English Original
Nothing happened.
A dry wind lazily picked up some flower heads and swirled them around. The air was thick with pollen and perfume. A stony grey nostril twitched.
"I saw something," cried the youngest boy. They stared intently. An ear swiveled like a periscope. The ground began to rumble. "Look out! Run! Run!"
The children scampered in all directions, shrieking and squealing, arms pumping with excitement.
The rumbling grew and grew.
The Dragon raised its sleepy head. It got onto its front feet and sat like a dog. It stood up and stretched, arching its long scaly back like a sleek tabby cat. It blinked and looked around with big, kind, long-lashed eyes.
And then its nostrils twitched and quivered again.
The older folk were alerted by the screams and shrieks. The ladies held up their long skirts to run and the men rolled their sleeves up. Soon the whole town stood together in a tight huddle at the foot of the hill, staring up at the large beast with mouths held open.
"AHHHHH AAHHHHHHHHH!!" The noise erupted from the Dragon. "AHHHHH AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The families gripped each other tighter and shut their eyes.
"AHHHHH CHOOOOOOOOO!!" The sneeze blasted from the Dragon like a rocket, throwing it back fifty paces, causing a whirlwind of dust and dirt. "AHHHHH CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
The second blast split open the dry earth, sending explosions of soil and tree roots high into the sky like missiles, and something else too...
The people heard the sound but couldn't recognize it at first, for it had been such a long time since their ears had heard such a tinkling melody. As their eyes widened in wonder, their smiles turned into grins and then yahoos and hoorahs.
Water, cold, clear spring water, oozed, then trickled, then roared out of the hole, down the hillside and along the valley floor.
The torrent knocked over a farmer's haystack, but he didn't care. The river carried away the schoolteacher's bike shed, but she cared not a jot. It even demolished the Ladies' Bowling Club changing rooms, but they howled with laughter and slapped their thighs. When the flood sent pools of water out towards the golf course, filling up sixteen of the nineteen holes, the men just hooted and whistled and threw their caps up in the air.
中文翻译
一切如常。
一阵干燥的风懒洋洋地卷起一些花冠，将它们旋在空中。空气中弥漫着浓厚的花粉和花香。一只石灰色的鼻孔抽动了一下。
“我看到东西了，”最小的男孩喊道。他们专注地盯着。一只耳朵像潜望镜一样转动起来。地面开始隆隆作响。“小心！快跑！快跑！”
孩子们兴奋地挥舞着手臂，尖叫着、尖声叫着，向四面八方四散奔逃。
隆隆声越来越大。
巨龙抬起了它睡意朦胧的头。它用前脚撑起身子，像狗一样坐着。然后它站起来，伸展身体，拱起它那长长的、布满鳞片的背，像一只光滑的虎斑猫。它眨了眨那双大而友善、长着长睫毛的眼睛，环顾四周。
接着，它的鼻孔又抽动、颤抖起来。
大人们被尖叫声和惊叫声惊动了。女士们提起长裙奔跑，男人们卷起袖子。很快，全镇的人都聚集在山脚下，紧紧挤在一起，张大嘴巴，抬头凝视着这头巨兽。
“啊——啊————！！”巨龙发出巨响。“啊——啊——————！！”
家人们紧紧抓住彼此，闭上了眼睛。
“啊——嚏————！！”一个喷嚏像火箭一样从巨龙口中爆发出来，将它自己向后震退了五十步，激起一阵尘土飞扬的旋风。“啊——嚏——————！！”
第二次喷发劈开了干涸的大地，将泥土和树根像导弹一样高高炸向天空，还有别的东西……
人们听到了声音，但起初没认出来，因为他们的耳朵已经太久没有听到如此叮咚悦耳的旋律了。当他们的眼睛因惊奇而睁大时，微笑变成了咧嘴笑，然后是欢呼和喝彩。
水，冰冷、清澈的泉水，先是渗出，然后涓涓细流，最后从洞中咆哮而出，沿着山坡，顺着谷底奔流而下。
激流冲倒了一个农夫的干草堆，但他毫不在意。河水冲走了学校老师的自行车棚，但她一点也不在乎。它甚至摧毁了女子保龄球俱乐部的更衣室，但她们却放声大笑，拍着大腿。当洪水涌向高尔夫球场，淹没了十九个球洞中的十六个时，男人们只是欢呼、吹口哨，把帽子抛向空中。