床头灯英语-莎士比亚戏剧故事01A

The Taming¹ of the Shrew

Once,in the city of Padua in Italy,there lived a rich gentleman named Baptista.

He had two daughters ,named Katherina and Baptista.Everyone called Katherina"Kath-erina the Shrew."

A shrew is a sour,angry,mean young woman.Katherina was beautiful

and very intelligenct.But she was unkind²,unpleasant,and usually angry with everyone.

It seemed impossible that she would ever find a husband.However,her younger sister

Bianca,was beautiful,sweet,and gentle.Many men wanted to marry Bianca,but Baptista

would not allow it,"when Katherina finds a husband ,i will allow Bianca to marry. But n-ot before!" he said.

One day a gentleman named Petruchio came to Padua.He wanted to find a wi-fe.He heard the story of Baptista's two
daughters. He decided³ that Katherina's temper⁴ did not scare him."She is beautiful and rich. I will tame⁵ her, as if she

was a wild horse.I will marry her ,and she will become as sweet and quiet as a mouse!"

Petruchio was very similar to Katherina. He was intelligent,lively,and independ-ent, just like her. He was not afraid of
Katherina;instead, he was excited about taming this difficult woman. His personality was very fun-loving, and he thought
that it would be fun to marry Katherina. So Petruchio went to the home of Baptista, to ask his per-mission.

"Sir, I have come from the city of Verona. I have heard stories of your gentle,

sweet daughter Katherina.(Petruchio was lying, of course.)I would like your permission

to spend time with her."

Baptista wanted Katherina to be married. But he didn't want this nice-looking

young man to be mistaken."Sadly, Katherina is not sweet and kind," he said.

Just then, Katherina's music teacher run into the room."Your daughter hit me

over the head with her lute⁶!" he cried angrily. Petruchio thought this was very funny.

"She is a brave young lady, isn't she? Now I want to talk to her more than ever!" The-

n he said to Baptista, "sir, I am in a big hurry, I cannot come here every day to see y-our daughter. My father, who is
dead, has left me all his land. I must find a wife quickl

y!Now tell me, if Katherina agrees to marry me ,what dowry will you give me with her?"

A dowry was usually money or jewels that were given to a man along with a wife.

Baptista thought that Petruchio was a little strange. But he wanted Katherina

to be married. So he said, "I will give you twenty thousand gold coins, and when I die,

you will receive half my property." Petruchio agreed to this. Then Baptista went to find

Katherina and tell her that someone had asked to marry her.

While Baptista did this, Petruchio thought about what he would say to Kathe-rina."I will speak to her sweetly.When she shouts to me, I will tell her she is as sweet as a bird. If she frowns⁷ and looks angry, I will say she looks as beautiful as a young

rose. If she is silent, I will praise her inelligence. If she tells me to leave her, I will act a-s happy as if she told me to stay for a week!"

Now the beautiful Katherina entered the room."Good morining, Kate!For that

is your name, I hear."(Kate is a short name for Katherina.)

"When people speak to me, they call me Katherina," said Katherina coldly.

"No, you're lying. You are the prettiest Kate in the country. I have heard sto-ries of your beauty and gentleness. So I have come to ask you to be my wife."

Katherina, of course, was very unkind, loud, and angry.But Petruchio did not

become angry himself. No matter what Katherina said, Petruchio said something nice

to her in return.Their strange conversation continued for a while.Then Petruchio heard

Baptista coming. "Sweet Katherina, We must stop talking of small things. Your father

agreed that you will be my wife. Whether you want to or not, I will marry you."

Then Baptista came in.Petruchio said,"Your daughter has spoken to me most

kindly⁸.She agrees that we will be married next Sunday."

Katherina was furious⁹, of course. " I did not say that! I would rather see him

killed on Sunday!"she shouted.Then she scolded her father wanting her to marry such

a crazy man.

But Petruchio whispered to Baptista,"Do not pay attention to her angry wor-ds. When we were alone, she was very sweet, I'm sure she loves me, and wants to bemarried."

Then Petruchio said to Katherina, " Give me your hand, Kate.I will go to Ven-ice to buy you beautiful clothes for our wedding. Baptista, you provide the feast¹⁰, and

invite the guests. I will return on Sunday, sweet Katherina!"

On the Sunday, many people came to see the wedding.Everyone waited a

long time, but Petruchio did not come. Ketherina was so angry she cried.

......

1 taming   

（使）服从，驯服( tame的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。
• She is an expert in taming animals. 她是一个驯兽专家。

2 unkind   

adj.不仁慈的，不和善的

参考例句：

• He was never unkind to her.他从未亏待过她。
• Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person.恶人有恶报。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 temper   

n.恶劣的心情，心绪焦躁；性情，脾气

参考例句：

• The man lost his temper and struck out wildly.那人因发怒而大打出手。
• One day the man flew at me in a temper.一天,那个人冲着我大发脾气。

5 tame   

adj.驯服的，柔顺的，乏味的；v.驯养，使...驯服

参考例句：

• His job is to tame lions.他的工作是驯狮。
• He is so tame that he agrees with everybody.他很随和，总是顺从他人的意见。

6 lute   

n.琵琶，鲁特琴

参考例句：

• He idly plucked the strings of the lute.他漫不经心地拨弄着鲁特琴的琴弦。
• He knows how to play the Chinese lute.他会弹琵琶。

7 frowns   

皱眉( frown的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy. 朋友向你皱眉胜过敌人向你微笑。
• An ancient pagoda frowns on the mountainside. 一座古塔阴森森地矗立在山腰上。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 furious   

adj.狂怒的，暴怒的，强烈的，激烈的

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• His wife was furious with him.他妻子对他大发雷霆。

10 feast   

n.盛宴，筵席，节日

参考例句：

• After the feast she spent a week dieting to salve her conscience.大吃了一顿之后，她花了一周时间节食以安慰自己。
• You shouldn't have troubled yourself to prepare such a feast!你不该准备这样丰盛的饭菜，这样太麻烦你了！