"Mother," he said one day, "I do not like these clothes.
有一天他说道:“妈妈,我不喜欢这些衣服。
The boys call them rags.
男孩们说我穿的是破布。
Why cannot I have a suit such as Oliver wears?"
为什么我不能有一套像奥利弗那样的衣服呢?”
"Roland, my son," said his mother, sadly, "Oliver’s father is governor of the town.
妈妈伤心地说:“罗兰,我的儿子,奥利弗的爸爸是镇长。
Your father is dead, and we are very poor. I cannot always get bread for us to eat."
你爸爸死了,我们很穷。我们不是总能有面包吃。”
The boy was silent for a few minutes.
男孩沉默了几分钟。
He was thinking about what his mother had just told him.
他在想他妈妈刚才对他说的话。
Then he spoke again.
然后他又说道,
"Mother, was your home always in this cave?"
“妈妈,你一直都住在这个洞里吗?”
His mother smiled sadly as she said, "Once I lived in a beautiful palace, Roland.
他的妈妈苦笑着说道:“罗兰,我曾经住在一座美丽的宫殿里。
But that was in a land far away from here."
但那个地方离这里很远。”
"A palace, Mother!" cried the little boy.
“宫殿里呀,妈妈!”小男孩喊道。
"Did you live in a palace? Oliver told me once that only kings and very great men live in palaces.
“你住在宫殿里吗?奥利弗曾经告诉我,只有国王和非常伟大的人物才住在宫殿里。
Was your father a great man in that beautiful land in which you lived?"
你爸爸是你居住的那块美丽土地上的伟人吗?”
"My father was the king of that land, Roland," said his mother, quietly.
“我爸爸是那片土地的国王,罗兰。”妈妈平静地说。