三个英语小读物
绝世美人儿
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2020年07月30日 16:24
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状语后置-诘问的意思
Father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarrelling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the faggot into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They each tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it.
He next unclosed the faggot, and took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into their hands, on which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words： “My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this faggot, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies； but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks.”
一位父亲有几个孩子，这些孩子时常发生口角。他丝毫没有办法来劝阻他们，只好让他们看看不合群所带来害处的例子。为了达到这个目的，有一天他叫他们替他拿一捆细柴来。当他们把柴带来时，他便先后地将那捆柴放在每一个孩子的手中，吩咐他们弄断这捆柴。他们一个个尽力去试，总是不能成功。
然后他解开那捆柴，一根根地放在他们手里，如此一来，他们便毫不费力地折断了。于是他就告诉他们说：“孩子们！如果你们大家团结一致，互相帮助，你们就像这捆柴一样，不能被你们的敌人折断；但如果你们自行分裂，你们就将和这些散柴一般，不堪一折了。”
2.狮子和老鼠 THE LION AND THE MOUSE
Lion was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up in anger, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying： “If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let him go.
It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came up, and gnawed the rope with his teeth, and setting him free, exclaimed: “You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, not expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor； but now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.”
一只老鼠从一只狮子面前跑过去，将它从梦中吵醒。狮子生气地跳起来，捉住老鼠，要弄死它。老鼠哀求说：“只要你肯饶恕我这条小生命，我将来一定会报答你的大恩。”狮子便笑着放了它。
后来狮子被几个猎人捉住，用粗绳捆绑倒在地上。老鼠听出是狮子的吼声，走来用牙齿咬断绳索，释放了他，并大声说：“你当时嘲笑我想帮你的忙，而且也不指望我有什么机会报答。但是
你现在知道了，就算是小老鼠，也能向狮子效劳的。”
3.狮子和农夫 The lion and the farmer
An Indian farmer and his child were toiling in the fields. It was almost dark by the time they had finished their work and the farmer said to the child, "Wow! It’s getting dark! Quickly pack up the tools and run. Let’s run quickly!"
“Relax. We’re not far from home and we know the way home. Why are you in such a panic?” asked the child. “There’s something you don’t know. I’m generally fearless. I’m not afraid of tigers or lions. I’m only afraid of the night. When the night comes, I’m completely powerless. The night is most terrifying to me. I’m really frightened of it. I can’t stand it," answered the farmer.
It so happened that a lion was hiding nearby and overheard their conversation. “What’s this thing called ‘the night’? How could it be more fearful than I am? I must find out about it,” the lion mused as it moved closer to the farmer, hoping to learn more about this “night” that was even more frightening than itself.
Then darkness fell and the farsighted farmer couldn’t see nearby objects clearly. He only saw the vague outline of an animal approaching, thought it was the donkey he had recently lost, and beat the lion several times, saying, “I’ve been looking for you all day. Where have you been? How dare you come back so late?”
“This is the end of me,” the lion thought with regret. “How could I have been so stupid as to come so close to this thing called ‘the night’ that beat me just now? It’s really horrifying. What should I do now?” As these thoughts flashed through the lion’s mind, the farmer again slapped it several times, urging it to go home with him. The petrified lion then obediently followed the farmer back to his house.
It was even darker when they reached home. Since the farmer continued to mistake the lion for his donkey, he tied it in a corner outside his house before he went to bed. That night, the lion stayed out in the cold, starving, petrified and not knowing what to expect of “the night” when morning dawned. It believed that the farmer was “the night.”
Early the next morning, before dawn broke, the farmer got up and took his “donkey” to the fields. On the way, another lion passed by and found it hilarious to see a lion obediently following a farmer. It then approached the captive lion and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you walking behind this man?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down and leave quickly. Don’t you know that this being walking in front is something called ‘the night?’ He’s very terrible. Last night, he beat me and shackled me, leaving me cold and starving the entire night. I have no idea where he’s taking me now. Run along or your life will be in danger!”
After hearing this story, the other lion said, “You’re incredible. You idiot! You’re a lion, the king of animals! You’ve been deceiv
ed! Just roar at him now and you’ll know who is more terrifying.” The lion accepted his advice and roared loudly, so the farmer took a closer look. Now that the sky had become brighter, he saw that it was a lion. Wow! He bolted like lightning, and the lion was free again.
