英语听力精选进阶版 11271

 

33Aesop's Fables¹  The Heron and the Fish

By Tony Payne

The heron walked like a king along the grassy² river bank. 

The otter³ curtseyed as the heron passed. 

The water vole bent⁴ his knee as the heron passed. 

The kingfisher bowed so low as the heron passed that she turned com-pletely upside down on the branch she was clinging to. 

But the otter was not being polite. 

The water vole was not being rev-erent. The kingfisher was not being respectful. They were making fun of the heron, though he didn ' t know it. 

They thought he had far too good an opinion of himself. 

They laughed at him behind his back.

Herons are only birds. They are not Princes or Prime Ministers, Presi-dents or pop-stars. They are defin-itely not Kings, even if they walk like Kings on grassy river banks. In other words, they are nothing spec-ial.

They just think they are. 

They parade along in a very high-minded fashion with their noses in the air. Or they would do if they had noses.They have long beaks⁵ instead. 

Everything about the heron is long – he has a long beak⁶, long neck, long body and long legs. The heron has especially long legs. And al -though the heron walks along the grassy river bank on his especially long legs, he only stands on one of them, so he has a spare. 

There is one good thing to be said of herons: they have great pat-ience. When fishing he can stand quite still for hours waiting for their supper. 

He was quite snappy if the otter and the water vole and the king-fisher were there before him because they made such a kafuffle. 

They were always doing things, these lesser⁷ creatures. They chat-tered. They swam. They dug holes in the river bank. They did high dives and low belly-flops; all splashy, noisy, annoying things! 

They played games, when all he wanted was peace and quiet.

Then one day he came to the river later than usual. The others had already finished for the day. The otter was curled up on the grassy bank. The water vole was cleaning his fur. The kingfisher was pecking at something in his feathers.

'At last,' thought the heron. 'I shall have the river to myself.'

He waded⁸ out to his favourite spot of clear water, pulled up his spare leg so that he was standing⁹ on only one, and began being patient.

It didn' t take long for a minnow to swim by. The heron watched it go past. 

'You missed a fish, oh great one,' said the otter.

'It wasn’t worth my attention, ' said the heron.

Then a stickleback swam by, and kept swimming by and the heron still didn' t move. 

'You missed a nice little snack there, majesty¹⁰, ' said the water vole.

'Nice for you,' said the heron. 'Lit-tle for me.'

Other fish swam by, each larger than the one before, but the heron gave them hardly a glance. 

Then a very fine perch¹¹ came by, a prize fit for a King – but not for a heron.

'You missed a big one there, High-ness,' said the kingfisher.

'Only a salmon¹² is good enough for me!' claimed the heron.

But not another fish came by that day; not a minnow, not a stickle-back, and especially not a perch. 

The heron could have eaten his fill if he'd been satisfied with what was on offer. 

Instead he went hungry……Except for one tiny snail¹³. 

So, don’t be too hard to please or you might end up with nothing.

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 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

3 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

6 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

7 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

8 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

9 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。

10 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

11 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

12 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

13 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。