多功能英语阅读06 The Golden Boot

The Golden Boot

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Ella. She lived in a

little cottage with her stepmother and her three step-sisters. They were

known as Sister Attila, Sister Etta, and Sister Ina. Their dear mother was

named Anna. All in all they were a massive lot.

Little Ella was small, mild, peculiar¹ and with long flaxen hair. Sister

Attila was grim, selfish and disgusting. Sister Etta was a masculine girl,

huge and muscular. Sister Ina was feeble and timid. Their mother, Anna was

without description.

The cottage they lived in was owned by the stepmother and she had

inherited from her late husband, Scrawny, a poor barber, who had died

prematurely² due to insufficient³ nutrition.

This little lodge⁴ was situated⁵ in the woods outside the forest that

surrounded the Castle of the Prince of Uganda.

The notable prince, his father's only designated heir, was a tall young

handsome playboy in search of a bride to fill his lonely life. She had to be

beautiful, talented, amusing, well proportioned, and, most of all, be of

fleet foot.

This was the day of the Castle's Annual Grand Banquet, where guests would

receive coupons⁶ entitling them to a discount in merchandise retailing⁷ stores.

All the clans⁸ of the surrounding country-side were planning to turn out. It

was the event of the season and naturally the Scrawnys were dressing⁹ up to

make the scene.

Of course little Ella was not allowed to participate. She had to stay

home and clean the ashes out of the fireplace, scrub the floors and polish

the knob of the big front door.

(If your had read the fairy tale, you'd know what events took place up

to the time of the striking of the midnight gong. This story would resume at

that moment.)

The twelve o'clock gong was banging out the midnight melody and the

Prince of Uganda was in hot pursuit of our leading lady. She dropped one of

her golden boots on the railing and she took flight hopping¹⁰ and skipping as

best she could. It was a great sight to depict¹¹; she was holding up her dress

and exposed her fancy laced Levi panties. At the sight of those fetching

panties the Prince could no longer contain himself. He tripped over her

golden boot, banged his head on the railing and was knocked unconscious.

As the lay there groaning¹², the Tower Clock finished clanging, Ella's horses

turned to rats and the carriage receded¹³ to its original state as a cucumber.

Boy, this was a night to behold¹⁴.

The next day, the prince, a bit groggy¹⁵ from the preceding nights' episode,

mounted his trusty horse and was off in pursuit of this feisty little feline¹⁶

with the fancy panties.

He stopped at all the eligible¹⁷ houses to see if any of the maids had feet

small enough to fit into this golden boot.

At last, in his pursuit he came upon the House of Scrawny. All three

stepsisters were keen on the chance to rub elbows with the Prince of Uganda.

Ella stood back watching the ceremony. She knew fully¹⁸ well that only

pinching pain would result from this exercise in vain of trying to get those

big fat feet into her footwear.

Alas¹⁹, the unhappy Prince gave up and mounted his sturdy horse and as he

departed the horse bolted and the Prince dropped the golden boot.

Ella ran out to retrieve²⁰ it for him and when she bent²¹ over she exposed

her fancy panties. The prince reined²² back his horse for he knew that at last

he had found the maiden²³ of his dreams. He scooped²⁴ her up onto his horse and

they rode off into the sunset with her beautiful flaxen hair flowing in the

wind and of course they lived happily ever after.

1 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

2 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

3 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

4 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

5 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

6 coupons   

n.礼券( coupon的名词复数 )；优惠券；订货单；参赛表

参考例句：

• The company gives away free coupons for drinks or other items. 公司为饮料或其它项目发放免费赠券。 来自辞典例句
• Do you have any coupons? 你们有优惠卡吗？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

7 retailing   

n.零售业v.零售(retail的现在分词)

参考例句：

• career opportunities in retailing 零售业的职业机会
• He is fond of retailing the news. 他喜欢传播消息。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

9 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

10 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

11 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

12 groaning   

adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。
• The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

13 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

14 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

15 groggy   

adj.体弱的；不稳的

参考例句：

• The attack of flu left her feeling very groggy.她患流感后非常虚弱。
• She was groggy from surgery.她手术后的的情况依然很不稳定。

16 feline   

adj.猫科的

参考例句：

• As a result,humans have learned to respect feline independence.结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。
• The awakening was almost feline in its stealthiness.这种醒觉，简直和猫的脚步一样地轻悄。

17 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

18 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

19 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

20 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

21 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

22 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

23 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

24 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》