英语故事:一只特立独行的青蛙

                   
“I wouldn’t!” cried Charley. “I want to be a frog!” He stuck out his tongue, missing a bug flying by the end of his nose. “Look at that, Wanda! I was such a good fly catcher. And I had eyes on top of my head, too. I could see forward and backward and sideways all at once, but look at me now. With my eyes in front of  my face, I can only see one direction at a time. I don’t  even have a castle, Wanda. What kind of prince is that?  I’d really rather be a frog. Please change me back!”
                   
“I  can’t, Charley. But you’ll learn to be happy as  a prince. As for a castle, I can take care of that.”   She waved her wand, and suddenly a castle appeared by the  banks of the pond. It had stone walls, oaken doors, and  pennants waving from its turrets. “Your very own palace,  Charley! You’ll have servants, eat fancy foods and ice cream. . . .”
                   
“Bah!”Charley interrupted. “Who wants servants, or ice cream  and fancy foods? I want bugs!” He stuck out his tongue and looked down his nose at it, cross-eyed. “This tongue  is no good—it’s too short!” he cried. “I can’t even see it.”
                   
Again  Wanda waved her wand. “Look, Charley, musicians,”  he said. Out of the castle marched dozens of musicians blowing trumpets, tootling flutes, and banging drums. “See?  Your own band. They’ll play music, and you can sing   and dance and snap your fingers to your heart’s content.”
                   
“I don’t want to sing and dance!” Charley cried.“And why would I do something as silly as snapping my fingers?”

“我不愿意，我宁愿做一只青蛙，”查理嚷道，一只虫子从他鼻尖飞过，他伸出舌头，却没抓住。“瞧瞧，旺达，我曾经是一个捉虫好手，而且我的眼睛高高地长在头顶，这样前后左右我都能一下子看得一清二楚，可是看看现在的我，眼睛长在脸上，我一次只能朝一个方向看。我也没有城堡，旺达，什么王子会像我这样。我真的宁愿是一只青蛙，请把我变回去吧。”

“查理，我变不回了。但是你可以学着做一位快乐的王子，至于城堡，我替你准备好了。”她挥动魔法棒，池塘的对岸马上出现了一座城堡：石头城墙，橡木城门，城堡顶上飘着无数的旗帜。“查理，这是属于你的宫殿，你还会有仆人、可口的食物、美味冰淇淋......”

“哈！”查理打断了她的话，“谁需要什么仆人、可口的食物、美味冰淇淋？我只要虫子！”他使劲伸出舌头，眼睛像斗鸡眼一样朝下看，可是只看见了鼻子。“这舌头一点都不好，太短了，我都看不见它！”

旺达没有办法，她又挥动她的魔法棒，“看啊，查理，乐师”她说。只见由数十个乐师形成的队伍正吹着喇叭、长笛，敲着鼓在城堡外盘旋着，“看见没，这是属于你自己的乐队，你可以尽情地唱歌跳舞，尽情地舞动你的指尖。”

“我不想唱歌跳舞！”查理又嚷道：“而且我为什么要去做一些打响指那么傻的事呢?"