How the Brazilian Beetles Got Their Gorgeous Coats

Origin: Brazil

Cass 譯

寓言·童話(huà)

How the Brazilian Beetles Got Their Gorgeous Coats

巴西甲殼蟲(chóng)的華麗新裝

Origin: Brazil

Cass 譯

Track 10

In Brazil the beetles have such beautifully coloured, hard-shelled coats upon their backs that they are often set in pins and necklaces like precious stones. Once upon a time, years and years ago, they had ordinary plain brown coats. This is how it happened that the Brazilian beetle earned a new coat.

One day a little brown beetle was crawling along a wall when a big grey rat ran out of a hole in the wall and looked down scornfully at the little beetle. “O ho!” he said to the beetle, “how slowly you crawl along. You’ll never get anywhere in the world. Just look at me and see how fast I can run.”

The big grey rat ran to the end of the wall, wheeled around, and came back to the place where the little beetle was slowly crawling along at only a tiny distance from where the rat had left her.

“Don’t you wish that you could run like that?” said the big grey rat to the little brown beetle.

“You are surely a fast runner,” replied the little brown beetle politely. Her mother had taught her always to be polite, and had often said to her that a really polite beetle never boasts about her own accomplishments. The little brown beetle never boasted a single boast about the things she could do. She just went on slowly crawling along the wall.

A bright green and gold parrot in the mango tree over the wall had heard the conversation. “How would you like to race with the beetle?” he asked the big grey rat. “I live next door to the tailor bird,”he added, “and just to make the race exciting I’ll offer a bright coloured coat as a prize to the one who wins the race. You may choose for it any colour you like and I’ll have it made to order.”

“I’d like a yellow coat with stripes like the tiger’s,” said the big grey rat, looking over his shoulder at his gaunt grey sides as if he were already admiring his new coat.

“I’d like a beautiful, bright coloured new coat, too,” said the little brown beetle.

The big grey rat laughed long and loud until his gaunt grey sides were shaking. “Why, you talk just as if you thought you had a chance to win the race,” he said, when he could speak.

The bright green and gold parrot set the royal palm tree at the top of the cliff as the goal of the race. He gave the signal to start and then he flew away to the royal palm tree to watch for the end of the race.

The big grey rat ran as fast as he could. Then he thought how very tired he was getting. “What’s the use of hurrying?” he said to himself. “The little brown beetle can not possibly win. If I were racing with somebody who could really run it would be very different.” Then he started to run more slowly, but every time his heart beat it said, “Hurry up! Hurry up!” The big grey rat decided that it was best to obey the little voice in his heart so he hurried just as fast as he could.

When he reached the royal palm tree at the top of the cliff he could hardly believe his eyes. He thought he must be having a bad dream. There was the little brown beetle sitting quietly beside the bright green and gold parrot. The big grey rat had never been so surprised in all his life. “How did you ever manage to run fast enough to get here so soon?” he asked the little brown beetle as soon as he could catch his breath.

The little brown beetle drew out the tiny wings from her sides. “Nobody said anything about having to run to win the race,” she replied, “so I few instead.”

“I did not know that you could fy,” said the big grey rat in a subdued little voice.

“After this,” said the bright green and gold parrot, “never judge any one by his looks alone. You never can tell how often or where you may fnd concealed wings.You have lost the prize.”

Until this day, even in Brazil

where the fowers and birds and beasts and insects have such gorgeous colouring, the rat wears a plain dull grey coat.

Then the parrot turned to the little brown beetle, who was waiting quietly at his side.“What colour do you want your new coat to be?” he asked.

The little brown beetle looked up at the bright green and gold parrot, at the green and gold palm trees above their heads, at the green mangoes with golden flushes on their cheeks lying on the ground under the mango trees, at the golden sunshine upon the distant green hills. “I choose a coat of green and gold,” she said.

From that day to this, the Brazilian beetle has worn a coat of green with golden lights upon it.

For years and years, the Brazilian beetles were all very proud to wear green and gold coats like that of the beetle who raced with the rat.

Then, once upon a time, it happened that there was a little beetle who grew discontented with her coat of green and gold. She looked up at the blue sky and out at the blue sea and wished that she had a blue coat instead. She talked about it so much that fnally her mother took her to the parrot who lived next to the tailor bird.

“You may change your coat for a blue one,”said the parrot, “but if you change you’ll have to give up something.”

“Oh, I’ll gladly give up anything if only I may have a blue coat instead of a green and gold one,” said the discontented little beetle.

