英国语文第四册 第16期:船上的猴子(1)

The following account of a Senegal monkey was written by a lady who was a passenger on board the ship in which it was brought to England: —

以下是乘坐开往英格兰游船上的一位女乘客撰写的，关于一只塞内加尔猴子的描述：

We had several monkeys on board. but Jack¹, the cook's monkey, was the prince of them all.

我们船上有几只猴子，但厨师的猴子杰克是它们的王子。

At first Jack had been kept to one part of the deck by means of a cord;

起初，杰克一直被绳子拴着，关在甲板中。

but as he grew tame he got more liberty,

但随着它变得温顺，它也得到了更多自由。

till at last he was allowed the whole range of the ship, excepting the captain's and the passengers' cabins.

最后，除了船长和乘客待的船舱，它可以在整条船上游荡。

I was often awakened² at an early hour by the quick trampling³ of feet on deck,

我经常一大早会被甲板上的脚步声惊醒，

and knew that it arose from a pursuit of Jack for some mischief⁴ he had been doing.

我知道杰克又搞恶作剧了，有人在追它。

He would snatch the caps off the sailors' heads, and steal their knives and other tools;

它会从水手头上夺走帽子，偷他们的刀和其他工具；

which, if not very actively⁵ pursued, he would sometimes throw overboard.

如果不使劲追它，有时它会把这些东西扔到海里。

When breakfast was preparing, Jack used to take a seat in a corner, near the grate,

准备早餐时，杰克常常坐在壁炉边的角落里。

and, when the cook's back was turned, snatch up something from the fire, and conceal⁶ it.

当厨师转过身时，它会从火里抓些东西，把它藏起来。

He sometimes burned his fingers by these tricks, and this kept him quiet for a few days.

有时，他会在刷这些花招时烧伤手指，这让它能安静几天。

But no sooner was the pain gone, than the same thing was done again.

但疼痛一消失，它又搞起同样的把戏。

Two days in each week, the pigs, which formed part of our live stock, were allowed to run about the deck for exercise;

每星期有两天，我们活牲畜中的一种——猪，会跑到甲板上来锻炼；

and then Jack was as happy as the day was long.

杰克一天都会非常高兴。

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

4 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。