A schoolboy stole a horn-book from one of his schoolfellows, and
brought it home to his mother. Instead of chastising him, she
rather encouraged him in the deed. In course of time the boy, now
grown into a man, began to steal things of greater value, till at
length being caught in the very act , he was bound and led to
execution . Perceiving his mother following among the crowd,
wailing and beating her breast, he begged the officers to be
allowed to speak one word in her ear. When she quickly drew near
and applied her ear to her son's mouth, he seized the lobe of it
tightly between his teeth and bit it off. Upon this she cried out
lustily, and the crowd joined her in upbraiding the unnatural son,
as if his former evil ways had not been enough, but that his last
act must be a deed of impiety against his mother. But he replied:
"It is she who is the cause of my ruin, for if when I stole my
schoolfellow's horn-book and brought it to her, she had given me a
sound flogging, I should never have so grown in wickedness as to
come to this untimely end. "
Nip evil in the bud. Spare the rod and spoil the
child.
注释
1·horn-book
n· 角贴书(纸页上印有文字，其上盖有透明角片的儿童识字书籍)
2·chastise
v· 惩戒，惩罚
3·in course of
time
终有一天
4·at length= at last最后
5·caught in the very
act
当场被抓，very在这儿用来加强语气。
6·was bound and led to
execution
被捆，被带上刑场。
7·wailing and beating her breast
一边痛哭一边捶打着胸，此现在分词短语表伴随状况。
8·draw near靠近，挨近，走进
9·seized the lobe of it tightly between his
teeth
他用牙齿紧紧地咬住(母亲的)耳垂
10·lustily
adv·
起劲地，拼命地
1l·upbraid
v· 责备，谴责
12·unnatural
son
违背天理的儿子
13·a deed of impiety
against
对……不孝的行为
14·It is she
who...
这是一个强调句。
15·give sb· a sound
flogging
把某人痛打一顿
16·come to this untimely
end
过早就了此一生，死于非命。untimely这儿指年纪轻轻就被判死刑的结局。
17. Nip evil in the
bud.
将罪恶扼杀在萌芽状态。防患于未然。
18·Spare the rod and spoil the
child 不打不成器.棍棒底下出孝子。不打不成器。
点评
"养不教，父之过。"儿子不学好，母亲一味包庇纵容，反害了自己的孩子，行刑前儿子给母亲吃的小小苦头，纵令她醒悟，那已是悔之晚矣。
An Old Man and an Old Woman live in a little old hut near the sea.
The Old Man is a fisherman. He has a boat and goes to the sea every
day.
One day he is on the sea in his boat.
It is a beautiful day. The sea is still and blue. Soon the
Fisherman catches a Little Gold Fish.
"Please let me go," says the Little Gold Fish. "I can give you
anything you like. "
"Very well. Swim away. Swim away," says the Fisherman. "I don't
want a fish that can talk. "
He puts the Little Gold Fish into the water, and it swims away.
The Old Man comes home to the Old Woman in the little hut. He tells
her about the Little Gold Fish that can talk.
"We must ask this Little Gold Fish for something. " says the Old
Woman. "We live in a little old hut. I want to have a pretty little
cottage. Go back and ask the Little Gold Fish to give us a pretty
little cottage. "
The Old Man
does not like to go, but still he goes back to the sea. When he
comes to the sea, the water is all yellow and green. He looks down
and says,
"Oh Fish of the Sea,
Come listen to me!
My wife wants to ask
A
favor of thee . "
The Little Gold Fish swims up to him, and asks, "What does she
want?"
"A cottage," says the Old Man. "She says she does not like to live
in a little old hut. "
"You can go home," says the Little Gold Fish. "She is in the
cottage already. "
So the Old Man goes home, and there is his wife at the door of a
pretty little cottage.
"Come in! Come in!" she says. "Isn't this a beautiful Cottage
?"
There is a pretty sitting-room and a bedroom, and a kitchen in the
cottage, and there is a little garden behind the cottage.
"Now you are happy. " says the Old Man.
The Old Woman is happy for some time, and then she says, "I don't
like this cottage. I want to have a castle. Ask the Little Gold
Fish to give us a castle. "
"I don't like to ask the Little Gold Fish," says the Old Man. "The
Little Gold Fish may be very angry. I don't think it can do that.
