于是甲虫就走到这堆肥沃的泥巴上来。这儿坐着三位年轻的甲虫姑娘。她们在格格地憨笑，因为她们不知道讲什么好。
“None of them are engaged yet.”said their mother，and the beetle maidens tittered again，this time quite in confusion.
“她们谁也不曾订过婚。”她们的母亲说。这几位甲虫又格格地憨笑起来，这次是因为她们感到难为情。
“I have never seen greater beauties，even in the royal stables.”exclaimed the beetle，who was now resting himself.
“我在皇家的马厩里，从来没有看到过比这还漂亮的美人儿。”这位旅行的甲虫一边休息，一边说。
“Dont spoil my girls，”said the mother，“and dont talk to them，pray，unless you have serious intentions.”But of course the beetles intentions were serious，and after a while our friend was engaged.The mother gave them her blessing，and all the other beetles cried“hurrah.”
“请不要惯坏了我的女孩子；也请您不要跟她们谈话，除非您的意图是严肃的。”不过，甲虫的意图当然是严肃的，过了一会儿，朋友们都忙起来了。甲虫妈妈祝福他们。“恭喜！”别的甲虫都齐声说。
Immediately after the betrothal betrothal n.婚约，订婚礼came the marriage，for there was no reason to delay.The following day passed very pleasantly，and the next was tolerably tolerably adv.可容忍地，可宽恕地comfortable，but on the third it became necessary for him to think of getting food for his wife，and，perhaps，for children.
我们的甲虫就这样订婚了。订完婚以后接踵而来的就是结婚，因为拖下去是没有道理的。婚后的一天非常愉快；第二天也勉强称得上舒服；不过在第三天，太太的、可能还有小宝宝的吃饭问题就需要考虑了。
“I have allowed myself to be taken in，”said our beetle to himself，“and now theres nothing to be done but to take them in，in return.”
“我让我自己上了钩。”他自言自语地说。“那么我也要让她们上一下钩，作为报复——”
No sooner said than done.Away he went，and stayed away all day and all night，and his wife remained behind a forsaken (forsaken adj.被弃的，孤独的，被抛弃的)widow (widow n.寡妇v.使成寡妇(或鳏夫)).
他这样说了，也就这样办了。他开小差溜了。他走了一整天，也走了一整夜——他的妻子成了一个被人抛弃寡妇。
“Oh，”said the other beetles，“this fellow that we have received into our family is nothing but a complete vagabond.He has gone away and left his wife a burden upon our hands.”
别的甲虫说：“啊，我们请到家里来住的这位仁兄，原来是一个不折不扣的流浪汉子；现在他却把养老婆的这个担子送到我们手里了。”
“Well，she can be unmarried again，and remain here with my other daughters.”said the mother，“Fie on the villain that forsook her！”
“唔，那么让她离婚，仍然回到我的女儿中间来吧。”母亲说。“那个恶棍真该死，遗弃了她！”
In the mean time the beetle，who had sailed across the ditch on a cabbage leaf，had been journeying on the other side.In the morning two persons came up to the ditch.When they saw him they took him up and turned him over and over，looking very learned all the time，especially one，who was a boy.“Allah sees the black beetle in the black stone，and the black rock.Is not that written in the Koran？”he asked.
在这期间，甲虫继续他的旅行。他在一片白菜叶上渡过了那条沟。在快要天亮的时候，有两个人走过来了。他们看到了甲虫，把他捡起来，于是把他翻转来覆过去。他们两人是很有学问的。尤其是他们中的一位——一个男孩子。“安拉在黑山石的黑石头里发现黑色的甲虫，《古兰经》上不是这样写着的吗？”他问。
Then he translated the beetles name into Latin，and said a great deal upon the creatures nature and history.The second person，who was older and a scholar，proposed to carry the beetle home，as they wanted just such good specimens (specimen n.范例，标本，样品，样本，待试验物)as this.Our beetle considered this speech a great insult，so he flew suddenly out of the speakers hand.His wings were dry now，so they carried him to a great distance，till at last he reached a hothouse，where a sash of the glass roof was partly open，so he quietly slipped in and buried himself in the warm earth.
于是他就把甲虫的名字译成拉丁文，并且把这动物的种类和特性叙述了一番。这位年轻的学者反对把他带回家。他说他们已经有了同样好的标本。甲虫觉得这话说得有点不太礼貌，所以他就忽然从这人的手里飞走了。现在他的翅膀已经干了，他可以飞得很远。他飞到一个温室里去。这儿屋顶有一部分是开着的，所以他轻轻地溜进去，钻进新鲜的粪土里。
“It is very comfortable here.”he said to himself，and soon after fell asleep.Then he dreamed that the emperors horse was dying，and had left him his golden shoes，and also promised that he should have two more.
“这儿真是很舒服。”他说，不一会儿他就睡去了。他梦见皇帝的马死了，梦见甲虫先生得到了马儿的金马掌，而且人们还答应将来再造一双给他。
All this was very delightful，and when the beetle woke up he crept forth and looked around him.What a splendid place the hothouse was！At the back，large palmtrees were growing；and the sunlight made the leaves—look quite glossy；and beneath them what a profusion( profusion n.丰富)of luxuriant green，and of flowers red like flame，yellow as amber，or white as newfallen snow！
这都是很美妙的事情。不久甲虫醒来了，他爬出来，向四周看了一眼。温室里面算是可爱之至！在他后面，巨大的棕榈树高高地向空中伸去；太阳把它们照得透明。在它们下面展开一起丰茂的绿叶，一起光彩夺目、红得像火、黄得像琥珀、白得像新雪的花朵！
“What a wonderful quantity of plants，”cried the beetle，“how good they will taste when they are decayed (decayed adj.烂了的，朽了的)！This is a capital storeroom.There must certainly be some relations of mine living here.I will just see if I can find any one with whom I can associate.Im proud，certainly，but Im also proud of being so.”Then he prowled about in the earth，and thought what a pleasant dream that was about the dying horse，and the golden shoes he had inherited.
“多么赏心悦目的植物群。”甲虫说。“当它们腐烂了以后；它们的味道将会是多美啊！这真是一个食物储藏室！我一定有些亲戚住在这儿。我要跟踪而去，看看能不能找到一位可以值得跟我来往的人物。当然我是很骄傲的，同时我也正因为这而感到骄傲。”这样，他就高视阔步地走起来。他想着刚才关于那只死马和他获得的那双金马掌的梦。