有一个印度的农夫跟他的小孩子出去耕田，耕完了地以后，天快要黑了，他就跟小孩说：“哇！天快黑了！不行、不行了！快收东西，快点走，我们赶快走吧！”
小孩说：“哎呀！你别紧张嘛！回家的路不远，而且我们也知道路，你干什么这么紧张呢？”农夫说：“不行啊！你不知道啊！我什么都不怕，我不怕老虎、不怕狮子，我最怕那个‘晚上’！只要‘晚上’一来，我就软趴趴。那个‘晚上’最恐怖了，我好怕、好怕，我受不了！”
刚好有一只狮子躲在旁边听到了，它就想：“这个‘晚上’是什么东西？它怎么可能比我还恐怖呢？我倒要试试看！”它就靠近农夫，想查看‘晚上’是什么种类的东西，竟然比狮子还要恐怖。
那个时候天已经黑了，那个农夫有老花眼，看不清楚，只看到一个动物跑过来靠近他，认为是他那头刚走掉的驴子，就打它几下，说：“找你整天找不到，去哪里了？现在才回来！”
这只狮子心想：“完了！我怎么那么笨，跑来靠近‘这个’，刚刚打我就是叫‘晚上’的东西吧！好恐怖啊！现在怎么办呢？”它在想的时候，农夫又打了它好几下，催它赶快回家去，这只狮子怕死了，就跟着农夫走回去。
回家时天更黑了，因为农夫认为是他的驴子，就把狮子绑在屋外的角落边，然后进去睡觉。那只狮子在那边又饿又冷整个晚上，又害怕，不晓得明天早上那个“晚上”会再对待它怎么样？它认为农夫就是所谓的“晚上”。
隔天一大早，天还不怎么亮的时候，农夫已经起来了，出门带那头“驴子”要去耕田。走到半路时，刚好有另外一只狮子经过，它看到这只狮子乖乖地跟着农夫走在后面，就感觉到好笑，它靠近这只狮子，问：“你做什么啦？为什么跟着那个人的后面走呢？”
被绑的狮子说：“嘘！你不要那么吵，赶快离开！你不知道前面走的那个，就是叫‘晚上’的东西，他很恐怖啊，昨天我被他打，然后被绑了整个晚上又饿又冷，现在不晓得要带我到哪里去。你赶快跑，不然的话你生命难保啊！”
另外那只狮子听说这样，就说：“你真好笑，你笨蛋！你是狮子、是动物之王啊！你被骗了！你现在吼他一声，就知道谁才恐怖。”果然，这只狮子听它的话大吼一声以后，那个农夫就靠过来看，现在天亮了，一看是只狮子，哇！跑得要命。然后这只狮子就自由了。
4.熟能生巧小故事 Skill comes
from practice
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a skilled archer. One day he drew a big crowd while he was practicing on the drill ground. He shot so accurately that the on-lookers cheered with excitement. He became very proud of his skill. But among the crowd an old oil peddler only nodded his head indifferently. This hurt his Pride.
“Can you do this?” he asked the old oil peddler.
“No, I can’t.”
“What do you think of my skill?”
“Just OK, but nothing special. You’ve gained your accuracy from persistent practice. That’s all.”
“What can you do, then?” the old man said nothing. He put a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper coin. He then scooped out a ladle of oil from his big jar, held it high and began to fill the bottle.
Now, a thread of oil came down from the ladle into the bottle just through the hole of the coin. Everybody looking on watched with amazement. But the old man said, “This is nothing special, I can do this because I have practiced it a lot.” And with these words, he left.
Later, people use this phrase to mean “Practice makes perfect”.
北宋时期，有个技艺高超的射手。有一天，他在训练场上练习射箭，引来了一大群人观看，大家都称赞他的技艺，他感到非常骄傲。但他发现人群中有个卖油翁只是淡淡的点点头，这使得他很不高兴。
他就问那老头：“你会射箭吗？”
“不会。”
“你认为我的技术如何？”
“一般。没什么特别的，你只能对付固定的东西，仅此而已。”
“你会干什么？”
这个老头没有回答。他把一个葫芦放在地上，接着把一枚铜钱放在瓶口。然后从他的大油壶里舀起一勺油。
从高处往放在地上的葫芦里倒。只见那油就像线一样从铜钱中间的小洞里滴下去，一滴都没有漏出来。围观者都惊呆了。而这个卖油翁却说：“其实没什么大不了的，只不过是天天练的结果。”说完，他就离开了。
后来，人们用“熟能生巧”这个成语来表示熟练了就能作得好。