"
"Oh, yes!" says the Old Woman. "The Little Gold Fish can do it.
"
So the Old Man goes to the sea once more . This time the water is
dark blue. The Old Man looks down and says:
"Oh Fish of the Sea,
Come listen to me!
My wife wants to ask
A favour of thee. "
"What does she want now?" asks the Little Gold Fish.
"She does not like the cottage," says the Old Man. "She wants a
beautiful castle. "
"Go home," says the Little Gold Fish. "She is at the door of the
castle already. "
The Old Man
goes away, and there is the Old Woman at the door of a beautiful
castle.
"Come in! Come in!" she says. "Isn't this a beautiful castle?"
They go into
the castle, and he sees many rooms and gold chairs and tables.
Behind the castle there is a garden, and around it there is a
beautiful park . "Now you are happy," says the Old Man.
The next
morning the Old Woman says, "'Go to the Little Gold Fish, and tell
it to make me queen of all the land. "
"You can't be queen," says the Old Man. "The Little Gold Fish may
be angry. It can't make you queen. "
"Yes, the Little Gold Fish can do it," says the Old Woman. "Go and
ask the Little Gold Fish to make me queen of all the land. "
So the Old Man goes down to the sea. This time the water is dark
grey. He looks down and cries,
"Oh Fish of the Sea,
Come listen to me!
My wife wants to ask
A favor of thee. "
"What does she want now?" asks the Little Gold Fish.
"She does not like the beautiful castle," says the Old Man. "She
wants to be queen of all the land. "
"Go home," says the Little Gold Fish. "She is queen already. "
So the Old
Man goes home. The Old Woman is sitting in a chair of gold.
"Are you queen now?" asks the Old Man.
"Yes, "she says. "I am queen. "
"What a good
thing it is to be queen !" says the Old Man. "You
are very happy now. "
The next day
the Old Woman says to the Old Man, "Go to the Little Gold Fish and
tell the Fish to make me queen of the sea. "
"The Little
Gold Fish can't make you queen of the
sea," says the Old Man. "It may be angry. "
"Yes, the
Little Gold Fish can do it," says the Old Woman.
The Old
Woman is angry with the Old Man, and at last she goes
away.
"I don't like this," he says, "the Little Gold Fish may be angry.
"
When he comes to the sea, the water is quite black, and the Old Man
is afraid. But still he looks down and cries,
"Oh Fish of the Sea,
Come listen to me!
My wife wants to ask
A favor of thee. "
"What does she want now?" asks the Little Gold Fish.
"She wants to be queen of the sea," says the Old Man.,
"Go home," says the Little Gold Fish, "to your old hut again. "
So the Old Man goes home, and there is the Old Woman at the door of
the little old hut.
注释
1. still
adj.
平静
2. thee pron. 汝,古英语you的宾格.
3. Isn't this a beautiful Cottage? = This is a
beautiful
Cottage.
这是一个形式上为疑问句而实际上为陈述句的修辞疑问句。意为"多漂亮的农舍啊。"
4·once
more
再一次
5·dark
blue
深兰色
6·park
n·
狩猎场
7·What a good thing it is to
queen!
做个皇后有多好啊!这是一个感叹句型。
点评
贪得无厌的老渔妇最终什么也没得到，只有守着破旧的小茅棚，重新去过以前的苦日子。
Deep down in the sea there is the palace of the Sea King. It is
said that once the Sea King had six daughters. The youngest was the
most beautiful of them all.
All day long the six Princesses used to play down in the palace.
Though they were beautiful, they had no feet, only a fish's tail.
They were called mermaid .
Nothing gave the youngest Princess greater pleasure than to hear
about the world of human beings up above. She made her grandmother
tell all she knew about ships and towns, people and animals.
Now the youngest Princess was fifteen, and was allowed to rise up
above the water. She saw so many beautiful things. She was most
interested in a big ship. There was a young and handsome Prince on
board the ship.
There was suddenly a storm on the sea, and the ship sank. The
Prince was nearly drowned. In order to save him the mermaid stayed
with the Prince and carried him to the shore. She kissed the
unconscious Prince and then swam to hide in the water. The Prince
woke up at last and was taken back to his palace. The mermaid sadly
returned to her father's palace under the sea.
In order to
win the love of the Prince, the mermaid wanted to get rid of her
fish's tail and to have a pair of legs to walk with. She went to
the Sea Witch for help.
