英国语文第三册 第12期:一只狗是如何得到它的晚餐

 　　LESSON 12 How a dog got his dinner 第十二课 一只狗是如何得到它的晚餐

　　In a town in the south of France, twenty poor people were served with dinner, at a certain hour every day. 法国南部的一个小镇上,有20个流浪汉每天聚在一起享用晚餐.

　　A dog belonging to the place was always present at this meal, to watch for the scraps¹ that were now and then thrown to him. 一只当地的小狗常常出现在他们身旁,等着他们的残渣剩饭.

　　The guests, however, were poor and hungry, and of course not very liberal². 然而,由于享用者又穷又饿,当然不是非常自由自在的.

　　So the poor dog hardly did more than smell the feast³, of which he would have liked a share. 因此,这只流浪狗因为喜欢共享食物,就很难尝到很多食物.

　　Now it happened that this dinner was served out to each one on his ringing a bell; 现在每一次的晚餐都是在小狗拉响铃之后享用的,

　　but, as the person who served the dinner handed it through a small opening, he did not see who received it. 但是,由于晚餐是通过小门送出的,送餐的人就不知道谁吃了这餐饭.

　　Well, one day the dog had waited till all the poor people were gone. 一天,小狗等到所有流浪者都离开之后,

　　Having himself got very little to eat, he reached up, took hold of the rope by his teeth, and rang the bell. 留给自己的只有一丁点食物,它就立起来用牙齿咬住栓铃铛的绳子,敲响铃铛--

　　A good dinner was at once handed out, and the dog ate it with great delight⁴. 就有一顿丰盛的晚餐可以享用,小狗吃的非常开心.

　　This was done by the dog for several days; but the rogue⁵ was at length found out. 这是好几天前发生的事情了,但是小淘气肯定这么做很久了.

　　It was thought, however, so clever for a dog, that he was allowed to take his regular turn at the dinner every day. 但是,想一想,多聪明的一只小狗啊,每一天都可以有机会吃晚饭,

　　And thus he went on for a long time, ringing the bell, and taking his meal with the other beggars⁶! 因此他走了很久,敲响铃铛,和流浪者共享食物.

1 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

2 liberal   

adj.心胸宽阔的；自由(主义)的；慷慨的

参考例句：

• He has a liberal attitude to divorce and remarriage.他对离婚和再婚看得很开。
• This country adopts a liberal foreign policy.该国采用的是开放的外交政策。

3 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！

4 delight   

n.高兴，愉快；vt.给（某人）乐趣；使愉快；vi.喜爱

参考例句：

• Your new book is a real delight!你的新书真讨人喜欢！
• He takes delight in annoying me.他以惹我生气为乐。

5 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

6 beggars   

乞丐( beggar的名词复数 )； 家伙

参考例句：

• The rubbish left behind by the Cup Final crowd beggars description. 观看决赛的观众们丢下的垃圾实非笔墨所能描述。
• To give money to beggars sometimes amounts to encouraging begging. 给乞丐钱，有时就等于鼓励行乞。