英语听力精选进阶版 11263

 

24Aesop's Fables¹  

The Goose that laid the Golden Eggs

By Nicky Grischotti

图片1

There once was a very poor farmer.  

So poor he lived in an old tumble-down pigsty² in the middle of no-where with only acorns³ and the odd goose egg to eat and a bale of straw for his bed. His name was Attacus Greeb.

Now Attacus Greeb hadn’t always been poor. He’d inherited a large and prosperous farm from his father and he’d owned land as far as the eye could see. But Attacus 

Greeb was a lazy man. He didn’t like work.

'I'm far too good to be milking cows,'  he said . 'I should be Lord of the Manor⁴ with servants and footmen…and heaps of silver and gold.'

So over the years, instead of work-ing for a living he 'd simply sold off his possessions.

He'd sold almost everything his father had given him - his house, his land, his horses, his pigs, his cattle and all he was left with was  one single goose who lived with him. 

'Oh what is to become of me?'  wailed Attacus late one night. 'I have no house, no food and no money and nothing left to sell…I shall surely starve!' And then he looked at his goose. 

'It 's no good honking⁵ at me goosey it 's off with you to the market to-morrow – you haven⁶' t laid an egg in weeks and your feathers will fetch me a fair few guineas.'  And off he went to sleep. 

The next morning Attacus Greeb 

awoke to a glittering dawn. It was so light and bright he had to shield his eyes. But it wasn' t the sunlight shining, he could hardly believe what he saw, it was a gigantic, glorious… Golden Egg!  'You clever girl! Ha ! H!a Ho! Ho! We 'll be rich! 

Rich beyond our dreams!' 

So off he went to market pushing the egg in an old wheelbarrow… and back he came with a barrowful of meat to cook, chicken feed for his goose and a huge bag of coins. 

'Oh how I wish I had money to buy a horse -drawn carriage,'  he said patting his full tummy that night. 

'That's what I need to be happy.' 

Well, the very next morning the same thing happened…there was another shiny golden egg lying beside the goose. So off went 

Attacus to market and with the money he got he bought a smart black carriage and six sleek⁷ horses. 

And every day the same thing hap-pened and every day Attacus Greeb counted his money and wished for more and more.

But as fast as the little goose could lay a golden egg Attacus Greeb wanted more. 'Why can' t you lay more eggs each day? We need more, we need more I say!' 

Soon the farmer became a very rich man indeed – but as he grew rich, he grew greedy – and still he wanted more.  

And then he had an idea.

'How I wish I could have all the golden eggs at once,'  he thought, 'instead of just one a day. Then I would surely be happy.'

So the next morning he ordered his cook to kill the goose and open it up so he could take out all the eggs at once – but, of course, to his hor-ror there was nothing inside the poor goose…and there would be no golden eggs again.

And Attacus Greeb ended  up back in his tumble-down pigsty - just where he belonged!

Those who have plenty want more and so lose all they have.

1 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

2 pigsty   

n.猪圈，脏房间

参考例句：

• How can you live in this pigsty?你怎能这住在这样肮脏的屋里呢？
• We need to build a new pigsty for the pigs.我们需修建一个新猪圈。

3 acorns   

n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Welcome to my new website!It may not look much at the moment, but great oaks from little acorns grow! 欢迎来到我的新网站。它现在可能微不足道，不过万丈高楼平地起嘛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

5 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

7 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。