was piling

apples neatly in his shop window.

他挠了正在橱窗前摆苹果的水果小贩。

 

The greengrocer fell over backwards, and the apples

rolled all over the shop.

结果水果小贩仰面朝天地摔倒在地，苹果滚得到处都是。

 

         

 

At the railway station, the guard was about to wave

his flag for the train to leave.

在火车站，列车员正要举旗示意火车出发。

 

As he lifted his arm in the air, Mr Tickle tickled him.

他刚举起手臂，挠痒痒先生就挠了他。

 

And every time he tried to wave his flag, Mr Tickle

tickled him, until the train was ten minutes late

leaving the station and all the passengers were

furious.

他每举一次旗子，挠痒痒先生就挠他一下，

结果火车晚了十分钟才驶出车站，

把乘客们气坏了。

 

          

 

That day Mr Tickle tickled everybody.

那一天，挠痒痒先生见谁就挠谁痒痒。

 

He tickled the doctor.

他挠了医生，

 

He tickled the butcher.

还挠了肉店老板。

 

         

 

He even tickled old Mr Stamp the postman, who

dropped all his letters into a puddle.

他甚至还挠了老邮递员邮票先生，结果所有的信件

都掉进了水坑。

 

 

Then Mr Tickle went home.

挠痒痒先生心满意足地回家了。

 

        

 

Sitting in his armchair in his small house at the other

side of the wood, he laughed and laughed every time

he thought about all the people he had tickled.

在树林另一边的小房子里，挠痒痒先生坐在扶手椅上，

一想到那些被他挠过痒痒的人，他就大笑不止。

 

       

 

So, if you are in any way ticklish, beware of Mr Tickle

and those extraordinarily long arms of his.

所以，如果你怕痒，就一定要小心挠痒痒先生和他的

长手臂哟。

Just think. Perhaps he’s somewhere about at this very

moment while you’re reading this book.

也许就在你读这本书的时候，他正躲在某个地方盯着

你呢。

 

Perhaps that extraordinarily long arm of his is already

creeping up to the door of this room.

也许他的长手臂已经伸到了你的房间门口。

 

       

 

Perhaps it’s opening the door now, and coming into

the room.

也许它正在开门，马上要伸进房间了。

 

Perhaps, before you know what is happening, you will

be well and truly …

也许在你弄明白怎么回事之前，就要被……

 

       

… tickled!

……挠痒痒了！

 

 

书中含有众多富有特点的人物形象:有讲述人格特质的傲慢先生，荒唐先生，霸道小姐等；有叙述生活习惯的贪吃先生，邋遢先生，整洁小姐等；有描述身体特征的高先生，小小先生，袖珍小姐等。为孩子一一来展现和认识不同性格的奇先生与妙小姐，从而塑造孩子的完美人格，让孩子纠正自己，懂得规矩，了解他人。

 

      幽默的故事，都是孩子们的小化身，讲述的是人性中共性的东西。

     大家看看，我们的宝宝是不是也特别像其中一个先生或小姐呢？

 

  

急匆匆小姐

 

          

 

Little Miss Quick was always in a terrible hurry,

and she was always trying to get everything done

as quickly as she could.

急匆匆小姐总是手忙脚乱的，她总是想用最快的速度

做完每件事情。

 

       

 

Now, all this rushing around meant that Little Miss

Quick was very careless.

可想而知，着急忙慌的急匆匆小姐做事很粗心。

 

She made her bed so quickly that it was in more

of a mess afterwards than when she started!

她整理床铺的速度实在太快了，以至于整理完了反倒

更乱！

 

        

 

When she brushed her teeth, she squeezed the

toothpaste out of the tube so quickly that it went

everywhere.

她刷牙的时候，由于挤牙膏的速度太快了，弄的到处

都是牙膏。

 

         

 

Everywhere, that is, except on her toothbrush.

除了牙刷上，哪里都是牙膏！

 

 

One sunny autumn morning, Little Miss Quick got up

even more quickly than usual, and made her bed and

combed her hair in her quick and careless way.

