天方夜谭英文故事：The Third Voyage

Next evening after dinner, the guests and Hindbad sat around Sindbad to hear about his wonderful tale of the third voyage which read…. 

 

 

When I returned from my second voyage and settled in Baghdad, I had no intention of leaving Baghdad ever again but the desire to be on the move was not suppressed. Once more I purchased some exclusive items to trade in and went on a trade ship with some merchants. 

 

 

A few days later, a storm broke out. It was severe that we had to drop anchor at an island where the captain of our ship did not want to land. The captain gave us the reason for his reluctance¹. He said that the island was home to two feet high dwarfs² who were fierce by nature. Their attacks would leave us powerless. If it wasn't for the storm we wouldn't have stopped at the island. As ill luck would have it, we soon faced the fierce dwarfs. These tiny men were covered with long, red hair. Even as we were still in our ship on the harbour, hundreds of them entered the vessel³. They were simply involved in senseless destruction. They went around cutting the ship sails and destroying some parts of the deck. Then they forced all of us to jump into water and sailed away to a nearby island. 

 

 

All of us somehow managed to swim ashore⁴. There we saw a large palace with very high ceiling-rooms. One of the large halls inside had a heap of human bones. A large fire burnt in the fireplace with some glowing coals nearby. We even saw some roasting iron rods. As we were looking at those fearfully, a huge dark giant walked in. He was very tall indeed and had a fierce face with one red eye right in the middle of his forehead. His long, sharp teeth sticking out of his mouth made him look fearsome indeed. When we saw his long ears and sharp, long nails, all of us lost our senses. 

 

 

When we regained⁵ consciousness, we were scared indeed. The large giant took our captain in his palm, thrust an iron roasting rod through his stomach, held him over the glowing coals to roast him and gobbled him up. Then the giant slept but his loud snores all night long did not let us catch even a wink⁶ of sleep. He woke up in the morning and left the palace. We, too, thought of leaving. As we went out of the palace to escape, all we found were trees and large poisonous snakes. To escape the snakes, we had to return to the palace. For many days, the giant ate one of us for dinner each night. We all lived in fear. 

 

 

One day as we were exploring the island once again, we found some woods that had washed ashore. Using the woods, we made some rafts. When the rafts were ready, we thought of a plan. 

 

 

One night as the giant slept after his dinner, the remaining of us heated the iron roasting rods. Then all of us thrusted the hot rod into the sleeping giant's eye and blinded him. As the giant rushed out in pain, all of us ran to the rafts on the shore. As we thought we were safe, just then the giant returned with other giants like himself. They threw large rocks at the rafts and all the rafts sank but the raft on which I was with two of my companions remains⁷ safe but we escaped with great difficulty. 

 

 

After some days we reached another island where we went ashore and slept for hours. When we woke up we saw a snake as long and as thick as a palm tree approaching us. We ran to save our lives but one of my companions became the snake's prey⁸. One of my surviving companions climbed a tall tree to save himself. A while later, the huge snake came and caught my companion, too. He ate him up but I survived because I was hiding on the highest branch of the same tree. To keep myself safe at night, I built a fence of prickly and thorny⁹ bush around the tree so when the snake came to get me he could not harm me at all. After trying all night, the snake left at dawn. 

 

 

I thought it would be better to commit suicide than meet a cruel death. I went to the shore to jump into the sea. To my glee I saw an approaching trade ship. Soon the captain of the ship saw me and lowered a boat to take me to the ship. The captain gave me fresh clothes and hot food and heard my adventurous¹⁰ tale. 

 

 

I soon befriended with other merchants on the ship. I felt that I had met the captain somewhere but I could not recall. One day, as we were nearing a port, the captain gave me some goods to sell there and make money. I looked at the packages which bore the label, 'Sindbad, the Sailor’. I asked the captain, where he had found the package. He told me about Sindbad, the Sailor, who had been left behind on a deserted¹¹ island by mistake. Then I remembered and so did the captain recognise me. He was the same captain and I was on the merchant ship I had sailed on my second voyage. We hugged each other in joy. 

 

 

At the port, I sold my goods and made a lot of money again. As we sailed on, I saw a twelve yards long tortoise basking¹² in the sun on an island. I also happened to see a strange sea-creature that looked very much like a camel. 

 

 

A few days later, I reached Baghdad and again had a lot of wealth to spend." 

 

 

Then Sindbad said, "So friends, that was all about my third voyage. Tomorrow you’re invited to hear about my fourth voyage." 

 

 

Hindbad received a hundred gold coins from Sindbad once again and left for home happily. He and the guests returned the next day for a feast and an adventurous tale once more.  

1 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

2 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 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。

5 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

6 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

10 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

11 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。

12 basking   

v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽

参考例句：

• We sat basking in the warm sunshine. 我们坐着享受温暖的阳光。
• A colony of seals lay basking in the sun. 一群海豹躺着晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》