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"Didn't you ever see the little black tadpoles wiggling about in the pool?" asked her aunt,
你没有见过黑色的小蝌蚪在池塘里摇摆的样子吗？贝蒂的姨妈问道。
"Before Brother Green-Coat puts on his green coat and white trousers, he is a big tadpole, with arms and legs and long tail.
在绿衣兄弟穿上绿外衣和白裤子之前，它还是个大蝌蚪，长着胳膊、腿和长长的尾巴。
And before that, he is a tiny tadpole, all head and tail and very black."
而在那之前，它只是个小蝌蚪，只有头和尾巴而且是黑黑的。
"Has Brother Green-Coat really a home under the ground?" asked the little girl.
绿衣兄弟在地下真的有个家吗？小姑娘问道。
"Yes," said Aunt Molly. "When winter comes, he lives in a warm home deep in the mud at the bottom of the pool.
是的，莫莉姨妈说。冬天来的时候，它住在泥塘底部泥沼的深处，那里有它温暖的家。
But even down there in the dark he knows when spring is here.
但即便是住在最低下的黑暗处，它还是知道春天什么时候到来。
Then he leaves his winter home, to come up into the bright sunlight."
那时它便会离开冬天的家，浮上水面，沐浴在明媚的阳光之中。
"How clean Brother Green-Coat is!" said Betty.
绿衣兄弟真干净啊！贝蒂说。
"He doesn't look as if he had been living in the mud."
它看起来不像是住在泥里面的。
"I haven't told you all about him yet, "said Aunt Molly." Come with me to the old log.
关于它的故事我还没跟你说完呢，莫莉姨妈说，跟我到那块旧木头那里
I think we may find something there that looks as Brother Green-Coat did the very first time I saw him."
我想在那我们能找到一些东西，它们看起来就像是我第一次看到的绿衣兄弟一样。
Yes! There, on top of the water, was something that looked like clear, white jelly, full of little black dots.
没错！水上面飘着的看上去像是透明的白色果冻一样的东西，里面充满了小黑点。
"The black dots are frogs' eggs," said Aunt Molly.
这些小黑点就是青蛙卵，莫莉姨妈说。
"The little tadpoles are hatched from them."
小蝌蚪就是从它们中孵化出来的。
"So big Brother Green-Coat was once only a tiny black dot!" laughed Betty.
所以绿衣兄弟曾经只是小黑点！贝蒂笑着说。
"There! he has jumped into the pool. No wonder his green coat is so bright, and his white trousers are so clean.
快看啊，它跳进了水里，难怪它的绿衣那么鲜亮，白裤子那么干净。
They get washed whenever he goes for a swim."
它什么时候跳进去游泳什么时候就顺便把衣服洗了。
"Good-by, Brother Green-Coat!" she called, as she and her aunt turned to go home.
再见，绿衣兄弟！贝蒂和姨妈转身回家时说。
"I will come back every day to see you, for you are more wonderful than anything I have read about in my fairy-story book."
我每天都会回来看你，因为你比我在童话故事书里读到的任何东西都要有趣。
