Five Minutes

寧靈

象媽媽好忙好累，很想自己安靜五分鐘。可是，孩子們黏得可緊呢！他們想和媽媽一起吹笛子、念故事、玩玩具、泡澡、看漫畫、吃蛋糕……可憐的大象媽媽，要怎樣才能安靜五分鐘呢？

The children were having breakfast.

This was not a pleasant sight.

Mrs. Large took a tray from the cupboard.

“Where are you going， Mum？” asked Laura.

“To the bathroom，” said Mrs. Large.

“I want five minutespeace.”

“Can we come？” asked Lester.

“No，” said Mrs. Large， “you cant.”

Mrs. Large ran a deep， hot bath.

It was heaven.

“Can I play you my tune？” asked Lester.

He played “Twinkle， Twinkle， Little Star” three and a half times.

In came Laura.

“Can I read you a page from my reading book？” She asked.

“No， Laura，” said Mrs. Large.

“You let Lester play his tune，” said Laura.

“You like him better than me. Its not fair.”

In came the little one with a trunkful of toys.

“For you！”

“Can I have the cake？” asked Lester.

“Can I get in with you？” asked the little one.

Mrs. Large groaned.

In the end they all got in.

Mrs. Large got out.

“Where are you going now， Mum？” asked Laura.

“To the kitchen，” said Mrs. Large.

跟隨著大象媽媽的鏡頭轉換，我們一起來為她計算一下，在孩子們喧鬧地打破她想要的安靜之前，大象媽媽到底能獨自待上幾分鐘呢？

在吉爾·墨菲筆下，生動地描畫出了媽媽辛苦的日常，文字和圖畫的巧妙結合，極大地增加了讀者無限的想象空間，讓孩子們讀出了父母的艱辛、忙累，難怪能引起那么多媽媽們的共鳴。自然，更重要的是，我們都看見了畫面之中一直流淌著象媽媽和孩子們之間濃濃的愛啊！