When she received her new coat she thought it was very beautiful. It was a lovely shade of blue and it had silvery white lights upon it like the light of the stars. When she put it on, however, she discovered that it was not hard like the green and gold one. From that day to this, the blue beetles’ coats have not been hard and frm. That is why the jewelers have diffculty in using them in pins and necklaces like other beetles.

From the moment that the little beetle put on her new blue coat she never grew again. From that day to this, the blue beetles have been much smaller than the green and gold ones.

When the Brazilians made their flag they took for it a square of green, the colour of the green beetle’s coat. Within this square, they placed a diamond of gold like the golden lights which play upon the green beetle’s back. Then, within the diamond, they drew a circle to represent the round earth, and they coloured it blue like the coat of the blue beetle. Upon the blue circle they placed stars of silvery white, like the silvery white lights on the back of the blue beetle. About the blue circle of the earth which they thus pictured, they drew a band of white. And upon this band they wrote the motto of their country, “Ordem e Progresso, order and progress.”

巴西甲殼蟲(chóng)背上的外殼色彩艷麗且堅(jiān)硬，因此常被用來(lái)如寶石一般鑲嵌在別針或者項(xiàng)鏈上。很久以前，也就是許多年前，它們只擁有普通的棕色外殼。以下是巴西甲殼蟲(chóng)如何贏得新外殼的故事。

有一天，一只棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)正沿著墻壁爬行，這時(shí)候，一只巨大的灰色老鼠從墻上的一個(gè)洞里鉆出來(lái)，輕蔑地看著這只小甲殼蟲(chóng)。“噢，哼！”他對(duì)著小甲殼蟲(chóng)說(shuō)道，“你爬得真夠慢的。你這樣永遠(yuǎn)也到不了世界上任何一個(gè)地方。瞧瞧我跑得多快！”

大灰鼠爬到墻的盡頭，調(diào)轉(zhuǎn)方向往回跑，再次遇到小甲殼蟲(chóng)，她還在慢慢爬行，離剛剛遇到大灰鼠的地方只一小段距離。

“難道你不希望跑得像我這么快嗎？”大灰鼠對(duì)棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)說(shuō)道。

“你的確跑得非常快，”棕色小甲蟲(chóng)禮貌地回答道。母親教她任何時(shí)候都要彬彬有禮，也經(jīng)常對(duì)她說(shuō)：真正有禮貌的甲殼蟲(chóng)從不吹噓自己的成就。棕色小甲蟲(chóng)從不夸耀自己所能做的事。她只是默默地在墻上慢慢爬。

墻邊芒果樹(shù)上站著的一只翠綠金黃的鸚鵡聽(tīng)到了他們的對(duì)話(huà)?！澳阆氩幌牒托〖讱はx(chóng)賽跑呢？”他問(wèn)大灰鼠?！拔腋舯谧≈晃徊每p—縫葉鶯，”他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)道，“為了使比賽更加激動(dòng)人心，我將為獲勝的選手提供一件色彩明亮的外套作為獎(jiǎng)品。你們可以選擇自己喜歡的顏色，由我來(lái)為你們定制。”

“我想要帶老虎條紋的黃色外套，”大灰鼠說(shuō)道，掉過(guò)臉瞅著自己不起眼的灰色皮毛，像已在欣賞新外套一樣。

“我也想要一件漂亮、鮮艷的新外套，”棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)這么說(shuō)道。

大灰鼠哈哈大笑了許久，笑得身上不起眼的灰色皮毛都開(kāi)始顫抖了。“哎呀！你說(shuō)得好像自己有機(jī)會(huì)贏得比賽似的，”他這么說(shuō)道，這時(shí)候才笑得緩過(guò)勁兒來(lái)。

金綠色鸚鵡定下以峭壁頂上的皇家棕櫚樹(shù)作為比賽的終點(diǎn)。他發(fā)出比賽開(kāi)始的信號(hào)，然后飛到皇家棕櫚樹(shù)上盯著比賽終點(diǎn)。

大灰鼠盡可能快地跑著。跑了一會(huì)兒，他覺(jué)得有點(diǎn)累了?！斑@么著急干什么？”他喃喃自語(yǔ)?！澳侵蛔厣〖讱はx(chóng)不可能贏我。如果我是和真正會(huì)跑的人比賽，那就大不相同了。”然后他就開(kāi)始慢慢跑，但是每次他內(nèi)心都在呼喊：“趕快！趕快！”大灰鼠覺(jué)得最好還是聽(tīng)從自己內(nèi)心的小聲音，于是他跑得更快了。

