帽子还是蟒蛇

字幕原文

When I was a little boy, I saw a picture in a book. 当我还是个小男孩的时候，我在一本书里看到了一幅画。

It showed a giant snake eating a wild animal. 它画的是一条巨蟒正在吞食一只野兽。

The book said these snakes swallow their food whole, and then they sleep for six months. 书上说，这些蛇把食物整个吞下去，然后可以睡上六个月。

I thought about this for a long time. 我想了很久。

Then I made my first drawing. 然后我画了我的第一幅画。

I drew a snake with a big lump in its middle. 我画了一条蛇，它的肚子里有一个大大的隆起。

Inside the snake was a whole elephant. 蛇的肚子里是一整头大象。

I showed my drawing to the grown-ups. 我把我的画给大人们看。

Are you afraid? 你们害怕吗？

I asked, 我问，

but they only smiled. 但他们只是笑了笑。

afraid of a hat," 害怕一顶帽子？

they said. 他们说。

Why would anyone be afraid of a hat? 谁会害怕一顶帽子呢？

My drawing was not a hat, 我的画不是一顶帽子，

so I drew again. 所以我又画了一次。

This time I showed the elephant inside the snake, clear and simple. 这次我把蛇肚子里的那头大象画得清清楚楚。

Now surely they would understand. 现在他们肯定会明白了。

But the grown-ups told me to stop drawing. 但是大人们却叫我不要再画了。

Study something useful, they said. 他们说，去学点有用的东西吧。

Learn numbers and geography. 学数学和地理。

So I gave up. 于是我放弃了。

At the age of six, I gave up being a painter. 在六岁的时候，我放弃了当画家。

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and children get tired of explaining and explaining. 大人们从来不会自己理解任何事情，而孩子们又厌倦了一遍又一遍地解释。

So I grew up, and I learned to fly planes instead. 于是我长大了，转而学习开飞机。