英文短故事：The Faithful Mongoose

Once there lived a kind Brahmin in a small village with his wife. They had a little son. One day, as he was returning home from a nearby village, he came across a baby mongoose crying next to its mother’s dead body. 

 

“Oh! poor creature," thought the Brahmin. “If I leave it here it will surely die." He picked it up and took it home with him. 

 

“Gowri, I found this little creature on my way home. Let us take care of him," he said to his wife. “Very well along with our son, I will take care of the mongoose also," replied his wife. 

 

The mongoose grew up with a lot of love and care in the Brahmin’s house. He slept next to the Brahmin’s son in the cradle¹, drank milk and played with the boy everyday. The baby mongoose’s days were full of joy in the Brahmin’s house. As both the boy and the mongoose grew up, their friendship changed to a relationship between two brothers. 

 

The mongoose grew up fast and as days went by, the Brahmin’s wife began to get doubts in her mind. “After all, this is a wild animal. Sooner or later it will show its true colours," she thought to herself. She put the mongoose’s bed separately and would watch him carefully when ever he played with her son. 

 

One day when the Brahmin was away. Gowri decided² to go to the river to fetch a pot of water. She looked around and saw her son sound asleep in his cradle. The mongoose was also asleep on the floor at the foot of the cradle. This should take only a few moments I hope I can trust that mongoose not to harm my little son," she said to herself and after a final look at them both she hurried down to the river. 

 

Suddenly, the mongoose woke up with a start. He had heard a very faint noise. Looking up, the mongoose saw a large black snake crawling in through a hole in the wall. 

 

“The snake will harm my brother. Mother and father are away. I will have to protect my little brother," thought the mongoose, as the snake came slithering towards the cradle. 

 

The brave little mongoose pounced³ on the huge black snake. After a long, ferocious⁴ fight, the little mongoose finally managed to kill the snake. 

 

Just then, he heard the Brahmin’s wife returning. Joyfully⁵, he ran out to meet his mother and tried telling her through his little animal signs that he had protected his little brother from a dreadful⁶ snake. 

 

But as soon as Gowri saw blood on the mongoose’s mouth and paws, she thought, “This wretched⁷ animal has killed my little son." In a fit of anger the Brahmin’s wife threw the pot full of water on the mongoose killing⁸ him instantly. 

 

Entering the house with a heavy heart, she was amazed to see her little son lying in his cradle still deep in sleep. On the floor was a huge black snake with its ugly head bitten off. 

 

“Oh what have I done," cried the Brahmin’s wife. “I killed that faithful little mongoose who saved the life of my precious son."  

1 cradle   

n.摇篮，策源地，支船架；vt.把...放在摇篮里

参考例句：

• The baby was rocked to sleep in a cradle.婴儿在摇篮里被摇得睡着了。
• Tokyo was the cradle of Japanese culture.东京是日本文化的发源地。

2 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。

3 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

5 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

6 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

7 wretched   

adj.可怜的，不幸的，卑鄙的，质量差的，恶劣的

参考例句：

• What a wretched life they lived in the workhouse!他们在济贫院里过的生活真悲惨！
• He was wretched when he failed the examination.由于考试不及格，他很痛苦。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。