英语PK台 第22期:不要等到比原来更少(2)

 Grace’s Story: A lesson learned—Don't get too greedy.

Dialogue:

I reada story in a book lately. It really got me thinking…

小漫：最近我在书里读到了一个小故事，很受启发。

Whatstory? Tell me about it.

小祺：什么故事？说说看

This easy to understand story is called “End up with nothing”. It’s about theexperience of someone from the countryside who goes to the forest to catchpheasants. He sprinkles² grain on the ground as bait³. He uses a rope to tiearound a basket on the ground. Then he holds the rope from a distance and waitsfor the pheasants to fall into the trap.

小漫：这个浅显易懂的故事叫做《不要等到比原来更少》，讲了一个农民到森林里去捕野鸡的经历，他在地上洒满米粒，当作诱饵，用绳子系着篮筐放在地上，然后牵着长线在远处等着野鸡落入圈套。

That must be a rewarding experience!

小祺：那他一定满载而归吧！

Just the opposite. He didn’t catch any the whole day!

小漫：恰恰相反，一天下来他竟然一无所获！

That’s incredible⁴! What happened?

小祺：让人难以置信啊，发生了什么事？

At first, 6 hungry pheasants walked into the trap to eat, but the man noticedthere were 4 other pheasants outside of the trap. He thought: I should wait forthe other 4 to go in there, then I can catch 10!

小漫：刚开始，有6只饥饿的野鸡走入圈套吃米，不过农民看见篮筐外还有4只，心想：等它们也进去吃吧，我能抓10只呢！

He started to get greedy.

小祺：他开始有点贪心了。

After a while, two more walked in. The man wasdelighted. He thought to himself: just wait a little bit longer until they’reall inside. Who would’ve thought, some of the pheasants got full and slowlystarted leaving the trap. In the end, not even one pheasant remained.

小漫：过了一会儿，果然又进去了2只，农民非常高兴，心想：再等会儿，等它们全都进去。没想到，有些野鸡吃饱了，渐渐走出了圈套，最后一只野鸡也没留下。

That guy was probably really disappointed, huh? I wonder if he thought hard aboutwhy this happened?

小祺：那位农民一定很伤心吧？不知道他有没有仔细思考这件事为什么发生。

When opportunity knocks at our door, if you don’t grasp it well, and you areovercome by desire and greed¹, and I’m afraid you will end up with nothing.

小漫：遇到机会时，如果不能好好把握，被欲望和贪婪控制，恐怕什么都得不到。

Good point. There’s a good saying that goes “opportunity seldom knocks twice”.I’m one of those people who stop while they’re ahead. I never get too greedy,and I’m always happy.

小漫：有道理，俗话说得好——机不可失，失不再来。我就是一个见好就收的人，从来不贪多，也过得很快乐呢。

New words for dialogue:

Pheasant = 野鸡

Sprinkle = 洒

Bait = 诱饵

Just the opposite = 恰恰相反

Greedy = 贪心的

When opportunity knocks at your door = 遇到机会时

Opportunity seldom knocks twice = 机不可失，失不再来

Stop while you’re ahead = 见好就收

1 greed   

n.贪食，贪心，贪婪

参考例句：

• His greed knows no limits.他的贪心永无止境。
• Greed was his only motive for stealing.贪婪是他盗窃的唯一动机。

2 sprinkles   

n.少量，少数( sprinkle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A sprinkler sprinkles water on the roads to lay the dust. 洒水车将水洒在路上以不使尘土飞扬。 来自辞典例句
• She covered the cake with chocolate sprinkles. 她在蛋糕上撒了一层巧克力。 来自辞典例句

3 bait   

n.饵，引诱物；vt.用饵引诱，折磨，奚落

参考例句：

• The fish took the bait.鱼吞饵了。
• They are too knowing to bite at such a bait.他们很老练，不上这种当。

4 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。