Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar — except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

多萝西和亨利叔叔、爱姆婶婶一起住在堪萨斯州大草原的中部。亨利叔叔是个农夫，爱姆婶婶是他的妻子。他们的房子很小，因为建屋子用的木材要用货车从好几里路之外运回来。四面墙壁、一块地板、一个屋顶搭起了这座小屋。屋子里有一个看起来已经生锈的炉灶、一个用来放碗碟的橱柜、一张桌子、三四把椅子，还有两张床。一个角落里放着亨利叔叔和爱姆婶婶睡的大床，另一个角落里放着多萝西睡的小床。屋子没有阁楼，也没有地下室，只有一个小地洞，叫做“旋风地洞”。假如有旋风袭来，全家人都可以躲进里面去。要知道，这些旋风威力大得能掀翻它路过的任何一间屋子。在地板的中央有扇活板门，那里有架梯子，顺着梯子下去就是那个又小又黑的地洞。

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

当多萝西站在门口四处张望，除了周围灰色的大草原，她什么也看不见。在那片辽阔平坦的原野上，没有一棵树，也没有一间屋子。四周的原野一直延伸到天边。在太阳的炙烤下，这片人们曾经用来耕种的田地，变成了一片灰色的荒漠，布满着细小的裂缝。甚至小草都不绿，叶片的顶端日复一日被太阳炙烤着，最后和周围的东西一样，也变成了灰色。屋子原是油漆过的，但后来太阳把油漆晒起了泡；雨一下，就把油漆都冲走了。如今这屋子也像草原上其他东西一样，灰灰的，暗淡无光。

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

爱姆婶婶刚搬来这里住的时候，还是一个年轻美丽的妻子。可烈日和狂风改变了她的模样。她眼中的光芒被夺走了，只留下一种沉重的灰色；她脸颊和嘴唇的红润也被夺走了，也只剩下了灰色。爱姆婶婶现在消瘦而憔悴，也不爱笑了。多萝西是个孤儿，当她刚刚来到爱姆婶婶身边时，婶婶被这小女孩的笑声吓了一跳。每回多萝西快活的声音传到婶婶耳边时，婶婶总要尖叫一声，用手按住自己的胸脯定定神。婶婶惊讶地看着这个小女孩，奇怪她怎么看到什么都觉得好笑。

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

亨利叔叔从来不笑。他就知道从早到晚努力地工作，不知道快乐是什么。亨利叔叔也是灰色的。从他长长的胡子到他粗糙的靴子，全是灰色的。他沉默寡言，看起来严肃而冷峻。

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

能带给多萝西欢笑的是托托，是它让多萝西不至于像周围的一切一样，变为一成不变的灰色。托托不是灰色的；它是一只小黑狗，有着长长的柔滑的毛发，一双小小的黑眼睛——它们总是在它那有趣的小鼻子两边快乐地一眨一眨。托托成天玩耍。多萝西总和它一块儿玩，她非常喜欢它。

Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

可是，今天，她们并没有在玩耍。亨利叔叔坐在门前的台阶上，焦虑地望着比平时更加灰蒙蒙的天空。多萝西抱着托托站在门口，也望着天空。爱姆婶婶正在洗碗。

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

亨利叔叔和多萝西听到低沉的北风从远方呼啸而来，看到长草在风暴袭来前如同波浪一般起伏。这时，南面也传来了一阵凛冽的呼啸声。他们转头一看，只见那边的草丛也起了涟漪。

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

亨利叔叔突然站了起来。

"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.

“爱姆，旋风来了！”他朝他的妻子喊道，“我去看着牲口。”说完他向圈养着牛马的棚子跑去。

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.

爱姆婶婶放下手头的活，跑到门口来。她只看了一眼，就知道危险马上就要来了。

"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"

“多萝西，快！”她尖叫道，“到地洞里去！”

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.

这时，托托从多萝西的臂弯里跳出来，躲到了床底下，小女孩便跑过去捉它。爱姆婶婶惊恐万分，打开地板门，顺着梯子爬下去，躲到了那个又小又黑的地洞里。多萝西终于捉到了托托，便也跟着婶婶向地洞跑去。她刚跑了一半到屋子中央，一阵狂风咆哮而来，屋子猛烈震动。多萝西一失足，突然摔坐在地板上。

A strange thing then happened.

紧接着，一件奇怪的事发生了。

The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

屋子转了两三圈，之后慢慢升到了空中。多萝西觉得自己好像坐在一个气球里，缓缓地向上飘着。

The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.

北方的风和南方的风相会于屋子里，屋子变成了旋风的中心。旋风中央的气流基本上是静止的，但是旋风带来的巨大压力把屋子越抬越高，直把它抬到旋风的最高处；屋子就在旋风的最高层被带着它走了好几里，像一根羽毛一样轻松地飘移。

It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

天空非常黑暗，狂风围绕着多萝西可怕地怒吼着，但她觉得自己挺舒服，挺自在。就这么晃了几圈之后，屋子又倾斜着剧烈地转了一圈，多萝西觉得自己就像躺在摇篮里的婴儿，被轻轻摇荡着。

Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.

但托托可不喜欢这样的摇荡。它满屋子跑，一会儿跑到这儿，一会儿跑到那儿，大声咆叫；然而，多萝西却静静地坐在地板上，等着看会发生什么。

Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.

有那么一阵儿，托托离那扇敞开的地板门太近了，不小心掉了下去；小女孩开始还以为她失去托托了。但是没过多久，她就看见托托一只竖着的耳朵从洞口冒了出来。原来，强大的空气压力托住了它，使得它掉不下去。多萝西爬到洞口，捉住托托的耳朵，把它拽回屋子里来，然后关上了地板门，以免再发生意外。

Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her. In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

时间就这么流逝着，多萝西渐渐不觉得害怕了；可是她感到很孤独，而且风声如此之大，她都快成聋子了。一开始她还在想如果屋子掉回地面的话，自己会不会摔得粉碎；可是好几个小时过去了，并没发生什么可怕的事情。多萝西也就不再担心，下定决心静静等待，看看接下来会发生什么。最后她从摇晃着的地板上爬到了自己的床上，躺了下来；托托也跟着躺在她身边。尽管屋子摇来摇去，狂风持续哀号，多萝西还是闭上了眼睛，很快就沉沉睡去了。 68Rk4+TG/R7nNIpX+EEais5LYuzD0JnaJj+hMZwTre2UKiaORJ0vRtAkDLYDtQP6