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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
1. Mme. Oreille was a very economical woman; to the point that even her husband was hardly allowed any pocket money. Although they were very comfortably off, it really pained Mme. Oreille to see any money spent. Whenever she had to spend anything, no matter how necessary it might be, she slept badly the next night. Her husband, Mr. Oreille, was continually saying to his wife: “You really need to be more liberal, we never get to enjoy our income.” “It is better to have too much than too little.” She used to reply to that. She was a little woman of about forty, very active, wrinkled, very neat and tidy, and with a very short temper.
奥莱依太太非常节俭，甚至连她的丈夫也几乎得不到几个零用钱。尽管他们经济上比较宽裕，但每次看到钱从手里花掉都会令奥莱依太太感到十分痛苦。每当她不得不花掉一笔钱时，无论这笔钱花的是否必要，她当天晚上都会睡不安稳。她的丈夫奥莱依先生一再对她说：“你确实需要手松一点儿，我们赚那么多钱都从来没真正享受过。”“钱多总比钱少好。”她曾经这样回答道。她是个四十岁左右、身材矮小、充满活力的妇人，脸上已经有些皱纹，很是干净利落，但性子非常急。
2. Mr. Oreille frequently complained about his wife. For two years he had always come to his office with the same old patched umbrella, to the great amusement of his colleagues. At last he got so tired of their jokes that he insisted upon his wife buying him a new one, a good silk one, for twenty francs, and to bring him the bill, so that he could see that its quality was all right. She bought him one for eighteen francs, and said, getting red with anger as she gave it to her husband: “This will last you for five years at least.” Mr. Oreille felt quite triumphant1, and received a small ovation2 at the office with his new acquisition. His colleagues were even jealous of him!
奥莱依先生经常抱怨他的妻子害他缺这少那。两年来，他总是带着那把满是补丁的旧雨伞去办公室，这使得他总是成为同事们揶揄的对象。最后，他实在无法继续忍受他们的玩笑，坚持要妻子给他买一把价值20法郎，采用优质丝绸面料的新伞，并且必须把发票带回来作证。后来，她花了18法郎为他买了一把，在交给他丈夫的时候，脸气得通红，说：“这把伞，你至少得用五年。”奥莱依先生感到相当得意洋洋，并且当带着这个新装备来到办公室时，同事们对他还有了那么一点儿肃然起敬。他们甚至开始嫉妒他了！
3. When he went home in the evening his wife said to him: “You must take care of your umbrella well, for I shall not buy you a new one.” She took it to put it away safe, but suddenly was dumfounded with rage; in the middle of the silk there was a hole! “What is that?” she screamed. Her husband replied quietly, without looking at it: “What do you mean?” “You—you—have—burned—your umbrella!” “What are you talking about? I have done nothing, I swear. I don't know what is the matter with the umbrella.” “You have been playing tricks with it at the office, to show it off!” she screamed. “I only opened it once, to let them see what a nice one it was, that is all, I swear.” But she shook with rage.
他晚上回到家时，他的妻子对他说：“你必须爱护好这把伞，因为我不会再给你买新的了。”当她接过伞，打算把它放到一个安全的地方时，却被眼前的一幕惊呆了——这把伞的丝绸面料中间有一个洞！“这是怎么回事？”她尖叫道。她的丈夫看都没看一眼便安静地回答说：“什么意思？”“你……你……把……伞……烫了个洞！”“你在说什么？我发誓，我什么也没做。我不知道那伞是怎么回事。”“你一定在办公室拿着伞耍着玩，显摆来着！”她尖声嚷道。“我只撑开了一次，让他们也欣赏下好东西，仅此而已，我发誓。”但此时她已经被气得直发抖。
4. After hours of arguing, she mended it with a piece of silk cut out of the old umbrella, which was of a different colour. The next day Mr. Oreille went off with the mended article in his hand. He put it into a cupboard, and thought no more of it. But he had barely got home that evening when his wife took the umbrella from him, opened it, and the disaster that followed was immense. The umbrella was covered with small holes!
他们大吵了几个小时后，奥莱依太太从那把旧伞上剪下了一块颜色不一样的面料，补在了新伞上。第二天，奥莱依先生手里拿着这把补好的伞走出了家门。他把伞往橱柜里一塞，就不再想它了。但是，那天晚上，他刚刚到家，他的妻子就从他手中夺过了雨伞，撑开了，一场灾难也随之而来——雨伞上到处是小洞！
5. After seeing this, she threw the useless umbrella at his head, screaming out in rage: “Oh! you brute3! you brute! You did it on purpose, but I will pay you out for it. You shall not have another.” She was outraged4 he rest of the evening and refused to speak to her husband until he left for work the next day. Left by herself, Mme. Oreille could not get over the loss of her eighteen francs by any means.