"It is very foolish of you." said the witch. "It will bring trouble
upon you, my pretty one. But I will help you. Take the bottle of
medicine with you, sit down on the shore and drink it. You will get
rid of the tail, but it will hurt as if a sharp sword were cutting
through you. "
"I'm willing to stand all the pain," said the mermaid.
"But remember," said the witch, "once you have taken human shape,
you can never become a mermaid again. If you do not win the love of
the Prince, and if he marries someone else, your heart will break
and you will become foam on the sea. "
"I am willing," said the mermaid.
"But you will also have to pay me. " said the witch. "You have the
most beautiful voice, so I must have that in exchange for my
marriage. " The mermaid had to agree. So the witch cut out the
tongue of the little mermaid, who could not speak from then on.
The next morning, the mermaid did what the witch had told her to
do. The fish tail changed into the prettiest pair of white legs.
When the Prince saw her, she had only her long thick hair to cover
her naked body. The Prince fell in love with her at once and
brought her back to his palace. He had her dressed beautifully.
Though she could not speak, the Prince could see that she was kind
and in love with him.
Before long, the Prince was going to a neighboring King. The real
reason was that his father wanted him to see the King's daughter
and marry her. Of course, he was not willing, thinking no one would
be prettier than the beloved girl, the mermaid.
Alas ! The Princess was very beautiful and the Prince decided to
marry her. The wedding took place on a big ship. And the mermaid's
heart seemed to be breaking.
In the very night, her mermaid sisters rose above the water to help
her. They had sold their beautiful hair to the Sea Witch for the
sister's life. They handed the youngest sister the witch's knife
and told her to kill the Prince. Only in this way might she change
back into a mermaid and return to the palace under the sea.
But she loved the Prince so much that she could not bring herself
to kill him. She decided to throw away the knife and wish for the
Prince's happy life with his beautiful wife. And she herself turned
into foam in the sea when dawn came.
注释
1·All day
long...
整日
2·mermaid
n·
美人鱼
3·on board the
ship
在船上
4·unconscious
失去知觉的
5·win the love
of
赢得…的爱
6·stand all the
pain
承受所有的痛苦
7·in exchange
for
作为交换
8. fall in love
with
爱上
9·alas 天哪!这是一个感叹词。
点评
美丽善良的美人鱼为了爱情承受了巨大的痛苦，当负心的王子离她而去，娶国王女儿为妻时，她不仅没有照着姐姐们所劝说的去做，杀了王子，而是放弃了生的机会，为王子的幸福祝福，自己却化成了大海里的泡沫。
There was once a very rich gentleman whose wife died, leaving him
one beautiful daughter. He had loved his wife dearly, and so he was
very unhappy. He resolved to marry again, for he hoped thus to find
a mother for his little girl, and to be happy once more. But the
second wife was proud and haughty, and she had two daughters by a
former husband who were just like her. She hated her husband's
child, because his daughter was so sweet and good that she made her
own daughters seem very unpleasant and disagreeable.
So this wicked stepmother made the poor little girl live and work
with the servants. She had to sleep in the garret , on a miserable
straw bed, while her stepsisters had fine rooms, with handsome
curtains at the windows, large comfortable beds, and long mirrors,
in which to admire themselves. After her work was done, she sat in
the kitchen among the cinders, and so she was called
Cinderella.
It happened that the king's son gave a ball , and invited all
persons of fashion in the country. He invited the two wicked
sisters, but of course the king's son had never even heard of
Cinderella. The sisters began at once to prepare for the ball and
to plan their dresses. On the evening of the ball, Cinderella had
to help them dress and arrange their hair. When they had departed
in their carriage, Cinderella sat down in a corner, and began to
cry.
Just then her godmother , who was a fairy,
appeared. "What is the matter, Cinderella?" she asked.
"I wish-I wish," sobbed poor Cinderella, and could not say another
word. "You wish to go to the ball, don't you?" said the godmother.
"Well, be a good girl, and you shall go. " She then ordered
Cinderella to bring a pumpkin from the garden. Her godmother took
out all the insides of the pumpkin, and left only the rind. Then
she touched it with her wand , and the pumpkin instantly became a
fine, gilded coach. She then looked into the mousetrap, and saw six
lively mice in it. She told Cinderella to lift the door of the trap
very gently, and as each mouse came out, she touched it with her
wand. Instantly they became six handsome gray horses. Then
Cinderella ran to the rat trap, and found three large rats. The
godmother changed the largest of these into a position to ride on
one of the horses.
