天方夜谭英文故事：The Sixth Voyage

"Before a year after my fifth voyage, I was on my sixth voyage, the longest of all my voyages. As we set sail we had a calm sea. After some days the weather grew bad and huge waves threatened to drown us. 

 

 

One afternoon, the captain of the ship looked troubled. In desperation, he tore of his turban and paced the deck. He told us that the ship was out of control and soon the ship would crash into a high, rocky mountain. That would mean that we would all be dead. As he had said in a quarter of an hour, our ship did crash into a huge mountain and the ship was in smithers. Good luck and God's blessings¹ saved all abroad. We swam to a narrow strip of land at the foot of the mountain. We soon recovered some food and goods from the shipwreck² but it was not heartening news at all. We were caught between a high, steep mountain and a raging sea. 

 

 

We had divided the food equally amongst ourselves but we knew the food wouldn't last long. My companions were worried and hopeless but I kept heart. I went to the seashore everyday and gathered whatever swept over from our wrecked³ ship to the shore. Once when I explored the mountains, I discovered hoards⁵ of diamonds, rubies⁶ and pearls. I gathered some of them and kept in a safe place thinking of selling them if I got out of the situation. 

 

 

One fine morning, I discovered a cave. To my surprise, I saw a river that flew through the cave from the sea to the land while as a rule, all rivers flew from land to the sea. I did not tell about the river to anyone. 

 

 

After a few days all my companions were dead as they had eaten off all their shares of food. I had eaten a little food at a time and had some in store so I had managed to live. As my store of food diminished I thought of the river which I had discovered. I thought it would give me a path to escape. I went to the spot where I had gathered pieces of wood from my ship. I made a raft out of the wood, took my precious hoard⁴ of gems⁷ and some food and set sail on the raft. When I rowed into the cave, there was complete darkness but I kept rowing in the darkness for some days. Some times I had to lie on my back to go through the low roof of the cave. Soon my food stock was finished and I grew weak from hunger. I lay back on my raft and was sure that I would die. 

 

 

I guess I must have slept off for many hours. I woke up to see daylight. I found myself lying on a riverbank and my raft was floating away. 1 looked up to see some Negroes looking down on me. The Negroes spoke⁸ to me in a language which 1 could not understand. Then one of them spoke in Arabic. He said, "I know Arabic too. For many of us lived in Arabia long ago. We found you floating on the raft when we came to dig a canal here. How did you reach this place?" 

 

 

I ate some of the food and drink that they offered me and told them of my recent experiences. They asked me to tell my story to their king, too.  

1 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

3 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

4 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

5 hoards   

n.（钱财、食物或其他珍贵物品的）储藏，积存( hoard的名词复数 )v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She hoards her money - she never spends it. 她积蓄钱，但从来不花钱。 来自辞典例句
• A squirrel hoards nuts for the winter. 松鼠为过冬贮藏坚果。 来自辞典例句

6 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

7 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。