DOROTHY LIVED IN the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife.
多萝茜和她的叔叔亨利一家住在堪萨斯大草原中，亨利是个农夫，而艾米是农夫的妻子。 —

Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.
由于建房用的木材需要用马车拉很多英里，所以他们的房子很小。 —

There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room;
房子里有四面墙、一个地板和一个屋顶，这构成了一个房间。 —

and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
这个房间里有一台生锈的炊具，一个橱柜放着碟子，一个桌子，三四把椅子和床。 —

Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.
亨利叔叔和艾米阿姨在一个角落里有一张大床，多萝茜在另一个角落里有一张小床。 —

There was no garret at all, and no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.
根本没有阁楼，也没有地窖，除了一个在地面上挖的小洞，叫做龙卷风地窖，一旦出现能够摧毁任何建筑物的强大旋风，全家人就可以躲进去。 —

It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
它通过地板中间的一个陷阱门可以进入，门口有一把梯子通向这个小小、黑暗的洞穴。 —

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side.
当多萝茜站在门口向四周看时，她只能看到无边无际的灰色大草原。 —

Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.
在四面八方都延伸到天边的平坦土地上，既没有树也没有房子打破了视线。 —

The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it.
阳光将耕地晒成一块灰色的硬块，上面开满了细小的裂缝。 —

Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere.
就连草地也不再绿色，因为阳光将长长的草叶晒成了同样的灰色，到处都是一片灰寂。 —

Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.
这个房子曾经涂过油漆，但是太阳把油漆晒起泡，雨水冲刷了干净，现在这所房子如同其他物件一样黯淡无光、沉闷乏味。

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too.
当Aunt Em来这里生活的时候，她是一个年轻漂亮的妻子。太阳和风也改变了她。 —

They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray;
它们从她眼睛中夺走了光彩，让它们变成了一种沉稳的灰色； —

they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also.
它们从她的脸颊和嘴唇上也带走了红色，让它们也变成了灰色。 —

She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.
她瘦弱憔悴，从不笑。当多萝西， —

When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears;
一个孤儿，第一次来到她的身边时，姨妈埃姆被孩子的笑声吓到了，每当多萝西欢乐的声音传入她的耳朵时，她会尖叫并抚手放在她的心口上。 —

and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.
她仍然惊奇地看着这个小女孩，她能找到任何笑点。

Uncle Henry never laughed.
亨利叔叔从不笑。 —

He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was.
他从早到晚辛勤工作，不知道什么是快乐。 —

He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.
他的胡须从长长的胡须到粗犷的靴子都是灰色的，他看起来严肃庄重，很少说话。

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings.
让多萝西笑的是托托，这使她不至于像周围的环境一样灰暗。 —

Toto was not gray;
托托不是灰色的； —

he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.
他是一只小黑狗，长长的丝质毛发，两只黑眼睛在他有趣的小鼻子两侧闪闪发光。 —

Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.
托托整天都在玩耍，多萝西和他一起玩耍，深深地爱着他。

Today, however, they were not playing.
然而，今天他们没有在玩耍。 —

Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual.
亨利叔叔坐在门前，焦急地看着天空，比平常更阴暗。 —

Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too.
多萝西抱着托托站在门口，也望着天空。 —

Aunt Em was washing the dishes.
艾米姨妈在洗碗。

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm.
从北方传来一阵风的低吟声，亨利叔叔和多萝西能够看到长草在暴风雨来临前弯曲成波浪状。 —

There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.
这时，南方传来一声尖锐的呼啸，当他们转向那个方向时，他们看到草地上也出现了涟漪。 —

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.
突然，亨利叔叔站了起来。

“There’s a cyclone coming, Em,” he called to his wife.
“艾米，台风来了，”他对妻子喊道。 —

“I’ll go look after the stock.” Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.
“我去照看牲口。”然后他向放牛和马的棚子跑去。 —

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door.
艾米姨妈放下手中的工作，来到门口。 —

One glance told her of the danger close at hand.
一眼就看出了附近的危险。

“Quick, Dorothy!” she screamed.
“快，多萝西！”她尖叫道。 —

“Run for the cellar!”
“快去地窖！”

Toto jumped out of Dorothy’s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him.
托托跳出多萝西的怀抱，躲到了床底下，女孩开始追赶它。 —

Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole.
艾姨非常害怕，她打开地板上的活板门，沿着梯子爬下到了一个小而黑暗的洞里。 —

Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
多萝西终于抓住了托托，她开始跟着她的艾姨。 —

When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
当她走到房间中间的时候，窗外传来一声巨大的尖叫声，房子晃动得厉害，她失去了脚跟，突然坐在了地板上。

Then a strange thing happened.
然后发生了一件奇怪的事。 —

The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air.
房子在空中缓缓旋转了两三圈。 —

Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
多萝西感觉自己像是在一个气球上升。

The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone.
北风和南风在房子所在的地方相遇，使得它成为龙卷风的正中心。 —

In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone;
在龙卷风的中心，空气通常是静止的，但是风从房子的四面八方施加的巨大压力将其抬得越来越高，直到达到了龙卷风的顶部。 —

and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
于是它停在那里，并且像轻轻的羽毛一样被风吹走了很多英里。

It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily.
天很黑，风在她周围狂吼，但多萝西发现自己骑得很轻松。 —

After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
在最开始的几次旋转中，还有一次房子严重倾斜时，她感觉自己像婴儿在摇篮里被轻轻摇动。

Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly;
托托不喜欢。它在房间里到处乱跑，呼啸着。 —

but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.
但多萝西静静地坐在地板上，等待着看会发生什么。

Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him.
托托一次走得离陷阱门太近，掉了进去；起初，小女孩以为托托丢了。 —

But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not
但很快她看到他的一只耳朵从洞里伸了出来，因为强大的气压让他浮在空中，所以他无法下落。她爬到洞边，抓住托托的耳朵，把他拉回房间，然后关闭陷阱门，以免再发生意外。

fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.
她真不敢相信自己眼前所见。她所乘坐的是一所巨大而华丽的教堂。

Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;
一小时又一小时过去了，慢慢地多萝茜克服了她的恐惧； —

but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf.
但她感到相当孤独，风声呼啸得太大声了，几乎要让她失聪。 —

At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again;
起初，她想知道当房子再次倒塌时，自己是否会被摔得粉身碎骨； —

but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring.
但随着时间的流逝，没有发生任何可怕的事情，她停止了担心，决定静静等待，看看未来会带来什么。 —

At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it;
最后，她爬到摇晃的地板上，躺在床上； —

and Toto followed and lay down beside her.
托托跟着爬上来，躺在她旁边。

In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
尽管屋子摇摆不定，风声嚎叫，多萝茜很快就闭上了眼睛，进入了沉睡。