Next, the fairy sent Cinderella into the garden to find six lizard
. A touch of the magic wand turned them all into finely dressed
footmen. Everything was ready, then, except Cinderella's dress. The
poor child looked down at godmother a thousand times, and begged to
go again to the ball the next night. As she talked, her sisters
returned, and told her of the wonderful princess whose name nobody
knew. The next day, the two sisters appeared again at the ball, and
so did Cinderella. But she enjoyed herself so much that she forgot
her godmother's warning. She was frightened when she counted twelve
strokes of the clock, and she ran out of the room as fast as she
could. The king's son tried to overtake her, and could not. But in
her haste, Cinderella dropped one of the glass slippers. The king's
son carefully picked it up.
Of course she had to run home in her rags. All that was left of her
elegance was one glass slipper. Meantime, the prince tried in every
way to find out the princess's name, and which way she went. But
all in vain, for the guards at the gate had only seen a ragged girl
run away. The king's son sat and looked at the slipper while the
ball lasted, for he had fallen deeply in love with the unknown and
beautiful princess.
A few days afterwards, people heard messengers proclaiming, "The
king's son will marry the lady whose foot exactly fits the glass
slipper. " First the messengers went to all the princesses, then to
the lesser ladies of the court, but without success. When they came
to the home of Cinderella, the two sisters tried to squeeze their
feet into the slipper. Some say that one sister cut off her big
toe, and that the other sister cut off her heel, so eager were they
to wear the slipper, but it was all in vain.
Cinderella could not help smiling. Finally she said, "Please let me
try on the slipper. "
The sisters said, "That is foolish," but the messenger knelt down
before her with the slipper. Everybody saw at once that it fitted
her exactly. The two sisters were amazed, but their amazement was
still greater when Cinderella drew the other slipper from her
pocket, and put it on, too. Just at this moment, the fairy
godmother arrived, touched Cinderella's clothes with her wand, and
there she stood, more magnificently dressed than ever.
Then the sisters, of course, recognized her, and they threw
themselves at her feet, and begged forgiveness for all their
unkindness. Cinderella helped them to rise, kissed them, and
forgave them. The messengers then led Cinderella to the prince, who
found her more beautiful and desirable than ever. The wedding took
place in a few days, and Cinderella afterwards gave her sisters
rooms in the palace, and helped them in every way.
注释
I.Cinderella 《灰姑娘》,这是一篇格林童话.
2·stepmother继母,下文中的 stepsisters是指继母所生的女儿。
3·garret n.阁楼
4·She sat in the kitchen among the cinders，and so
she was called Cinderella. 因为她干完活后常坐在厨房里与煤渣煤灰为伴，故称灰姑娘。
5·give a ball
举行舞会
6·persons of fashion 上流人士
7·godmother
n·
教母。基督教徒在其子女受洗礼时，在其亲戚或朋友中邀请一男子为教父，一女子为教母，直至长大成人。
8·wand
n·
短杖，magic wand魔杖
9，lizard
n·
蜥蝎
10·on no
account
决不
1l·refreshments
(Pl·)
点心，饮食
12·eat a
bite
吃一口
13，made a deep curtsy
深深地行了一个屈膝礼。屈膝礼是西洋妇女对长者所行的礼。
14·a thousand times
一千次。形容多，这在修辞学上披称之为夸张法(hyperbole)。
15tried in every way
to
用尽种种办法来……
16·in vain徒劳地
17·the lesser ladies of the
court
宫中级别较次的宫女
18·threw themselves at her
feet
她们跪倒在她的面前
点评
灰姑娘美丽又善良、宽厚，人们都希望她有此美好的结局;狠心的继母及其妒忌心重的女儿虐待灰姑娘，天理难容，应遭恶报。
When the first rains had watered the earth, God made man. He took
clay and molded it into his own shape. Then he breathed life into
the clay, and gave man a living soul. This first man was called
Adam. God gave him a beautiful garden to live in, called the Garden
of Eden, in which God had planted flowers and fruit trees of every
kind. God told Adam that he could eat the fruit of every tree in
the garden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
"Eat from that tree," God said to Adam, "and you will surely die.
