《There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly 》吞下苍蝇的老奶奶是英国 美国等国家要求读的经典儿童读物，里面的故事非常的无厘头，讲的是一位老奶奶一个不小心，吞下了一只苍蝇。蜘蛛、小鸟、小狗和奶牛都很担心，怕老奶奶会消失在世界上。因此，这些小动物们就一个个进到老奶奶的肚子里去想把这只苍蝇抓出来。这只苍蝇还是没出来，反倒是老奶奶的肚子越来越大，身体越来越臃肿！最后，小马horse决定去把苍蝇和其他动物都抓出来，可是，苍蝇还是没出来，老奶奶死了，动物们很沮丧——他们真的很想帮老奶奶的啊！一起来听听这个故事吧！

 

Simms Taback

西姆斯•塔贝克

美国知名的插画家，喜欢运用多元化素材和镂空挖洞等创作手法，使画面变得热闹非凡。作品曾荣获上百个美术方面的奖项，并以《There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly 》和《Joseph Had a Little Overcoat》两度获得美国凯迪克奖。 他常常将自己生活的趣闻融入作品，构思巧妙。

 

 

吞下苍蝇的老奶奶

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

这是一个内容具循环性、可预测的荒谬故事，“动物”是这本书的主角，他们随着重复不断的句型，被一一介绍出来。黑色的背景图，与主角们的鲜艳色彩，恰成强烈的对比；加上不同色块上有着动物们因同伴被吞食了的哀叹、忧伤词语，数种交错的不同元素在此完美地聚合，成功地把整个故事的怪诞、惊奇气氛烘托出来。

有个老婆婆吞了一只苍蝇，然后她吞下蜘蛛去逮苍蝇、吞下鸟儿去捉蜘蛛、吞下猫去抓鸟儿、吞下狗去咬猫、吞下奶牛去追狗，最后吞下一匹马——她撑死了！这是一首人们耳熟能详的民谣，可是谁也不知老婆婆肚子里的情况是怎样的，西姆斯塔贝克用不断变大的洞洞，展现了生动跳跃的视觉效果，新鲜有趣！他还用撕纸拼贴的方式，把日常生活中的小物件融入故事中，又添了一份独到的艺术巧思！

 

故事结构循环往复，语言富于韵律节奏，让孩子读起来朗朗上口；情节简单又夸张，充满了来自民间的诙谐和糅合了传统与现代的无厘头式幽默！

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly(吞下苍蝇的老奶奶)还是一本需要用心读图的绘本。图片中隐藏着许多语言没有表达出来的细节，而且还隐藏着故事走向的线索，比如，下一个该谁去抓那只苍蝇了之类的。它的动画配音非常棒，动感十足，很幽默，一听就想笑的那种。下面让我们来看看视频吧！

 

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. 

有个吞下苍蝇的老奶奶。

I don't know why she swallowed the fly. 

我不知道为什么她会把苍蝇吞下。

Perhaps she'll die. 

她可能会死。 

Tweet. But it's only a fly. Moo. I think I'll cry. Meow. She gulped it out of the sky. Woof. Oh, My! 

啾。不过那只是一只苍蝇。哞。我想我会哭。喵。她毫无预料的吞下了苍蝇。汪。噢，天啊！

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider. 

有个吞下蜘蛛的老奶奶。 

That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her. 

那扭动着的、迅速移动的、使人发痒的东西在她身体里面。

 

 

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die. 

她吞下蜘蛛去抓苍蝇。我不知道为什么她会把苍蝇吞下。她可能会死。

Woof. Gone to the by and by. Meow. Sigh. 

汪。马上就要离开了。喵，叹气。

Tweet, tweet. 

叽叽。

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird. 

有个吞下一只鸟的老奶奶。

How absurd! She swallowed a bird. 

多荒唐啊！她吞下了一只鸟。

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die.

 她吞下了鸟去抓蜘蛛。她吞下了蜘蛛去抓苍蝇。我不知道为什么她会把苍蝇吞下。她可能会死。

 

 

Moo. She'll leave us high. Woof. And dry. 

哞。她会离开我们。汪。我们会孤立无助。

Meow. 

喵。

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.

有个吞下一只猫的老奶奶。

Imagine that! She swallowed a cat. 

难以想象！她吞下了一只猫。

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die.

她吞下了猫去抓鸟。她吞下了鸟去抓蜘蛛。她吞下了蜘蛛去抓苍蝇。我不知道为什么她会把苍蝇吞下。她可能会死。

Woof. I hope it's a lie. 

汪。我希望这是个谎言。

Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.

汪、汪、汪、汪。

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog. 

有个吞下一只狗的老奶奶。

 

 

She went whole hog to swallow the dog. 

她彻底地吞下了狗。

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die. 

她吞下了狗去抓猫。她吞下了猫去抓鸟。她吞下了鸟去抓蜘蛛。她吞下了蜘蛛去抓苍蝇。我不知道为什么她会把苍蝇吞下。她可能会死。

Moo. There's a tear in my eye. 

哞。我的眼里面有泪水。

Moo. 

哞。

 

 

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow. 

老奶奶在此长眠。

Here lies an old lady. 

老奶奶在此长眠。

I don't know how she swallowed the cow. 

我不知道她是怎么把牛吞下去的。

She swallowed the cow to catch the dog. She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die. 

她吞下了牛去抓狗。她吞下了狗去抓猫。她吞下了猫去抓鸟。她吞下了鸟去抓蜘蛛。她吞下了蜘蛛去抓苍蝇。我不知道为什么她会把苍蝇吞下。她可能会死。

I'd rather have ham on rye. Meow. And she had a frog on the sly. Neigh. And she did it on one try.

我宁愿吃黑麦火腿面包。喵。她还偷偷地吞了一只青蛙。嘶。而且她一次就吞下了。

 

 

Neigh. 

嘶。

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. 

有个吞下一匹马的老奶奶。

She died, of course!

当然，她死了。 

I am filled with remorse. It was the last course. It is such a loss. She had no time to floss. She missed out on the sauce. What's left to say... We'll miss her dearly. Even the artist is crying... 

我深感内疚。这是最后一道菜。多大的损失。她没有时间去用牙线。她错过了加酱的机会。还有什么没说的......我们都会非常想念她。甚至画家也在流泪......

Moral: Never swallow a horse. 

寓意：永远不要把一匹马吞下。 

 

 

Here lies an old lady. 

老奶奶在此长眠。