英语美文阅读：地狱和天堂

 　　A man died and was on his way to another world, either the Heaven or the hell. He saw an extremely magnificent palace half way and the owner of the palace asked him to stay and live in the palace。

　　有一个人死后，在去阎罗殿的路上，遇见一座金碧辉煌的宫殿。宫殿的主人请求他留下来居住。

　　The man said, "I have been working arduously¹ during my life and now I just want to eat and sleep without any work."

　　这个人说：“我在人世间辛辛苦苦地忙碌了一辈子，现在只想吃，想睡，我讨厌工作。”

　　The owner of the palace said, "If so, there is nowhere else better than here for you. There are a wealth of seafood² and delicacies³

　　in my palace and you can eat whatever you want without anyone stopping you. Moreover, you can rest assured that nothing needs to be done by you." Then, the man settled down in the palace。

　　宫殿主人答道：“若是这样，那么世界上再也没有比这里更适宜居住的了。我这里有山珍海味，你想吃什么就吃什么，不会有人来阻止你。而且，我保证没有任何事情需要你做。”于是，这个人就住了下来。

　　At the beginning, the man felt very happy at the rotation⁴ of eating and sleeping. But gradually, he felt a bit lonely and void. So he went to the owner and groaned⁵, "It is very tedious to live by just eating and sleeping every day. Now I show no interest in this kind of life any more. Could you help me find a job?"

　　开始的一段日子，这个人吃了睡，睡了吃，感到非常快乐。渐渐地，他觉得有点寂寞和空虚，于是去见宫殿主人，抱怨道：“这种每天吃吃睡睡的日子过久了也没有意思。我对这种生活已经提不起一点兴趣了。你能否为我找一个工作？”

　　The owner replied, "Sorry, there is no job here at all."

　　宫殿的主人答道：“对不起，我们这里从来就不曾有过工作。”

　　After another several months, the man could not bear the present life and went to the owner again, "I really could not stand this sort of life any more. If you do not offer me a job, I would prefer to go to the hell instead of living here."

　　又过了几个月，这个人实在忍不住了，又去见宫殿的主人：“这种日子我实在受不了。如果你不给我工作，我宁愿去下地狱，也不要再住在这里了。”

　　The owner of the palace smiled contemptuously, "Do you think it is Heaven here? It is actually the hell!"

　　宫殿的主人轻蔑地笑了：“你认为这里是天堂吗？这里本来就是地狱啊！”

1 arduously   

adv.费力地，严酷地

参考例句：

• He arduously and soon began to play in local bands. 他拼命学习弹奏，很快就加入了当地的一个乐队。 来自互联网
• It was borderline unorthodox and arduously time-consuming, but the Yankees could handle that given their reward. 这是很难以决定和艰钜的时刻，但是洋基队仍然能维持局面。 来自互联网

2 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

3 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

4 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

5 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》