"
Adam was content with his life in the garden, but God saw that of
all the creatures he had made, only man had no partner. So God put
Adam into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, God took a rib
from Adam's side. From this rib God make a woman, whose name was
Eve, to be a wife and a companion to Adam.
Adam and Eve lived happily in the garden. But there was one
creature in the garden who wished to make trouble between God and
man. This was the serpent, who was the most cunning of all the
creatures God had made. One day the serpent found Eve alone in the
garden, and she whispered in her ear, " You will not die if you eat
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You will
understand everything, and you will both be like gods. "
Eve believed the serpent, and wanted to be a god. She took the
fruit and ate it, and gave it to Adam, and he ate it too. At once
everything changed. They felt guilty and unhappy for the first
time. Also, they were ashamed of their nakedness, so they sewed fig
leaves together to cover themselves up.
That evening, Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden, and
they hid themselves among the trees. "Where are you?" God called
out to Adam. Then Adam had to come out of hiding. "I heard your
voice," he said to God, "and I was afraid because I was naked, so I
hid myself. "
"Who told you that you were naked?" God asked him. "Have you eaten
the fruit of the forbidden tree " ?" "The woman made me do it,"
Adam said.
"Why did you do it?" God asked Eve. "The serpent made me do it,"
she replied.
God grew very angry and put a curse on the serpent. Then he turned
to Adam and Eve. "Because you have disobeyed me," he said, "I will
send you out of the Garden of Eden into the wilderness, where life
will be hard for you. Woman will give birth in pain, and man will
have to work hard to raise crops, until he dies. I made you out of
dust, and you will return to dust."
So Adam and Eve had to leave the
garden where they had been so happy，and God set an angel to guard
it with a flaming sword so that they could never return.
注释
l·The Garden of Eden and the
Serpent
《伊甸园和蛇》(此蛇乃魔鬼撒旦变成)。这篇和以下两篇故事The Tower of Babel，The
Flood都选自<<圣经>>
2·mold v·造形 ，捏
3·fruit trees of every
kind
各种果树
4·good and evil 善与恶
5·be content
with 对……感到满意
6·rib
n·
肋骨
7·companion
n· 伴侣
8·make trouble
制造麻烦，制造事端
9·whisper in one's ear
在某人耳边低语
10·come out of
hiding
从躲藏的地方走出来
1l·the fruit of the forbidden
tree 禁果
12·I made you out of dust，and you will return to
dust.我用尘土造了你们,你们也将回归尘土。
13·set an angel to guard it with a flaming sword
派天使拿着火焰的剑把守着
点评
人类的祖先亚当和夏娃听信撒旦之言，偷吃禁果，人变得聪明了，但被逐出伊甸园;撒旦被看成是罪魁，但其功过有谁来替他评说?
There was
once a time when everyone spoke the same language and understood
one another perfectly. In those days the people of the earth
wandered westwards, looking for a place to settle.
When they came to a plain in the land of Shinar, they said, "How
beautiful a city would look here in the place of this wilderness!
Instead of trees and grass we will have house and avenues. We will
build a great wall around the city, to protect us. We will make
domes that gleam in the sun, and gardens and fountains to cool us
after our work. We will sink wells deep into the earth and build
towers that reach into the sky. We will begin by building a tower
that will be so high that it will reach to God himself. "
After a while God came to look at their city and their tower, and
was very angry. "If men can do this," he said to himself, "there is
nothing they won't be able to do. I will confuse their speech, and
make them all speak different languages, so that they won't be able
to understand one another. "
Suddenly, not one person could understand what anybody else was
saying. There was terrible confusion in the city. All the work
stopped，and the people went off in different directions and
scattered themselves over the face of the earth.
The
city，which was left unfinished，was given the name of Babel，because
it was the place where God had made a babble out of the
inhabitants，speech.
注释
l·The Tower of
Babel 巴别塔，又译作"通天塔"。
2·There was once a time when…曾经有一个时期…(故事的开头用语)
3·dome
n·
圆顶屋
4·sink
wells
挖(掘)井
5·scattered themselves over the face of the
earth 在大地的表面分散开去
6·babble
n·
听不清的语言
点评
通天塔未建成，人类却被上帝惩罚:世上再也没有一种统一的语言，大家各说各的语言，彼此不能沟通。当然，聪明的人类还是有办法利用翻译来达到彼此了解，相互交流。
Years
passed, and many people lived on the earth, but they had become
very wicked. They argued and fought and stole and lied, and cheated
one another so badly that God became sorry that he had made people
who were causing such trouble and he decided he would destroy them
all.
