The Greedy Python
Eric Carle/ Richard Buckley
Half hidden in the jungle green
若隱若現藏在綠色的叢林中
The biggest snake there’s ever been
有史以來最大的蛇
Wound back and forth and in between
彎彎曲曲來回纏繞
The giant snake was very strong
這巨蛇非常強壯
And very, very, very long
而且非常非常非常的長
He had a monstrous appetite
他食慾驚人
His stomach stretched from left to right
他的胃從左向右延展開來
He quickly gobbled in one bite, whatever creatures came in sight:
無論什麼生物出現在視線裡,他都迅速一口吞下
A mouse that scampered to and fro,
一隻來回躥躂的老鼠
A frog that jumped up from below
一隻往上蹦的青蛙
A bat that hung from his left toe
一隻掛在自己左腳趾上的蝙蝠
A fish that swam a bit too slow
一條遊得有點兒太慢了的魚
A bird that flew a bit too low,
一隻飛得有點兒太低的鳥
A porcupine still half a sleep,
一隻半夢半醒的豪豬
A monkey who was in mid-leap
一隻跳到半空的猴子
A leopard sitting in a tree
一隻坐在樹上的豹子
A buffalo who came to see
一頭來看看的水牛
An elephant, complete with trunk,
一頭大象，連帶著樹幹一起
Was swallowed in a single chunk.
都被一口吞下。
「I’m far too big to eat!」 he cried.
「我太大了，不能吃」 他哭喊著
「Oh, no you’re not!」 the snake replied. 「哦，不，你不大！」
蛇回答到
At last the python’s meal was done
最後巨蟒終於進食結束。
And he lay resting in the sun.
他躺在在太陽底下休息。
The animals inside his skin
他蛇皮裡面的動物們
Were making quite a dreadful din;
一直發出令人恐懼的喧鬧聲
And when they all began to kick,
而當他們開始踢腿
The snake began to feel quite sick.
巨蛇開始覺得很噁心
He coughed the whole lot up again ———
他把所有的動物再次咳了出來——
Each one of them ——— and there were ten.
他們中的每一個 ——共有十個
He soon felt better, and what’s more
他很快覺得好多了，而且
Was hungrier than just before.
比之前更餓了
He hadn’t learned a single thing:
他並沒有吸取任何教訓
His greed was quite astonishing
他的貪婪令人震驚
He saw his own tail, long and curved,
他看見了他自己的尾巴，長長的，彎彎曲曲的
And thought that lunch was being served.
然後他想午餐已經準備好了。
He closed his jaws on his own rear
他對著自己的尾部張開了嘴
Then swallowed hard... and disappeared!
然後用力吞咽...... 然後消失
這本繪本屬於Eric Carle圖書館系列八本繪本之一。這套書每一本都非常有教育意義。像這一本是關於「貪婪」這個主題的。這個故事恰恰和中文中「人心不足蛇吞象」這句話相似。爸爸媽媽們在和小朋友們一起讀這本繪本的時候，不但可以學習英語，還可以一起討論「貪婪」這個話題。
在學習這本繪本時，我們可以準備一些道具，可以準備一條布蛇和一些其他動物道具，讓小朋友自己往蛇肚子裡賽小動物，用更直觀的方式展示貪婪的後果。也可以和小朋友們一起排練一些繪本劇，通過皮影戲或者人偶來演繹。
與此同時，我們也可以準備好對應動物的詞卡、圖片和視頻片段等等。對於小朋友來說，選取的目標詞彙不要太複雜，像這本繪本，我們只要求動物詞彙即可。