But I had never drawn a sheep. So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow greet it with:

“No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is very cumbersome. Where I live, everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep.”

So then I made a drawing.

〖精读笔记〗

◆one of ...之一

◆I had drawn so often定语从句修饰先行词the two pictures

◆astounded [ə'staundid] adj.受惊骇的；被震惊的

◆hear sb. do sth.听见某人做某事

◆fellow /'feləʊ/ n.小伙子, 家伙

◆greet /griːt/ vt.对…作出反应；回应

◆a boa constrictor一条蟒蛇

◆creature /'kriːtʃə/ n.动物，生物

◆cumbersome /'kʌmbəs(ə)m/ adj.沉重的, 笨重的

◆What I need主语从句

〖译文〗

因为我从来没有画过绵羊，就在我会画的两幅画中选了一张，就是那张囫囵吞象的蟒蛇图，给他重画了出来：可是小家伙的答话却使我十分吃惊：

“不！不！我不要蟒蛇，它肚子里还有一头大象。蟒蛇这东西太危险，大象也太占地方。我那个地方很小，我需要一只绵羊。给我画一只吧。”

于是我就给他画了一只。