But there was among them one man who was good. His name was Noah ,
and God loved him. So he spoke to Noah and told him what he was
going to do. He would send so much rain that there would be a great
flood, and it would drown everything on the earth.
When Noah heard this he was very frightened, but God said, "Don't
worry, Noah, you are a good man, and I won't destroy you or your
wife, or your sons, or their wives. But you must do exactly as I
tell you, so that when the flood comes you will be saved. "
God told Noah to build a great boat called an ark. It was to be
made of cypress wood, covered with reeds and coated with tar both
inside and out. Noah cut and sawed, and bent and shaped. He built
three decks, cut a large door in one side and put a window in the
top.
The people who lived nearby laughed at Noah while he was building
the ark. "Why build a boat here - we're nowhere near the sea. You
must be mad," they said.
"This big ark is not only for you," God said to Noah, "I want you
to go out and collect a male and a female of every kind of animal
and bird and reptile, and take them into the ark with you. Now go
and gather all the food you can find for you and for them. You will
need enough for a long voyage. " When Noah's neighbors saw Noah and
his family piling stores of fruit and grain, leaves and hay, inside
the ark, they jeered louder than ever. But Noah and his family paid
no attention and went on with their work. Two of every kind of
animal and bird and reptile eat a lot of food, and very soon it
would begin to rain.
When all the stores were ready, Noah and his wife and his sons and
his sons' wives went out to collect the animals. They followed Noah
into the ark, two by two. As soon as every one of them was safely
on board, the first drops of rain started to fall.
It rained and it rained. Quite soon the ark began to float, but the
water rose and rose, until it covered even the mountaintop and
every living creature that was not on the ark was drowned. But it
still rained. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and after it had
finally stopped raining, the flood waters went on covering the
whole earth for 150 days.
Then God thought of Noah and the ark, and he made a strong wind
blow, and the flood waters gradually went down. At last the ark
came to rest on the top of a mountain. Noah began to send out
birds, to see if they could find dry land, but they could find no
place to perch. Finally one day Noah sent out a dove, and that
evening the dove came back with an olive twig in its beak. Some
parts of the land were dry again. The next time Noah released the
dove, it did not come back at all, which showed Noah that it was
now safe to leave the ark.
So Noah and his family, and all the creatures they had taken with
them, came out of the ark onto dry land, and Noah built an altar
and offered a sacrifice of thanks-givings". God was pleased, and he
blessed Noah and his family and told them to have many children and
fill the earth with people again.
"I will make a promise to you and all your children," God said. "I
will never again send a flood to destroy everything. I will put a
rainbow in every rain cloud, and whenever you see it you can
remember my promise, which will last for ever. "
注释
1.Noah 那亚(人名);
Noah's ark 那亚方舟
2.was to be made of cypress
wood 准备柏木料制成
3·coated with
tar 抹上沥青,在这儿是动词,意为"涂上".
4·in the
top 在顶上方
s·reptile
n.
爬行动物,爬虫
6，stores
n. 储存,储备
7·perch
v. 栖息
8·olive
twig
橄榄枝
9·altar
n. 祭坛
10.
thanks-giving
感恩
点评 人们争吵打斗，说谎偷盗，惹怒了上帝;幸亏有个好人挪亚，人类和世上的各种动物才免遭灭绝。
Echo was a
nymph who talked too much. She was very fond of having the last
word. One day she spoke rudely to the great Juno, who said that for
this offense Echo should never use her voice again, unless to
repeat what she had just heard, but since she was so very fond of
last words, she might repeat the last words of others.
This was almost as bad as if Juno had changed her into a parrot.
Echo was very much ashamed and hid herself in the forest.
Narcissus ,
a young man who had hair as yellow as gold and eyes as blue as the
sky,- a very rare thing in Greece, where most people were very
dark,- used to hunt in the forest where Echo was hiding. As she was
peeping out shyly from some cave or from behind a great tree. Echo
often saw Narcissus, and she admired him very much.
One day Narcissus became separated from his friends, and hearing
something rustle among the leaves, he called out, "Who's here?"
