面包房的猫

面包房的猫

琼斯太太开了一家面包房，她做的面包非常好吃，小镇上的人都喜欢吃她做的面包。

琼斯太太有一只猫，这只猫叫莫格。莫格是一只很好的猫，它帮琼斯太太把老鼠赶出面包房去。

有一天，莫格到外面玩的时候，遇上了大雨，雨水把它的全身都淋湿了。“阿嚏！阿嚏！”它一连打了九个喷嚏。

“哎呀！莫格着凉了！”琼斯太太说。她用干毛巾把莫格的毛擦干，还喂它喝了一点儿掺着酵母的牛奶。然后，她就拿着伞上街买东西去了。

莫格躺在温暖的火炉旁打瞌睡。可是，酵母把它发起来了，它就像面包一样，越来越大。

起初，它胀得像一只绵羊。

The Baker's Cat

Mrs. Jones opened a bakery. The bread she made was very tasty. Everyone in the village loved to eat her bread.

Mrs. Jones had a cat. This cat was called Mogg. Mogg was a very good cat. He would help Mrs. Jones to chase the mice out of the bakery.

One day, when Mogg was playing outside, he was caught in the rain, and was drenched to the skin. "Atchoo! At-choo!" He sneezed nine times in a row.

"Ah! Mogg has caught a cold!" said Mrs. Jones. She used a dry towel to rub Mogg dry, and fed him a little milk with some yeast added. She then set off with an umbrella to do some shopping.

Mogg lay next to the warm stove, dozing off. However, the yeast started to make him expand. Just like bread, he became bigger and bigger.

At the beginning, he grew to the size of a sheep.

慢慢地，它胀得像一头驴子。

后来，它胀得像一匹马。

再后来，它胀得像一头大象。

现在，连面包房都膨胀起来了。琼斯太太回来，看到她的房子歪七扭八的，窗户里伸出了粗大的猫胡子，大门里伸出了猫的尾巴，她的眼镜都掉下来了。

“喵！”莫格睡醒了，伸了一个懒腰。这样一来，整座面包房都塌了。

大家担心莫格会没完没了地长下去，就把它赶到山谷里去了。

莫格饿了，它跑到河里去捉好吃的鱼。这时，洪水沿着小河咆哮着冲下来，它就坐在河里，把河水堵住了。

小镇的人发现了，就找到琼斯太太，说：“你能不能叫莫格先待在那儿别动，让我们修一条水坝？”

“好吧。”琼斯太太说，“在它的下巴底下挠痒，它就会老老实实地坐着。”

Slowly, he became the size of a donkey.

Then, he grew to the size of a horse.

Finally, he expanded to the size of an elephant.

Now, even the bakery started to expand. Mrs. Jones came back and saw her house twisting this way and that. The cat's thick whiskers extended out of the window, and his tail stretched out from the door. At this, Mrs. Jones's glasses fell off.

"Miao!" Mogg woke up, and stretched his limbs. At this, the whole bakery collapsed.

Everyone was afraid that Mogg would continue to grow for ever, so they drove him out to the mountain valley.

Mogg was hungry. He ran to the river to catch some fish to eat. At this point, a flood of water rushed down the small stream with a roar. He sat in the river and blocked the flow of water.

On discovering this, the villagers found Mrs. Jones and said, "Could you tell Mogg to stay there without moving while we fix a dam?"

"Very well," said Mrs Jones, "If you tickle him under the chin, then he will sit there quietly."

于是，大家轮流用干草耙在莫格的下巴底下挠痒，挠了三天三夜。莫格高兴地呜呜叫着，叫着。它的叫声掀起一个又一个巨浪，从河面上滚滚而过。

大家还给它送来许许多多好吃的东西，可是莫格一点儿都不饿，因为它吃了好多的鱼。

水坝修好了，镇子里的人送给莫格一个奖章，上面刻着：“莫格救了我们的小镇！”镇长还说：“莫格是一个温和的好猫，它可以住在镇子里。”

莫格留在了镇子里。当它出去捉鱼的时候，警察会让所有的车都停下来，给莫格让路。

莫格还是和琼斯太太住在一起。当然，琼斯太太再也不给它吃酵母了，它已经够大了！

And so, everyone took turns using a rake to tickle Mogg under the chin. After tickling him for three days and three nights, Mogg was purring happily. His purrs gave way to one huge wave after another, which swept across the river's surface.

Everyone brought a lot of things for him to eat, but Mogg was not the slightest bit hungry, because he had eaten plenty of fish.

The dam was finished, and the villagers awarded Mogg with a medal, inscribed with the words, "Mogg saved our village!" The village mayor said, "Mogg is a mild-tempered, good cat. He can live in the village."

Mogg stayed in the village. When he went out to catch fish, the policeman would stop all the cars to make way for Mogg.

Mogg continued to live with Mrs. Jones. Of course, Mrs. Jones never gave him yeast to eat again. He was already big enough!

caught a cold 得了感冒（catch a cold的过去分词）

dozing off 打瞌睡（doze off的现在分词）