美国小学英语教材2:第36课 少年与北风(2)

 The Sheep That Gave Money 给钱的羊

Again the boy went to the North Wind. 男孩再次去了北风那里。

"What do you want now?" roared¹ the North Wind, when the lad came to his door the second time. “你现在想要什么？”当它看到少年第二次到它门口时吼道。

"I want my meal," said the boy. "This cloth² will not give me any food." “我想要米，”男孩说，“这布不会给我任何食物。”

"Your meal is not here," said the Wind, "but I will give you this sheep instead.  “你的米不在这儿，”北风说，“但我会给你这只绵羊。

When you need money, just say, 'Sheep, sheep, give money!' 你需要钱时，就说‘绵羊，绵羊，给我钱！’

Then you will have all the gold you want." 然后你就能得到你想要的金子。”

"This sheep is certainly worth more than a bit of meal." said the boy. “这只羊确实比一点儿米值钱。”男孩说。

Off went the lad, and that night he stopped at the same inn³. 少年离开了，当天晚上在同一家旅馆住宿。

After supper he wanted to see if the sheep would really give money. 他吃完晚饭后想去看看绵羊是否真得能给钱。

So he brought the sheep into the inn and said, "Sheep, sheep, give money." 于是，他把绵羊带进旅馆说：“绵羊，绵羊，给我钱！”

The sheep opened its mouth wide, and bright yellow gold pieces fell out. 绵羊张开嘴，明亮的黄金币就掉了出来。

When the sly⁴ old inn-keeper saw this wonderful sight, 那个狡猾的老旅馆老板看到了这神奇的景象，

he said to himself, "That sheep will soon be mine, too." 自言自语道：“这只绵羊也很快就是我的。”

Now, he had a sheep that looked just like the lad's. 他有一只绵羊和少年的很像。

While the lad slept, the man quietly took the magic⁵ sheep away and put his own in its place. 当少年睡下时，男人轻轻牵走魔法绵羊，用他自己的羊代替。

Next morning when the lad got home, he said to his mother, 少年第二天早上到家时，对他妈妈说：

"The North Wind isn't a bad fellow⁶, after all. “南风毕竟不坏。

He gave me a sheep that will give us plenty of gold." 他给了我一只能吐金子的绵羊。”

His mother said, "I can't believe that is really true until I see the gold." 他妈妈说：“我看到金子才能相信这是真的。”

"Sheep, sheep, give money!" said the lad. But this sheep did not even open his mouth. “绵羊，绵羊，给我钱！”少年说。但这只绵羊甚至没张嘴。

1 roared   

v.咆哮( roar的过去式和过去分词 )；大笑；大哭；熊熊燃烧

参考例句：

• A log fire roared in the open hearth. 柴火在敞开着的壁炉里熊熊燃烧。
• Vroom! A sports car roared past. 呜的一声，一辆跑车疾驶而过。

2 cloth   

n.布；植物；衣料

参考例句：

• This kind of cloth washes very well.这种布料很好洗涤。
• We make cotton into cloth.我们把棉花织成布。

3 inn   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店，小饭店

参考例句：

• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。
• We stayed in a small village inn,right off the map.我们住在一家偏僻的乡村小店里。

4 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

5 magic   

adj.有魔力的；n.魔法

参考例句：

• He is very good at performing magic.他很会表演魔术。
• That was a truly magic moment.那真是不可思议的一刻。

6 fellow   

n.人，家伙；伙伴，同事；对等者，对手；一对中之一，配对物；adj.同伴的，同事的

参考例句：

• I can't stand that fellow.我不能容忍那家伙。
• Who's that old fellow?那个老家伙是谁？