美国语文第四册 第156期:所罗门王和蚂蚁

 　　Out from Jerusalem, the king rode with his great war chiefs and lords of state, 从耶路撒冷城，国王跃马而出带着军官和领主，

　　And Sheba's queen with them. 还有示巴女王。

　　Proud in the Syrian sun, 在叙利亚的阳光下，

　　In gold and purple sheen, 披着金色和紫色华服，

　　The dusky Ethiop queen smiled on King Solomon. 高傲的示巴女王，微笑地凝视着所罗门王。

　　Wisest of men, he knew the languages of all, 所有人中他是最聪明的，懂所有的语言，

　　the creatures great or small, That trod the earth or flew. 不论大小生物，不论飞禽走兽。

　　Across an ant-hill led the king's path, and he heard its small folk, and their word, he thus interpreted: 国王在路上，经过一处蚁丘，听到小蚂蚁交谈，他懂得它们是这么说的：

　　Here comes the king men greet, as wise and good and just, 令人爱戴的王来了，他聪明，善良又正直

　　To crush us in the dust under his heedless feet. 可是却要无情地把我们踩在脚下了。

　　The great king bowed his head, And saw the wide surprise, of the Queen of Sheba's eyes, As he told her what they said. 国王把蚂蚁的话，转述给示巴女王，低头他看见，她眼中露出的惊讶。

　　"O king!" she whispered sweet, “哦，王！”她甜蜜地低语，

　　Too happy fate have they, who perish in thy way, beneath thy gracious feet! 他们真幸运，即使牺牲，也要牺牲在你光荣的脚下。

　　Thou of the God-lent crown, Shall these vile¹ creatures dare, Murmur² against thee where the knees of kings kneel down? 你的王位是神赋予的，所有的王向你跪拜，这些卑微的小动物，竟敢对你嘀嘀咕咕？

　　"Nay," Solomon replied, “不，”所罗门王回答，

　　The wise and strong should seek yhe welfare of the weak; and turned his horse aside. 智慧和强大的人应为弱者谋福利；于是调转马头。

　　His train, with quick alarm, curved with their leader round, the ant-hill's peopled mound³, and left it free from harm. 并告知随从保持警觉，随他一起绕过蚁丘，不能让蚁丘的蚂蚁，受到丝毫伤害。

　　The jeweled head bent⁴ low; 戴着无数珠宝的女王，

　　"O king!" she said, "henceforth, the secret of thy worth And wisdom well I know. 低头说，噢，王，我终于明白了人的价值和智慧的秘密。

　　Happy must be the State whose ruler heedeth more, the murmurs⁵ of the poor, than flatteries of the great. 君主关心穷人疾苦，胜过权贵的奉承，生活在这个国家的人，他们是有福的。

1 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

2 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

3 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

4 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。

5 murmurs   

n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕

参考例句：

• They spoke in low murmurs. 他们低声说着话。 来自辞典例句
• They are more superficial, more distinctly heard than murmurs. 它们听起来比心脏杂音更为浅表而清楚。 来自辞典例句