美国语文第二册 第43期:狐狸和鸭子

 LESSON 48 第四十八课

heed¹ 注意

sight 看见

slyly³ 狡猾的

stream 小河

drifting 漂移

flock⁴ 蜂拥

flight 飞行

snaps⁵ 吧嗒

hidden 躲藏

circling 环绕

THE FOX AND THE DUCKS 狐狸和鸭子

On a summer day, 夏日的一天，

a man sitting on the bank of a river, 有个人坐在河边，

in the shade of some bushes, 在灌木丛的阴凉下，

watched a flock of ducks on the stream. 着小溪中的一群鸭子。

Soon a branch with leaves came drifting among them, 不久，一根带着几片叶子树枝漂到了它们中间。

and they all took wing. 鸭子们都张开翅膀飞起来，

After circling in the air for a little time, 在空中盘旋一小会儿后，

they settled down again on their feeding ground. 又落到了它们的觅食地。

Soon another branch came drifting down among them, 很快，另一根树枝也漂到了它们中间。

and again they took flight from the river; 鸭子再次从河里飞起来。

but when they found the branch had drifted by 当它们发现树枝漂走了，

and done them no harm, 并没有对它们造成伤害后，

they flew down to the water as before. 它们又像从前那样落到了水里。

After four or five branches had drifted by in this way, 当四五根树枝都流经这里后，

the ducks gave little heed to them. 鸭子们稍稍留意了一下它们。

At length, they hardly tried to fly out of their way, 最后，甚至在树枝快要碰到它们时，

even when the branches nearly touched them. 也不再试图飞起来了。

The man who had been watching all this, 有个人看到了全过程。

now began to wonder who had set these branches adrift. 他开始纳闷是谁把这些树枝放在水里让它们漂过去。

He looked up the stream, 他抬头看了看河流，

and spied a fox slyly watching the ducks. 发现一只狐狸正阴险地注视着鸭子们。

"What will he do next?" thought the man. “它下一步会做什么呢？”这个人想。

When the fox saw that the ducks were no longer afraid of the branches, 当这只狐狸看到鸭子们不再害怕树枝后，

he took a much larger branch than any he had yet used, 它搬来一个比以前用过的更大的树枝，

and stretched himself upon it so as to be almost hidden. 然后直挺挺地趴在上面藏起来。

Then he set it afloat as he had the others. 它让这个树枝漂到水里，就像它以前做过的一样。

Right among the flock drifted the sly² old fox, 狡猾的老狐狸准确无误地漂到了鸭群中，

and, making quick snaps to right and left, 突然向左右快速猛咬。

he seized two fine young ducks, 它捉住了两只漂亮的小鸭子，

and floated off with them. 然后离开了水面。

The rest of the flock flew away in fright, 其余的鸭子惊吓地飞离水面，

and did not come back for a long time. 吓得很久也没再回来。

The fox must have had a fine dinner 那只狐狸肯定享用了一顿美妙的晚餐，

to pay him for his cunning⁶, patient work. 来犒劳自己狡猾而耐心的劳动。

1 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

2 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

3 slyly   

adv.狡猾地；偷偷地；俏皮地；会意地

参考例句：

• She glanced slyly at Madeleine. 她诡秘地向马德琳瞥了一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was lurking slyly in the background. 他狡猾地躲在背后活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

5 snaps   

v.猛地咬住( snap的第三人称单数 )；（使某物）发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开，关闭]；厉声地说；拍照

参考例句：

• The cloth flower snaps on with a special binder. 这布花是用一种特殊的粘合剂固定住的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As the fish snaps at the bait, it gets caught on the hook. 鱼咬饵时，就被钓在钩上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 cunning   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；n.狡猾，奸诈

参考例句：

• A spy used cunning means to find out secrets.间谍使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• The fox is known for its cleverness and cunning.狐狸的机敏和狡猾是人所共知的。