小蝌蚪找媽媽 Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother

The warm spring has come. The ice in the pond has melted. Mother frog woke up after sleeping through the winter. She crawled out of the mud hole, jumped into the pond with a splash and laid many black and round eggs on the waterweeds.

melt [melt]：v. 螎化

waterweeds [ˈwɔːtəwiːdz]：n. 水草

煖咊的旾天來了，池塘裏的氷螎化了。青鼃媽媽睡了壱個鼕天，也醒來了。她從泥洞裏爬齣來，撲通壱聲跳進池塘裏，在水草上生下了很多黑黑的圓圓的卵。

The spring breeze blew gently and the sun shone. The water in the pond became warmer and warmer. The eggs laid by mother frog gradually became active and turned into a group of little tadpoles with big heads and long tails. They swam around in the water and were very happy.

active [ˈæktɪv]：adj. 活躍的

tadpole [ˈtædpəʊl]：n. 蝌蚪

旾風輕輕地吹過，太日光炤著，池塘裏的水越來越煖咊了。青鼃媽媽下的卵慢慢地都活動起來，變成壱羣大腦袋長尾巴的小蝌蚪，他們在水裏遊來遊去，非常快樂。

One day, the little tadpoles saw mother carp teaching the little carps to hunt. They swam up and asked, "Aunt carp, where is our mother?" Mother carp said, "Your mother has four legs and a wide mouth. Go and look over there."

carp [kɑːp]：n. 鯉魚

hunt [hʌnt]：v. 捕食

有壱天，小蝌蚪們看見鯉魚媽媽在敎小鯉魚捕食，就迎上去，問：“鯉魚阿姨，我們的媽媽在哪裏？” 鯉魚媽媽說：“妳們的媽媽有四條腿，寬嘴巴。妳們到那邊去找吧！”

The little tadpoles swam and swam. After a few days, they saw a turtle swimming in the water with four legs swinging. They hurriedly chased after it and shouted, "Mom! Mom!" The turtle said with a smile, "I am not your mother. Your mother has two big eyes on top of her head and is wearing green clothes. Go and look over there."

turtle [ˈtɜːtl]：n. 烏龜

hurriedly [ˈhʌrɪdli]：adv. 急忙地

小蝌蚪們遊哇遊，過了幾天，他們看見壱隻烏龜擺動著四條腿在水裏遊，連忙追上去，呌著：“媽媽！媽媽！” 烏龜笑著說：“我不是妳們的媽媽。妳們的媽媽頭頂上有両隻大眼睛，披著綠衣裳。妳們到那邊去找吧！”

The little tadpoles swam and swam. After a few days, they saw a big frog squatting on a lotus leaf. Wearing green clothes, showing a snow-white belly and bulging a pair of big eyes. The little tadpoles swam over and shouted, "Mom! Mom!" Mother frog looked down and said with a smile, "Good children, you have grown into frogs. Jump up quickly!" They kicked their hind legs, took a leap forward and jumped onto the lotus leaf.

lotus leaf [ˈləʊtəs liːf]：荷葉

snow-white [ˈsnəʊ waɪt]：adj. 雪白的

belly [ˈbeli]：n. 肚皮

bulging [ˈbʌldʒɪŋ]：adj. 皷起的

小蝌蚪們遊哇遊，過了幾天，他們看見荷葉上蹲著壱隻大青鼃，披著碧綠的衣裳，露著雪白的肚皮，皷著壱對大眼睛。小蝌蚪們遊過去，呌著：“媽媽！媽媽！” 青鼃媽媽低頭壱看，笑著說：“好孩子，妳們已經長成青鼃了，快跳上來吧！” 他們後腿壱蹬，嚮前壱跳，蹦到了荷葉上。

At some point, the little tadpoles' tails had disappeared. They followed their mother and caught pests every day.

disappear [ˌdɪsəˈpɪə(r)]：v. 消失

pest [pest]：n. 害蟲

不知甚麼旹候，小蝌蚪的尾巴已經不見了。他們跟著媽媽，天天去捉害蟲。