"Here," answered Echo.
"Here I am. Come!" said Narcissus. "I am
come，"said Echo; and，as she spoke，she came out from among the
trees.
When Narcissus
saw a stranger，instead of one of his friends as he had expected，he
looked surprised and walked quickly away.
After
this，Echo never came out and never allowed herself to be seen
again，and in time she faded away till she became a voice.
This voice was
heard for many，many years in forests and among
mountains，particularly in caves. In their
solitary walks，hunters often heard it. Sometimes
it mocked the barking of their dogs; sometimes it repeated their
own last words .It always had a weird and mournful sound，and seemed
to make lonely places more lonely still.
注释
1·此篇Echo和以下两则故事都选自希腊和罗马神话故事。
2·nymph
n· (希神)居于山林水泽的仙女
3·Juno 朱诺主神朱庇特的妻子，天后，司婚姻的女神。
4·for this offense 因为这冒犯
5·unless to repeat= unless she
used her voice to repeat除非她用她的声音重加覆诵
6·Narcissus那喀索斯(希腊神活里一个爱上自己水中倒影以致淹死而变为水仙的美少年.)(见下则故事)
7·I am come=I have
come 实际上是重复那喀索斯说的最后三个词。
8，in their solitary walks在他们单独行走时
9. a weird and mournful sound一个古怪而悲哀的声音
10·make lonely places more lonely
still
使孤寂的地方更为孤寂
点评
厄科(回音)的遭遇确实可怜，令人同情;但我们更要感谢她，因为当我们身在荒僻孤寂的地方时，还有她的话音陪伴着我们呢!
Narcissus had a twin sister whom he loved better than any one else
in the world. This sister died when she was young and very
beautiful. Narcissus missed her so much that he wished he might die
too.
One day, as he sat on the ground by a springs, looking absently
into water and thinking of his lost sister, he saw a face like
hers, looking up at him. It seemed as if his sister had become a
water-nymph and were actually there in the spring, but she would
not speak to him.
Of course the face Narcissus saw was really the reflection of his
own face in the water, but he did not know that. In those days
there were no clear mirrors like ours, and the idea of one's
appearance that could be got from a polished brass shield , for
instance, was a very dim one. So Narcissus leaned over the water
and looked at the beautiful face so like his sister's, and wondered
what it was and whether he should ever see his sister again.
After this, he came back to the spring day after day and looked at
the face he saw there, and mourned for his sister until, at last,
the gods felt sorry for him and changed him into a flower.
This flower was the first
narcissus. All the flowers of this family，when they grow by the
side of a pond or a stream，still bend their
beautiful heads and look at the reflection of their own faces in
the water."
注释
l·twin
adj.
孪生的
z·spring
n·
泉
3·the face Narcissus saw =the face which Narcissus
saw
4·like ours=like our mirrors
5·polished brass
shield
经过磨光的铜制盾牌
6·day after
day
一日又一日
7·narcissus
n·
水仙花
8·all the flowers of this family
所有这一科的花
点评 这个哀伤的故事确是美丽的水仙花的形象而真实的写照。
A very long
time ago, in the Golden Age, every one was good and happy. It was
always spring; the earth .was covered with flowers, and only gentle
winds blew to set the flowers dancing.
No one had
any work to do. People lived on mountain strawberries, which were
always to be had for the gathering, and on wild grapes,
blackberries, and sweet acorns, which grew plentifully in the oak
forests. Rivers flowed with milk and nectar - Even the bees did not
need to lay up honey, for it fell in tiny drops from the trees.
There was abundance everywhere.
In all the
whole world, there was not a sword, nor any weapon by means of
which men might fight with one another. No one had ever heard of
any such thing. All the iron and the gold were buried deep
underground.
Besides,
people were never ill; they had no troubles of any kind; and never
grew old.
The two
brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus, lived in those wonderful days.
After stealing the fire for man, Prometheus, knowing that Jupiter
would be angry, decided to go away for a time on a distant journey;
but before he went, he warned Epimetheus not to receive any gifts
from the gods.
One day, after Prometheus had been gone for some time. Mercury came
to the cottage of Epimetheus, leading by the hand a beautiful young
woman, whose name was Pandora. She had a wreath of partly opened
rosebuds on her head, a number of delicate gold chains twisted
lightly around her neck, and wore a filmy veil which fell nearly to
the hem of her tunic. Mercury presented her to Epimetheus, saying
the gods had sent this gift that he might not be lonesome.
