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"What is that?" asked Dorothy.
多萝茜问：“轻气球？”
"A man who goes up in a balloon on circus day, so as to draw a crowd of people together and get them to pay to see the circus," he explained.
“在马戏团，一个人坐在升起来的轻气球里面，吸引一大群的观众，赶来看马戏，从而让观众购买门票。”他解释着。
"Oh," she said, "I know."
她说：“唔，原来是这样。”
"Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so that I couldn't come down again.
“啊，有一天，我坐在升起了的轻气球里面，那绳子被弄断了，因此，我便降落不了。”
It went way up above the clouds, so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away.
“轻气球飘荡在云上面，上空有一种气流，向那老远的地方推着它，把它带走很长一段路。
For a day and a night I traveled through the air,
我在高空中游荡了一天一夜，
and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country.
在第二天早晨，我醒来时发觉轻气球飞在异常美丽的国土上空。
"It came down gradually, and I was not hurt a bit.
“它慢慢地降落下来，我也没有受伤。
But I found myself in the midst of a strange people, who, seeing me come from the clouds, thought I was a great Wizard.
但是我发现自己落在奇异的人群中间，他们看见我从云端里下来，便认定我是一个伟大的魔术师。
Of course I let them think so, because they were afraid of me,
当然，我也没有纠正他们，因此他们都敬畏我，
and promised to do anything I wished them to.
而且完全听从我的命令。
"Just to amuse myself, and keep the good people busy, I ordered them to build this City, and my Palace;
“为了让我自己快乐，并且为了使这些善良的人民忙碌起来，我命令他们建造这座城，以及我的宫殿，
and they did it all willingly and well.
他们全都愿意而且尽力做得完美。
Then I thought, as the country was so green and beautiful, I would call it the Emerald City;
于是我想，因为这个国土覆盖着绿色，而且这样的美丽，我就叫它做翡翠城，
and to make the name fit better I put green spectacles on all the people, so that everything they saw was green."
为了使它更加名副其实，我命令所有的人戴上了绿眼镜，这样每一种东西，看起来必然都是绿的。
