英语听力精选进阶版 11269

 

31Aesop's Fables¹  Androcles and the Lion

By Rob John

Once there was a slave called Androcles who belonged to a very cruel master. Androcles worked all day long in his master’s fields and was never paid a single penny. He was always tired and hungry andone night Androcles decided² to escape.

He waited until his master was fast asleep then he crept out of the house...and silently made his way into the forest...and started running. 

Androcles knew that if he was caught he’d be punished so he ran all night and in the morning he lay down to rest. He’d just fallen asleep when he was woken by a terrible roaring sound.

Androcles jumped to his feet and standing³ right in front of him was a huge Lion. He was about to run away when he noticed the lion was holding out his paw...and...he wasn’t really roaring...he was crying because a huge thorn⁴ was sticking out of his paw.

‘Ouch! No wonder you’re crying,’ said Androcles to the lion. ‘I’d like to help you but if I come any closer you’ll probably eat me.’

But the lion had such a sad look in its eye that before Androcles had time to think he’d stepped forward and pulled out the thorn. 

The lion opened his mouth and let out a terrible cry......and for a moment Androcles thought he was going to be eaten  but instead of biting Androcles the lion gently licked⁶ his face. 

Androcles fetched some water from a stream and washed the Lion’s bleeding paw. 

‘You’ll be alright now,’ said Andro-cles. 

The lion licked Androcles one last time as if to say ‘thank you’ then limped⁷ off into the forest. Then Androcles heard a voice‘That’s him. Quickly...tie him up.’ 

Androcles knew that voice. It was his master. Six men grabbed⁸ An-drocles and tied him up with ropes. 

‘Thought you would escape did you?’ said the master. ‘Nobody escapes from me.’

Now Androcles was in really big trouble. The men took Androcles to the city and threw him in prison. Next day a prison guard brought Androcles some food.

‘Do you hear that roaring Andro-cles? We haven’t fed that lion since we caught him. But he’s going to have plenty to eat tomorrow when we put you in his cage.’

Next morning Androcles was taken to a huge arena⁹ like a football sta-dium. The Emperor and thousands of his people had come to see a man being eaten by a lion. 

In the centre of the arena was a cage and in the cage was a huge, very hungry lion. 

The crowd clapped and cheered as the guards pushed Androcles into the cage and slammed the door shut. 

Everyone went very still as the lion leapt towards Androcles. But then something odd happened. The lion stopped and stood very still. 

He knew this man. He’d seen him somewhere before. Then he re-membered the thorn that had stuck in his paw. 

‘Are you going to eat me then old friend?’ said Androcles.

But the lion just purred and licked the slaves face 

At first the crowd were angry. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They hadn’t paid good money to see a lion lick⁵ a man’s face. 

But the Emperor stood up and said, ‘This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.’  $nd he started to clap......and the people thought, ‘If the 

Emperor’s clapping then maybe I should clap too.’ 

Soon clapping and cheering rang round the arena. Androcles was taken to the palace and when the 

Emperor heard the story of the lion and the thorn he announced that both Androcles and the lion should be given their freedom.

‘Androcles, you helped the lion so the lion helped you ’ said the Emperor.

‘See how one good deed leads to another. You’re a free man now.’

Androcles and the lion walked out of the city together; both free.

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 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 thorn   

n.刺，荆棘，带刺小灌木

参考例句：

• The little boy stepped on a sharp thorn.那小男孩踩着了一根尖刺。
• The dog had a thorn in its pad.这只狗的爪垫上扎了根刺。

5 lick   

vt.舔（吃），打败，轻拍，吞卷；n.舔，少许

参考例句：

• I think we could lick the best teams there.我想我们能打败那儿最好的队。
• The house would look better with a lick of paint.这房子稍加颜色就好看了。

6 licked   

舔( lick的过去式和过去分词 )； 打败； （波浪）轻拍； （火焰）吞卷

参考例句：

• He licked his fingers. 他舔了一下自己的手指。
• The flames of the fire licked the sides of the fireplace. 火焰卷烧着壁炉的边缘。

7 limped   

一瘸一拐地走( limp的过去式和过去分词 )； 困难地航行

参考例句：

• The damaged ship limped back to port. 那艘受损的船困难地驶回港口。
• He limped off the playground. 他一瘸一拐地离开了运动场。

8 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

9 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。