“Well, young lady,” my grandmother said with a very serious look on her face as she pulled the bread out of the oven, “Did you know the fox wasn’t always red?”
“Nak,” kata nenek dengan wajah serius sambil mengeluarkan roti dari panggangan, “Tahukah kamu kalau dulu rubah tidak selalu berwarna merah?”
Long lalu rubah itu putih.
I hopped up in a chair and got comfortable as I shook my head no. I knew grandmother was about to tell me another story.
Aku duduk di kursi dan mencari posisi nyaman sambil menggelengkan kepala. Aku tahu nenek akan menceritakan sebuah dongeng lagi.
“Way back in long ago times, the fox was white. In fact there are still a few white ones,” Grandmother said as she seated herself beside me.
“Pada jaman dahulu, rubah warnanya putih. Bahkan sampai sekarang masih ada yang berwarna putih,” kata Nenek ketika beliau duduk di sampingku.
“But,” she said, “way back then, they were all white.”
“Tetapi,” katanya, “konon dulu semua warnanya putih.”
“Then one day, a little boy fox went out to play. His mother told him to be sure to keep his pretty white fur nice and clean.”
“Kemudian suatu hari seekor rubah jantan kecil pergi bermain. Ibunya mengingatkan agar menjaga kulitnya tetap putih dan bersih.”
“Now she knew,” Grandmother said, “that he wouldn’t because we all know little boys are full of mischief.”
“Ibunya tahu,” kata Nenek, “dia tidak akan mematuhinya karena kita semua tahu kalau bocah laki-laki itu penuh dengan kelicikan.”
“So, off the little fox went, across the meadow.
“Maka pergilah si rubah kecil, melintasi padang rumput.
He decided he was going to see how many things he could go over, under and through.
Dia memutuskan kalau dia akan melihat berapa banyak tempat dia bisa lewat di atasnya, di bawahnya, dan menerobosnya.
Kupu-kupu kuning Debu
Well, the first thing he saw was a fence. “It looked very tempting,” grandmother told me, “because the space between the wooden rails was pretty small.”
Nah, yang pertama kali dia lihat adalah sebuah pagar. Pagar itu kelihatan sangat menggoda," kata Nenek, "karena jarak antar papan kayu pagar itu sangat kecil."
Grandmother giggled as she showed me how the little fox stretched out his neck to take off on the run.
Nenek terkekeh ketika beliau memperlihatkan bagaimana si rubah kecil menjulurkan lehernya untuk mengambil ancang-ancang dan berlari.
“He had his tail straight out and just as he got to the fence, he tucked his little feet up close to his body and flew through the fence.”
“Dia luruskan ekornya dan ketika sampai di pagar, dilipat kaki kecilnya ke tubuhnya dan melayang menembus pagar.”
v
“He was pretty proud of himself,” grandmother said, “because he didn’t even bump his head.”
“Dia bangga sekali dengan dirinya,” kata Nenek, “karena kepalanya pun tidak terbentur.”
“He was so excited that he jumped and ran and spun around in the grass and the flowers.”
“Dia gembira sekali sampai-sampai dia meloncat, berlarian dan berputar-putar di sela rerumputan dan bunga-bunga.”
“All of a sudden, he felt something bump his nose. He looked up just in time to see a butterfly flitting off.”
“Tiba-tiba ada sesuatu yang mengenai hidungnya. Dilihatnya ada seekor kupu-kupu yang hinggap.”
“Pretty soon, his nose started to tickle, and … A-CHOO, he sneezed.”
“Segera saja hidungnya terasa geli, dan…. HAT-CHI, dia bersin.”
“Well now, when he sneezed,” grandmother said, “a spray of yellow butterfly dust flew all around his head.”
“Nah, ketika dia bersih,” kata Nenek, “semburan debu kupu-kupu kuning berterbangan di sekitar kepalanya.”
Puedes Escuchar Inglés con El Zorro, aca.
Puedes Estudiar Las Palabras para Comprender Como El Zorro Obtuvo su Color, aca.
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