Pandora had such a lovely face that Epimetheus could not help
believing that the gods had sent her to him in good faith. So he
paid no heed to the warning of Prometheus, but took Pandora into
his cottage, and found that the days passed much more quickly and
pleasantly when she was with him.
Soon, the gods sent Epimetheus another gift. This was a heavy box,
which the satyrs brought to the cottage, with directions that it
was not to be opened. Epimetheus let it stand in a corner of his
cottage; for by this time he had begun to think that the caution of
Prometheus about receiving gifts from the gods was altogether
unnecessary.
Often, Epimetheus was away all day, hunting or fishing or gathering
grapes from the wild vines that grew along the
river banks. On such days, Pandora had nothing to do but to wonder
what was in the mysterious box. One day her curiosity was so great
that she lifted the lid a very little way and peeped in . The
result was similar to what would have happened had she lifted the
cover of a beehive. Out rushed a great swarm of little winged
creatures, and before Pandora knew what had happened, she was
stung. She dropped the lid and ran out of the cottage screaming.
Epimetheus, who was just coming in at the door, was well stung,
too.
The little winged creatures that Pandora had let out of the box
were Troubles, the first that had ever been seen in the world. They
soon flew about and spread themselves everywhere, pinching and
stinging whenever they got the chance.
After this, people began to have headaches, rheumatism, and other
illness; and instead of being always kind and pleasant to one
another, as they had been before the Troubles were let out of the
box, they became unfriendly and quarrelsome. They began to grow
old, too.
Nor was it always spring any longer. The fresh young grasses that
had clothed all the hillsides, and the gay- colored flowers that
had given Epimetheus and Pandora so much pleasure, were scorched by
hot summer suns, and bitten by the frosts of autumn. Oh, it was a
sad thing for the world, when all those wicked little Troubles were
let loose!
All the Troubles escaped from the box, but when Pandora let the lid
fall so hastily, she shut in one little winged creature, a kind of
good fairy whose name was Hope. This little Hope persuaded Pandora
to let her out. As soon as she was free, she flew about in the
world, undoing all the evil that the Troubles had done, that is, as
fast as one good fairy could undo the evil work of such a swarm. No
matter what evil thing had happened to poor mortals, she always
found some way to comfort them. She fanned aching heads with her
gossamer wings; she brought back the color to pale cheeks; and,
best of all, she whispered to those who were growing old that they
should one day be young again.
So this is
the way that Troubles came into the world, but we must not forget
that Hope came with them.
注释
1.live on
以...为生,以...为食物
2. nectar
n. 甘露
3. lay up = put by
4. in tiny
drops
小滴小滴地
5. Prometheus
普罗米修斯因盗天火救助人类而惹怒了朱庇特,被绑在高加索山脉上,让老鹰啄其肝脏,后因功获救
6
Epimetheus
普罗米修斯之弟未呀其兄忠告，接受神的赠物，致使灾祸散布人间。
7·Jupiter
朱庇特天上众神之王
8.
Mercury
墨丘利众神的信使，掌管商业、工艺、道路等的神。
9.
Pandora
潘多拉火神用黏土做成的地上的第一个女人。朱庇特为惩罚普罗米修斯偷取天上火种，特遣潘多拉为其弟之妻，并赠盒一只，潘多拉人自将其打开，各种灾祸就灰盒内飞出，最后只留下"希望"在其中。
10·a wreath of partly opened
rosebuds一顶含苞待放的玫瑰花冠
11·a filmy veil
薄纱
12·pay no heed to=pay no
attention to
不注意，未加注意·
13·satyr森林之神长着马耳马尾或山羊角山羊尾，半大半兽之神。
14·had she lifted the cover of a
beehive这是一个用厨装表示的条件句，=if she had lifted.
15·Out rushed a great swarm of
little winged creatures这L是一个倒装句
16·was well
stung 被狼狠地蛰了一下。动词stung的原形为sting。
17·clothe
v·
使披上，覆盖上
18·mortal
n·
凡人
19·gossamer
adj·
轻而薄的
20·虽然灾祸这样来到了世上，但我们不可忘了，随之而来的还有希望。
加载中…
喜欢