攻玉之石14-一只老鼠的麻烦

[00:00.00]The trouble of the mouse 一只老鼠的麻烦
[00:05.73]A little mouse living on a farm
[00:09.89]was looking through a crack in the wall one day
[00:12.64]and saw the farmer
[00:14.15]and his wife opening a package.
[00:16.34]The mouse was intrigued¹ by what food the package might contain.
[00:22.26]He was aghast to discover that is was a mousetrap.
[00:27.61]The mouse ran to the farmyard warning everyone:
[00:31.88]“There is a mousetrap in the house,
[00:34.93]there is a mousetrap in the house.”
[00:37.45]The chicken raised his head and said,
[00:40.84]“Mr. Mouse,
[00:42.48]I can tell you this trap is a grave concern to you,
[00:47.08]but it has no consequence to me
[00:50.13]and I cannot be bothered with it.”
[00:52.88]The mouse turned to the pig,
[00:55.71]but the pig said,
[00:57.14]“I am so sorry Mr. Mouse,
[01:00.41]but the trap is no concern of mine either!”
[01:04.70]The mouse then turned to the bull,
[01:07.86]only to hear
[01:08.85]“It sounds like you have a problem Mr. Mouse,
[01:12.56]but not one that concerns me.”
[01:15.09]The mouse returned to the house,
[01:18.03]head down and dejected
[01:20.87]that no one would help him or has concerned about his dilemma².
[01:25.89]He knew he had to face the trap on his own.
[01:30.60]That night the sound of a trap catching³ its prey
[01:34.66]was heard throughout the house.
[01:36.84]The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught.
[01:41.10]In the darkness she could not see
[01:43.63]that it was a venomous snake
[01:46.57]whose tail the trap had caught.
[01:49.43]The snake bit the farmer’s wife.
[01:52.69]The wife caught a bad fever
[01:55.56]and the farmer knew the best way to treat a fever was with chicken soup.
[02:01.66]The farmer took his hatchet⁴ to the farmyard
[02:04.85]to get the soup’s main ingredient.
[02:07.90]The wife got sicker and friends
[02:11.09]and neighbors came by to take turns sitting with her round the clock.
[02:16.33]The farmer knew he had to feed them,
[02:19.17]so he butchered the pig.
[02:21.37]The farmer’s wife did not get better,
[02:25.19]in fact she died and so many friends and family came to her funeral
[02:30.77]that the farmer had to slaughter⁵ the bull to feed all of them.
[02:34.93]So the next time we hear that one of our teammates
[02:39.19]is facing a problem and think it does not concern or effect us,
[02:44.43]let us remember that when anyone of us is in trouble,
[02:49.14]we are all at risk.

1 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

2 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

5 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。