The“Finishing”Touch

    In the state of Chu，an aristocrat¹，after offering sacrifices to his ancestors，bestowed² a flask³ of wine on the gentlemen who worked for him．They discussed among themselves．“The wine is not enough for all of us but more than sufficient for one person．Let us each draw a snake on the floor and the one who finishes his drawing first will drink the wine．”
    A man finished his drawing first．He took the wine and was about to drink it when，with the flask in his left hand，he drew with his right hand，saying，“I can even add legs to my snake．”
    Before he finished，another man completed his drawing andsnatched the flask from him．“A snake does not have legs．How could you add legs to it？”
    With these words he drank the wine．The one who added legs to the snake eventually lost his wine．Exercises：
    判断对（T）、错（F）：
    ①The aristocrat bestowed a flask of wine to show his thanks．②They agreed the one who finished his drawing first would drink the wine because there was not enough wine．③The man who finished his drawing first got the chance to drink．

1 aristocrat   

n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物

参考例句：

• He was the quintessential english aristocrat.他是典型的英国贵族。
• He is an aristocrat to the very marrow of his bones.他是一个道道地地的贵族。

2 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

3 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。