當(dāng)他到達(dá)峭壁頂上的皇家棕櫚樹(shù)時(shí)，他根本不敢相信自己的眼睛，他覺(jué)得自己一定是在做噩夢(mèng)。棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)正安靜地坐在金綠色鸚鵡的旁邊。大灰鼠一生中從未感到如此驚訝過(guò)?！澳阍趺纯赡芘艿眠@么快，這么早到達(dá)終點(diǎn)？”他喘了喘氣之后，這樣問(wèn)棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)道。

棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)從身體側(cè)面展開(kāi)自己的小翅膀?！氨荣悰](méi)有規(guī)定一定是要用‘跑’的，”她回答道，“所以我飛過(guò)來(lái)了?！?/p>

“我并不知道你會(huì)飛呀，”大灰鼠低聲弱弱地說(shuō)道。

“這以后你就該知道，”金綠色鸚鵡說(shuō)道，“人不可貌相。你永遠(yuǎn)不知道何時(shí)或是何地，可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)隱藏的翅膀。你輸?shù)舯荣惲??！?/p>

直到今天，巴西的鮮花、昆蟲(chóng)和飛禽走獸都擁有絢麗的色彩，只有老鼠依然穿著沉悶的灰色外套。

接著鸚鵡轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身，棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)正安靜地在他身邊等待著?！澳阆Ｍ愕男峦馓资鞘裁搭伾?？”他問(wèn)道。

棕色小甲殼蟲(chóng)抬頭看看色彩鮮艷的金綠色鸚鵡，又看看他們頭頂上金綠色的棕櫚樹(shù)；她低頭看看芒果樹(shù)下，那散落在地上的青黃相間的芒果；接著眺望了一眼遠(yuǎn)處青山上閃耀的金色陽(yáng)光?！拔覜Q定要一件金綠色的外套，”她回答道。

從那一天起，巴西甲殼蟲(chóng)穿上了帶著金色光點(diǎn)的綠色新衣。

多年以來(lái)，巴西甲殼蟲(chóng)都為能夠像那只和老鼠賽跑的小甲殼蟲(chóng)一樣穿上金綠色的外套而感到十分驕傲。

后來(lái)，卻碰巧有那么一只小甲殼蟲(chóng)，她對(duì)自己金綠色的外套并不滿(mǎn)意。她抬頭看著藍(lán)天，又望望大海，希望自己擁有一件藍(lán)色的外套。她經(jīng)常這么說(shuō)，最后，她媽媽只能帶她去那只住在縫葉鶯隔壁的鸚鵡家。

“你可以換一件藍(lán)色的外套，”鸚鵡說(shuō)道，“但是為此你必須放棄某樣?xùn)|西。”

“噢，我心甘情愿放棄任何東西，只要能把我金綠色的外套換成藍(lán)色的，”這只不滿(mǎn)的小甲殼蟲(chóng)說(shuō)道。

小甲殼蟲(chóng)收到新外套之后覺(jué)得十分漂亮。那是一抹很可愛(ài)的藍(lán)色，還帶著銀白色的光點(diǎn)，就像星星的光芒。但是，她穿上之后，發(fā)現(xiàn)新外套不如原來(lái)金綠色的外套那么堅(jiān)硬。從那一天起，藍(lán)色甲殼蟲(chóng)的外殼就不再堅(jiān)硬牢固了。這就是寶石匠們無(wú)法像使用其他甲殼蟲(chóng)外殼一樣，把藍(lán)色甲殼蟲(chóng)的外殼鑲嵌在別針和項(xiàng)鏈上的原因。

從小甲殼蟲(chóng)披上藍(lán)色外套那一刻起，她也不再長(zhǎng)大了。從此之后，藍(lán)色甲殼蟲(chóng)就比金綠色甲殼蟲(chóng)小得多。

當(dāng)巴西人制作國(guó)旗的時(shí)候，選取了綠色的長(zhǎng)方形，正是綠色甲殼蟲(chóng)外衣的顏色。在長(zhǎng)方形之內(nèi)，他們加上一個(gè)金黃色的菱形，就像綠色甲殼蟲(chóng)背上金色光點(diǎn)的顏色。然后，在菱形之內(nèi)，他們畫(huà)了一個(gè)代表著地球的圓圈，漆成藍(lán)色，就像藍(lán)色甲殼蟲(chóng)外殼的顏色。在藍(lán)色的圓圈之上他們加了銀白色的星星，就如藍(lán)色甲殼蟲(chóng)背上的銀白色光點(diǎn)。在他們所畫(huà)的代表地球的藍(lán)色圓圈之上還有一條白色帶子，上面寫(xiě)著他們國(guó)家的座右銘：“秩序與進(jìn)步?！?/p>