 

一个阳光灿烂的秋日清晨，急匆匆小姐用比平时还要

快的速度起床，用和往常一样的又快又粗心的速度铺

床、梳头。

 

       

 

After a breakfast of bread (Little Miss Quick was

always in far too much of a hurry to wait for the

toaster!) she ran out of the house like a whirlwind,

and left the door open, as usual.

 

早上吃完面包后（急匆匆小姐太急了，总等不及面包

机把面包烤好），她像一阵旋风一样跑出了房子，和

往常一样，连门都来不及关。

 

One minute later, and three miles from her house,

Little Miss Quick came to a sudden stop.

一分钟后，在离家三英里的地方，急匆匆小姐突然停

下了脚步。

       

 

The postman was standing in her way.

一位邮递员挡住了她的路。

 

“You have far too many letters to deliver,” she said.

“Let me help you.”

“你要投递这么多信件呀，”她说，

“我来帮你吧。”

 

And she delivered the letters very quickly.

说着，她就飞快地投递起信件来。

 

 

But also very carelessly!

但是，她仍然那么粗心！

 

The postman was very angry.

邮递员非常生气。

 

In fact he was so angry that he chased after

Little Miss Quick …

他怒不可遏，去追急匆匆小姐……

 

… but she was already miles away.

……可她已经跑出去几英里了。

 

She had met Mr Strong.

急匆匆小姐又遇到了强壮先生。

 

     

 

“That basket of eggs looks very heavy,” she said.

“那篮鸡蛋好像很重，”她说。

 

“Let me help you carry it back to your house.”

“我帮你拿回家吧。”

 

And, before Mr Strong had had a chance to say “No”,

or even blink for that matter, Little Miss Quick had

carried the eggs back to his house very quickly …

 

强壮先生还没来得及说“不”，甚至还没来得及眨一眨

眼，急匆匆小姐就已经飞快地把鸡蛋送到了他家……

 

    

 

 

… and, needless to say, very carelessly!

……当然，不用说，她还是那么粗心！

 

When he saw that all his eggs were broken,

Mr Strong was furious.

强壮先生看到所有的鸡蛋都碎了，真是火冒三丈。

 

In fact he was so furious that he also chased after

Little Miss Quick.

他火冒三丈地去追急匆匆小姐。

 

     

 

But she was already miles away.

可是，急匆匆小姐已经跑到几英里之外了。

 

She was at the zoo, talking to the zoo keeper.

急匆匆小姐又来到了动物园，她和管理员聊着天。

 

“You must be tired of feeding all these lions, let me

feed them for you,” she said.

“你喂这些狮子一定很累，我帮你喂它们吧。”她说。

 

Then, before you could say “Little Miss Quick”, she

had picked up a bucket of corn and rushed off.

管理员还没来得及喊出“急匆匆小姐”，她就已经拎着

装满玉米的桶匆匆跑开了。

 

And fed the lions in her usual quick … and very

careless way.

急匆匆小姐喂着狮子，用她特有的、和平时一样的、

快速……而粗心的方式。

Lions hate corn!

可是狮子讨厌吃玉米！

 

     

 

But they love doors that are left open.

但是它们喜欢敞开的大门。

 

So it happened that, on that sunny autumn morning,

Little Miss Quick found herself surrounded by

a very angry postman,

a furious Mr Strong,

a terrified zoo keeper

and two hungry lions.

 

就这样，在那个阳光灿烂的秋日清晨，

急匆匆小姐被怒不可遏的邮递员，

火冒三丈的强壮先生，

吓坏了的动物园管理员，

两只饥饿的狮子，

团团围住了。

 

       

What do you think she did?

你知道她做了什么吗？

 

 

That’s right!

没错儿！

 

Quick as a shot she said to herself, “I’d better get

out of here as quickly as ever I can and …

她飞快地自言自语道：“我最好马上离开这里，越快越

好，而且……

 

 

… as carefully as possible!”

