Incredible Storybook -- Little Bo Peep－拾繪英文繪本讀書會

Incredible Storybook (page.20)

Little Bo Peep Rhyme

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep, 牧羊女小波碧丟失了她的羊
And doesn't know where to find them. 而且不知道要去哪裡找尋
Leave them alone and they'll come home, 放牠們自己去吧, 牠們將會自己回家的
Wagging their tails behind them. 搖著牠們的尾巴

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep, 小波碧很快的睡著了
And dreamt she heard them bleating; 在夢中聽見羊群咩咩的叫
But when she awoke, she found it a joke, 但是當她醒來, 她發現這是一個笑話
For they were still a-fleeting. 牠們只是瞬間的

Then up she took her little crook, 然後拿起她牧羊用的曲柄丈
Determined for to find them; 決定去找尋牠們
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed, 她確實找到牠們了, 但是卻讓她感到悲傷
For they'd left all their tails behind them. 因為羊群們的尾巴都不見了

The Little Bo Peep story

The Little Bo Peep rhyme builds the picture of a young shepherdess and the advice given to her by someone more experienced! It is interesting that the name of Little Bo Peep was derived from the derivative of the words bleat and sheep! There is no specific relevance to events in history for the origins of the Little Bo Peep rhyme. The morale of the words in the song are that one must take responsibility of falling asleep or face the consequences... The words of Little Bo Peep are quite interesting as they contain words that are an almost forgotten part of the English language. Words such as espied, hillocks and lambkin can all be found in the story of Little Bo Peep

這首Little Bo Peep 韻詩是某個經驗老練的牧羊人給年輕牧羊女的忠告。很有趣的是Little Bo Peep是從bleat and sheep這個字衍生而來的。這首韻詩並沒有什麼特殊的歷史來源與關連的事件。從字面上來看這首韻詩主要是說牧羊人必須為睡著而引起的後果負起責任。這首韻詩有趣的是他包含了一些幾乎被遺忘的英文, 例如espid, hillocks, lambkin 都可以在這首韻詩裡找到。

附註：老師上課提到, 本韻詩其實是反諷美國海關的貪腐狡猾，把贓物像羊群的尾巴一樣藏起來了。

以上Little Bo Peep Rhyme & Story 原文轉載自（Grace翻譯, 有誤請不吝指正, 謝謝！）

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/little_bo_peep.htm