美国小学英语教材5:第110课 点金术(4)

 At length Midas had become so exceedingly¹ foolish that he could scarcely² bear to see or touch any object that was not gold. 最后，迈达斯变得非常愚蠢，他几乎不能看到或触摸任何不是金子的东西。

He made it his custom, therefore, to pass a large part of every day in a dark and dreary³ apartment, underground in the basement of his palace. 因此，他把每天的大部分时间都花在他宫殿地下室阴暗沉闷的公寓里，这成了他的习惯。

It was here that he kept his wealth. 那里都是他的财富。

To this dreary hole — for it was little better than a dungeon—Midas betook himself whenever he wanted to be particularly happy. 到这个阴森的洞里去——因为它比地牢好不了多少——迈达斯想要特别快乐的时候就到这里去。

Here, after carefully locking the door, he would take a bag of gold coin, 在小心地锁好门之后，他会拿一袋金币，

or a gold cup as big as a washbowl, 或者像脸盆那么大的金杯，

or a heavy golden bar, 或者一根沉重的金条，

or a peck-measure of gold-dust, 或是一配克金粉，

and bring them from the dark corners of the room into the one bright and narrow sunbeam that fell from the narrow window. 把它们从房间黑暗的角落带到从狭窄的窗户射下来的明亮狭窄的阳光下。

He valued the sunbeam for no other reason but that his treasure would not shine without its help. 他珍视阳光的唯一原因就是，没有它的帮助，他的财宝就不会发光。

And then would he count the coins in the bag; 然后他会数袋子里的硬币；

toss⁴ up the bar, and catch it as it came down; 把铁棒向上抛，落下时抓它；

sift⁵ the golddust through his fingers; 筛过手指间的金粉；

look at the funny image of his own face in the polished surface of the cup; 看看他自己的脸在抛光的杯子表面的滑稽形象；

and whisper to himself, “O Midas, rich King Midas, what a happy man art thou!” 对自己低语：“噢，迈达斯，富有的迈达斯国王，你是一个多么幸福的人啊!”

 

1 exceedingly   

adv.非常地，极度地

参考例句：

• He drove exceedingly fast.他把车开得极快。
• They were exceedingly kind.他们极为客气。

2 scarcely   

adv.几乎不，简直没有，勉强

参考例句：

• He found the dullness of his work scarcely bearable.他觉得他的工作枯燥乏味，简直无法忍受。
• She scarcely earns enough money to make ends meet.她几乎挣不到足够的钱以维持开支。

3 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

4 toss   

n./v.突然抬起，摇摆，扔

参考例句：

• Let's toss to see who pays it.让我们来掷钱币决定谁付账吧。
• The matter made him toss in the bed.那件事使他在床上翻来覆去。

5 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。