Five Minutes

宁灵

象妈妈好忙好累，很想自己安静五分钟。可是，孩子们黏得可紧呢！他们想和妈妈一起吹笛子、念故事、玩玩具、泡澡、看漫画、吃蛋糕……可怜的大象妈妈，要怎样才能安静五分钟呢？

The children were having breakfast.

This was not a pleasant sight.

Mrs. Large took a tray from the cupboard.

“Where are you going， Mum？” asked Laura.

“To the bathroom，” said Mrs. Large.

“I want five minutespeace.”

“Can we come？” asked Lester.

“No，” said Mrs. Large， “you cant.”

Mrs. Large ran a deep， hot bath.

It was heaven.

“Can I play you my tune？” asked Lester.

He played “Twinkle， Twinkle， Little Star” three and a half times.

In came Laura.

“Can I read you a page from my reading book？” She asked.

“No， Laura，” said Mrs. Large.

“You let Lester play his tune，” said Laura.

“You like him better than me. Its not fair.”

In came the little one with a trunkful of toys.

“For you！”

“Can I have the cake？” asked Lester.

“Can I get in with you？” asked the little one.

Mrs. Large groaned.

In the end they all got in.

Mrs. Large got out.

“Where are you going now， Mum？” asked Laura.

“To the kitchen，” said Mrs. Large.

跟隨着大象妈妈的镜头转换，我们一起来为她计算一下，在孩子们喧闹地打破她想要的安静之前，大象妈妈到底能独自待上几分钟呢？

在吉尔·墨菲笔下，生动地描画出了妈妈辛苦的日常，文字和图画的巧妙结合，极大地增加了读者无限的想象空间，让孩子们读出了父母的艰辛、忙累，难怪能引起那么多妈妈们的共鸣。自然，更重要的是，我们都看见了画面之中一直流淌着象妈妈和孩子们之间浓浓的爱啊！