天方夜谭英文故事：The Second Voyage

Next evening Sindbad, the sailor received Hindbad and the other guests. After a delicious feast¹, the guests were eager to hear of Sindbad's second voyage. So Sindbad began his story : 

 

 

After a few years, I again grew tired of an easy lifestyle. I met another group of merchants. I bought some goods and went with them on their ship. During the trip, we visited many ports and I had good trade that fetched me good money. 

 

 

One fine morning we anchored near a deserted² island. Some of the merchants and I got off the ship and went ashore³. We found some juicy fruits there which we ate to our heart's content. Then the merchants decided⁴ to sleep under the shady⁵ trees but I decided to sleep behind a large rock that was a little farther from the others. So I went there and slept alone. I woke up hours later and felt refreshed. But as I looked around I saw that my friends were nowhere to be seen. They had woken up, boarded the ship and sailed away. 

 

 

Once again, I was left alone on an island. In desperation I tried to go round the island to find someone though I knew it was a deserted island. As I was walking in the sands, I saw a large, white, rounded rock. I thought of climbing it to look around but as I tried to climb it, I slipped back down. It was a truly smooth rock indeed. As I was trying to climb the rock, it suddenly grew dark. I looked up to see if a cloud had covered the sun. But, to my surprise, I looked up to see a giant rock. It was a huge bird indeed. 

 

 

At once I realized that the rock I was trying to climb was in fact the giant rock's egg. Actually, I myself was in its huge nest. I hid in the shadow of the egg to escape the rock. But, as luck would have it, the giant bird came and sat on the egg to hatch⁶ it. I spent the night in great contemplation. In the morning, I knew the bird would fly off in search of food. I untied⁸ my turban and tied its one end to the giant bird's leg while the other end I wound round my waist. At dawn when the giant rock took flight I was carried along. 

 

 

The giant rock flew over islands and hills. At last it landed on an island. I took the chance to untie⁷ my turban's end from the bird's leg. Then I looked around and felt even more miserable⁹ than before for I found myself in a rocky valley surrounded by very high mountains. Then I saw the rock flying away with a snake in its beak¹⁰. 

 

 

As I walked around, I realized that I was actually tredding on diamonds. They were lying around and were of various sizes. They were as small as my finger nail and some were larger than even my head. I noticed a hissing¹¹ sound from rocks and I understood that deadly snakes were hiding behind the rocks. All at once, I remembered the tales that my merchant friends had told me. Where I was standing¹² was the well-known Valley of Diamonds. It attracted many people from the world over who collected diamonds and then sold them in their countries. I, too, picked some rocks which were actually diamonds. I filled my pockets with the small ones and the large ones I kept in a bag that hung from my waist. I realized it was getting dark, so I found an empty cave for myself. There I got in and shut the entrance with a huge rock to prevent any snakes from entering. I spent a restful night. I woke up at the dawn. 

 

 

When I came out of the cave, I noticed large chunks¹⁴ of meat lying all around. I realized that they were thrown by diamond collectors who were afraid to come down to the valley for they were scared of snakes. They threw the chunks of meat to which the diamonds stuck. When huge rock picked up the meat and carried them to their nests, the diamond merchants would reach the nests and gather the diamonds. Once again I untied my turban. This time I tied one of its ends to a chunk¹³ of meat and the other round my waist. When a huge rock flew off with the meat, I was carried away too. Soon, enough I found myself in rock’s nest. 

 

 

A while later, I heard shouts and the rock flew off in fear. A diamond merchant climbed up the tree to the nest. When he found me there, he was surprised and angry. He thought that I was there to take his diamonds. But I claimed him down and told him my story. He agreed to take me along to the nearest port. In gratitude¹⁵, I gave him a large diamond as a gift. I travelled a few days with my new friends and soon I reached the port. There we parted ways when he took a ship to Balsora and I boarded a ship to Baghdad. 

 

 

I was happy to be back in Baghdad and gave alms to the poor and thanked Allah for my safe arrival. I bought another luxurious¹⁶ mansion¹⁷ and spent my time enjoying my wealth after selling the diamonds I had acquired." 

 

 

Ending the story, Sindbad thanked his guests for being patient listeners. Once again he invited all of them for a feast the next evening where he promised to narrate¹⁸ the tale of his third voyage. He thanked Hindbad and invited him, too. Sindbad then presented Hindbad with a hundred gold coins once more. Hindbad was happy beyond words.  

1 feast   

n.盛宴，筵席，节日

参考例句：

• After the feast she spent a week dieting to salve her conscience.大吃了一顿之后，她花了一周时间节食以安慰自己。
• You shouldn't have troubled yourself to prepare such a feast!你不该准备这样丰盛的饭菜，这样太麻烦你了！

2 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 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。

5 shady   

adj.成荫的，多荫的，可疑的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• This is a shady avenue.这是条林阴大道。
• He's a rather shady person.他是个相当靠不住的人。

6 hatch   

n.孵化，舱口；vt.孵，孵出，策划；vi. 孵化

参考例句：

• No one knows how the new plan will hatch out.谁也不知道这新方案将怎样制订出来。
• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。

7 untie   

vt.解开，松开；解放

参考例句：

• It's just impossible to untie the knot.It's too tight.这个结根本解不开。太紧了。
• Will you please untie the knot for me?请你替我解开这个结头，好吗？

8 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

9 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

10 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。

11 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

12 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。

13 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

14 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

15 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

16 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

17 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

18 narrate   

v.讲，叙述

参考例句：

• They each narrate their own tale but are all inextricably linked together.她们各自讲述自己的故事，却又不可避免地联系在一起。
• He once holds the tear to narrate a such story to mine.他曾经含着泪给我讲述了这样的一个故事。