看到这触目惊心的一幕后，她把这把没用的伞扔在了他的头上，并愤怒地大喊道：“啊！你个混蛋！你个混蛋！你是故意的！我得让你尝尝我的厉害。我绝对不会再给你买伞了！”那天晚上剩下的时间里，她的脑海中一直充斥着愤怒的情绪，直到第二天她的丈夫出门上班也没跟他说一句话。此时家里只剩下她一个人了，但她还是无法平复失去那18法郎的坏心情。
6. She tried not to think of it anymore, and yet the thought of the loss struck her painfully. So she decided5: “I will go to the fire insurance company, to get a reimbursement6, and we will see what will happen.” At the Insurance building, she found herself in a large room where three solemn gentlemen in suits were talking. One of them asked her: “What do you want, Madame?” She, nervous, could hardly get out her words, but stammered7: “I have come—I have come on account of an accident, something— “. “
她试图不再想这件事，但是钱财损失的念头还是令她痛苦不已。于是，她决定：“我要去火灾保险公司，让他们赔偿我，看看他们怎么处理。”进入保险公司大楼，她来到了一个大房间里，里面有三位西装革履的先生正在交谈。其中一个问她：“您有什么需要的吗，太太？”她紧张地几乎把准备好的词都忘了，结结巴巴地说道：“我来是……我来是为了一笔意外损失……”。
7. She could scarcely speak, as she knew she was not going to tell the entire truth, but at last she managed to say: “I have come for this.” She showed the damaged umbrella. “It cost me twenty francs,” she said, with some hesitation8. He seemed astonished. “Really! As much as that?” The second gentleman in the room, the manager, said: “Sorry, Madame, we do not sell umbrellas; we cannot undertake such kinds of repairs.”
她几乎说不出话来，是因 为她知道自己不能说出全部实情，但最后她还是组织好了语言：“我来就是为了这个。”她拿出了那把破伞。“我花了20法郎买它，”她说话的语气有些犹豫。那位先生看起来非常惊讶。“真的吗！？有那么贵？”房间里的另一位先生是经理，他说：“对不起，这位太太，我们不卖雨伞。我们没办法帮您修它。”
8. Feeling challenged, the little woman felt her courage reviving; she was not even afraid any more, and said: “I only want you to pay me the cost of repairing it.” Both gentlemen seemed rather confused. “Really, Madame, it is such a very small matter! We are never asked to give compensation for such trivial losses.” Said the first. She got red in the face, and felt inclined to fly into a rage.
感觉受到了挑战，这位身材矮小的妇人重新恢复了勇气。她甚至不再感到害怕了，于是说：“我只想让你们赔我修理雨伞的费用。”这两位先生似乎都非常困惑。“说真的，太太，这是一件非常小的事情！从来没人要求我们赔偿这种微不足道的损失。”她脸憋得通红，感觉自己就要大发雷霆了。
9. “Will you kindly9 tell me how the damage was done?” the third gentleman, who maybe pitied her or maybe was scared of her, asked. She felt that she had won, and said: “Most likely a piece of the burning candle in the hall, above the umbrella holder10, had fallen between the folds and burned it. You can see how it has damaged it. —Look here, monsieurs, I do not want to make any money out of you, so I will tell you what we will do. I will take my umbrella to an umbrella maker11, who will re-cover it in good, durable12 silk, and I will bring the bill to you. Will that suit you, monsieurs?”
“您能否告诉我整个事情的经过吗？”房间里的第三位先生问道（可能因为可怜她，也可能因为害怕她做出过激的事情）。她感到自己赢了，于是说：“很可能是大厅里伞架上方一根点燃的蜡烛掉落在了伞的折叠处，把伞烧坏的。您看看它都被烧成什么样子了。你们看看，先生们。我并不想从你们那赚钱，所以我将告诉你们我们下一步要做什么。我会把这把雨伞带到一家制伞店，让他们用耐用的优质丝绸把它修好，然后我会把发票交给你们。这样可以吧，先生们？”
10. The three men realized they had the choice between dealing13 with an outraged woman for hours or simply giving her what she wanted and continue their day in a few moments. “Perfectly, Madame; we will settle it so. Here is a note for the cashier, who will repay you whatever it costs you.” Said the manager. He gave Mme. Oreille a slip of paper, who took it, got up and went out, thanking him, for she was in a hurry to escape lest he should change his mind. She went briskly through the streets, and when she found a first-class shop she said, confidently: “I want this umbrella re-covered in silk, good silk. Use the very best and strongest you have; I don't mind what it costs.”
三位先生意识到，他们只能在“与一个愤怒的妇人纠缠几个小时”与“用很少的时间，简单地满足她的需要，然后继续自己手头的工作”之间做出选择。“很好，太太，我们就这样一言为定了。您把这张便条交给出纳，然后他们会把您花的钱如数付给您的。”经理说。奥莱依太太接过了那张便条，一边道谢一边起身往外走。她这么急着就走，是因为她怕他会反悔。她轻快地穿过街道，在看到一家一流的制伞商时，便走了进去。她自信地说：“我要用优质的丝绸面料换掉这把伞的面料。用你们最好的、最结实的丝绸面料。价钱多少，我不在乎！”
收听单词发音 |
1
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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ovation
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| n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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reimbursement
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| n.偿还，退还 | |
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7
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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9
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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