……越小心越好！”

 

     

 

 

急匆匆小姐终于意识到要小心。有句俗语叫“心急吃不了热豆腐”，急匆匆小姐就是因为太心急了，什么事都没做好，以至于大家都对她有意见，还差点造成严重的事故。所以，小朋友们在做事的时候一定要仔细认真一些，不能光图速度快呀。）

故事中的急匆匆小姐还特别喜欢帮助别人。助人为乐虽然是好事，但是如果不征求别人的意见就帮忙，就会显得不礼貌，有时候也会适得其反，就像急匆匆小姐一样，越帮越忙，好心办坏事。）

 

以奇先生妙小姐 为例，我们来分享一下 任溶溶老先生的翻译技巧：

 

儿童童书的翻译，对于译者的要求非常高，好的译者需要具备4个方面的素养：语言的功底，文学的素养，儿童的观念和亲子的经验。

从专业的角度来看，奇先生妙小姐的译者非常用心。在词汇的选择上，包括人名甚至是里面的一些术语，都做了比较好的考究。因为有比较相同的词汇，比如说荒谬和荒诞，高兴和快乐，像这样的词英文词很多是一样的，有的时候英文词本身就是同义词，可以置换的，但是在中文里面就不一样。而且在处理这些词的时候，不是你在某一本当中去处理，而是要把这80多本放在一起处理，我想这个是下了功夫的。下面给大家举几个例子：

在英文里是同一个词，譬如说：quick —— MISS QUICK。从字面上就是“快小姐”，很多人会译成“迅速小姐”“快小姐”。但是结合整个故事来看，这个小姐不仅仅是快，而且急躁和粗心。怎么样才能体现又快又急又粗心呢？任老翻译成了“急匆匆小姐”这个名字。
    像这样的单词来回推敲的特别多，如“奢侈小姐”，任老译成了“奢华小姐”。“奢侈”是个略带贬义的词，而“奢华”则是一个中性词，从故事来看，故事并没有对该小姐有什么贬义，所以任老用了中性的“奢华小姐”作为该小姐名字。

这只是翻译工作中的一小部分，最难的是双关语。英语的双关语特别多，这些双关语，任溶溶老先生都一一地进行了贴切的翻译。

有一本叫“古怪小姐”，“古怪小姐”要拿一个“荒诞点子大奖”，于是把房子外面都点上了大大小小的点。大家知道：英语里 “点”的单词就是 DOT，在中文里“点子”又叫“主意”，故事里，把这个“主意”还原成了“点子”的意思，在自己的房子外面点上“点子”，可不就是“荒唐的点子”嘛。“古怪小姐”获得了该项大奖。

还有一个“贪吃先生”，别人问他“为什么三明治里有沙子呢”。大家知道“三明治”的英语单词为：sandwich   而“沙子”的英语单词为 SAND。在翻译的时候，任老非常巧妙地把“三明治”改名为“沙明治”。
    像这种巧妙的文字处理，任老和编辑做了大量的工作，把英式幽默原汁原味地表现了出来。这是别的任何翻译者做不到的，只有任老以其深厚的文字功底和翻译能力，才能办得到的。

再一个关于现在拿到中文译本，在翻译学上的一些手法，比如说语序的调整，还有一些意义，就意义上的一些操作，这个是能够看出来的。

只有对比英文才能够找到，像这些译文是为了适合中国的孩子，你必须有这样的操作，比如说《挠痒痒先生》里的痒痒挠，痒痒挠是中国的一个物件，孩子是知道的，有些家里是有的。

像这样语言上的生活化的处理，我是觉得确实还是下了功夫的。因为这套书本身是以故事取胜的，译者的中文非常关键。 

 

这套中文版的《奇先生妙小姐》很多绘本界的大师也特别喜欢。为了更多的孩子爱上阅读，架起中西方文化的桥梁，各位绘本界大师从各自的角度深度品评，解读《奇先生妙小姐》——开展了“《奇先生妙小姐》精读会”这一公益活动。

参加活动的专家有：

王林：著名儿童阅读专家、北师大儿童文学博士

孙莉莉：儿童早期阅读专家、悠贝亲子阅读学院院长

       王志庚：国家图书馆少儿馆长

王悦：当当网童书频道主编，当当网副总裁