美国小学英语教材6:第89课 潘多拉魔盒(2)

 Whenever a child wanted his dinner, he found it growing on a tree; 无论孩童何时想吃晚餐，他会发现晚饭正在树上成长；

and if he looked at the tree in the morning, he could see the blossom of that night's supper; 如果他是早上看到的这棵树，那么晚上就会盛开出晚饭；

or at eventide he saw the tender bud of tomorrow's breakfast. 他会在黄昏看到树上的早餐，那是嫩嫩的骨朵。

It was a very pleasant life indeed. No labor¹ to be done, no lessons to be studied; 这样的生活很幸福，不用工作，不用学习；

nothing but sports and dances and sweet voices of children talking or singing. 剩下的只有运动，舞蹈以及孩子们说话和唱歌发出的甜美声音。

What was most wonderful of all, the children never quarreled among themselves; neither had they any crying fits; 但最最棒的是，孩子们之间从不打架，也不会发脾气，

nor, since time first began, had a single one of them ever I gone into a corner and sulked. 自从时间创立以来，还没有一个或多个孩子在角落中生气。

Oh, what a good time was that to be alive in! The truth is, those ugly little winged monsters called Troubles, 生活在这样的环境中是多好啊，事实是，这些丑陋矮小，带着翅膀的怪兽被称为“麻烦”，

which are now almost as numerous as mosquitoes, had never yet been seen on the earth. 如今这些怪兽几乎和蚊虫的数量一样多，此前从未出现在地球上。

Perhaps the very greatest uneasiness which a child had ever felt was Pandora's vexation 或许，孩子感受过的最强烈的不安就是潘多拉的怒火，

at not being able to discover the secret of the mysterious box. 他没法知道神秘盒子的秘密。

Whence can the box have come? Pandora continually kept saying to herself and to Epimetheus. 这个盒子来自哪里？潘多拉一直在问自己和厄毗米修斯。

And what on earth can be inside of it? Always talking about this box! said Epimetheus at last, 里面究竟是什么？厄毗米修斯终于说了出来，总是在谈论黑子，

for he had grown tired of the subject. I wish, dear Pandora, you would try to talk of something else. 他已经厌烦了这个话题，亲爱的潘多拉，我希望你能谈点别的。

Come, let us go and gather some ripe figs², and eat them under the trees for our supper. 我们来一起捡一些成熟的无花果吧，把它当做晚饭在树下食用。

And I know a vine that has the sweetest and juiciest grapes you ever tasted. 我知道一种葡萄树，它是我尝过最甜最多汁的葡萄。

Always talking about grapes and figs! cried Pandora, pettishly⁴. 潘多拉发脾气地叫嚷到，总是在谈论葡萄和无花果。

Well, then, said Epimetheus, who was a very goodtempered child, let us run out and have a merry time with our playmates. 好脾气的厄毗米修斯说好吧，让我们跑出去和同伴们玩耍吧。

I am tired of merry times, and don't care if I never have any more! answered pettish³ little Pandora. 坏脾气的潘多拉说，我厌倦了快乐时光，不在乎是否还会有快乐时光。

And, besides, I never do have any. This ugly box! I am so taken up with thinking about it all the time. 此外，我不会有快乐时光了，这个丑陋的盒子，我无时无刻不在想这个盒子。

I insist upon your telling me what is inside of it. 我坚持让你告诉我里面是什么。

 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。

3 pettish   

adj.易怒的，使性子的

参考例句：

• I can't act in pettish to you any further.我再也不能对你撒娇了。
• He was getting more and more pettish and hysterical.他变得越来越任性，越来越歇斯底里。

4 pettishly   

参考例句：

• \"Oh, no,'she said, almost pettishly, \"I just don't feel very good.\" “哦，不是，\"她说，几乎想发火了，\"我只是觉得不大好受。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Then he tossed the marble away pettishly, and stood cogitating. 于是他一气之下扔掉那个弹子，站在那儿沉思。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险