美国语文第六册 第245期:砖石切砖石(5)

"What we desire," said Omar, raising his voice, "is ants'wings, half male and half female. You have two hours in which to furnish the twenty pounds you have promised us."

“我们要的是，”奥马尔说，抬高了声音。“蚂蚁的翅膀，半雄半雌的。在两个小时内你必须提供你保证的二十磅蚂蚁的翅膀。”

"This is absurd," cried the jeweler, "it is impossible. I should need half a score of persons and six months labor¹ to satisfy so foolish a demand."

“这太荒谬了，”珠宝商喊道，“这不可能。这起码需要二十个人用六个月时间来满足这愚蠢的要求。”

"Are there any winged ants in Jidda?" asked the cadi.

“在吉达有长翅膀的蚂蚁吗？”地方法官问道。

"Of course," answered the merchants, laughing, "they are one of the plagues of Egypt. Our houses are full of them, and it would be doing us a great service to rid us of them."

“当然，”这位商人哈哈大笑道，“这种蚂蚁是埃及一种瘟疫的始作俑者。我们家里到处都是这东西，需要费很大劲才能赶走它。”

"Then Ali must keep his promise or give back the casket," said the cadi.

“看来阿里必须信守诺言，不然的话就归还那只匣子。”大方法官说。

"This young man was mad to sell his diamonds weight for weight; he is mad to exact such payment.

“这年轻人简直疯了，居然用相同重量的钻石换蚂蚁的翅膀；他要求用这种支付方式，真是疯了啊。

So much the better for Ali the first time, so much the worse for him the second.

对阿里来说，这样的好事还是第一次碰到，第二次碰到就要倒大霉了。

Justice has not two weights and measures. Every bargain holds good before the law.

公正就意味着不会存在两个重量和两个尺度。在法律面前，每一桩交易都要体现公正。

Either furnish twenty pounds of ants'wings, or restore the casket to the Banian."

要么提供二十磅重的蚂蚁翅膀，要么将装钻石的匣子还给印度商人。”

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。