This is the story of two Nutbrown Hares, Big Nutbrown Hare and
Little Nutbrown Hare. The two are never stated to be father and son
in the original storybooks, though are referred to as such in the
narration for the animated television series. Little Nutbrown Hare
asks Big Nutbrown Hare the titular question, "Guess how much I love
you?", and the book continues as the two use larger and larger
measures to quantify how much they love each other in answer to the
question. The story is simple, but effectively shows the love the
two share for each other.
Little Nutbrown Hare,
who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare''s very
long ears.He wanted to be sure that Big Nutbrown Hare was
listening.
"Guess how
much I love you," he said.
"Oh, I
don''t think I could guess that," said Big Nutbrown
Hare.
"This
much," said Little Nutbrown Hare, stretching out his arms as wide
as they could go.
小兔子要上床睡觉了,他紧紧抓住大兔子的长耳朵。他要大兔子好好的听他说。
“猜猜我有多爱你?”
“噢,我大概猜不出来。”大兔子说。
“我爱你这么多。”小兔子把手臂张开,开得不能再开。
Big Nutbrown Hare had even
longer arms. "But I love you this much," he said.
Hmm, that is a lot, thought Little Nutbrown Hare.
"I love you as high as I can
reach," said Little Nutbrown Hare.
大兔子有一双更长的手臂,他张开来一比,说:“可是,我爱你这么多。”
小兔子想:嗯,这真的很多。
“我爱你,像我举得这么高,高得不能再高。”小兔子说。
"I love you as high as I can
reach," said Big Nutbrown Hare.
That is very high, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I had arms
like that.
Then Little Nutbrown Hare had
a good idea. He tumbled upside down and reached up the tree trunk
with his feet.
"I love you all the way up to my toes!" he said.
“我爱你,像我举得这么高,高得不能再高。”大兔子说。
这真的很高,小兔子想。希望我的手臂可以像他一样。
小兔子又有一个好主意。他把脚顶在树干上,倒立起来了。他说:“我爱你到我的脚趾头这么多。”
"And I love you all the way up
to your toes," said Big Nutbrown Hare, swinging him up over his
head.
"I love you as high as I can
hop!" laughed Little Nutbrown Hare, bouncing up and
down.
大兔子把小兔子抛起来,飞得比他的头还高,说:“我爱你到你的脚趾头那么多。”
"But I love you as high as I
can hop," smiled Big Nutbrown Hare-and he hopped so high that his
ears touched the branches above.
That''s good hopping, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I could
hop like that.
"I love you all the way down
the lane as far as the river," cried Little Nutbrown Hare.
"I love you across the river and over the hills," said Big Nutbrown
Hare.
That''s very far, thought
Little Nutbrown Hare. He was almost too sleepy to think
anymore.
Then he looked beyond the thornbushes, out into the big dark night.
Nothing could be farther than the sky.
"I love you right up to the
moon," he said, and closed his eyes.
"Oh, that''s far," said Big Nutbrown Hare. "That is very, very
far."