英国语文第三册 第35期:狐狸和鹳

 　　LESSON 34 The fox and the stork¹ 第三十四课 狐狸和鹳

　　A fox asked a stork to dinner, with the naughty purpose of playing a trick on his guest. 狐狸请鹳共进晚餐，因为他想戏弄他的客人。

　　The stork came at the hour fixed², with a good appetite for her meal. 鹳按时赴约，准备好吃大餐。

　　But little pleased was she on finding that it consisted of mince³, served up in a dish so shallow that she could scarcely, 但是她很快就不高兴了，因为她发现盘子里只有碎肉，

　　with her long slender bill, pick up enough to satisfy a sparrow! 她的长喙根本吃不到，而且连只麻雀都喂不饱！

　　The fox lapped up the food readily enough, only stopping a moment to say, 狐狸贪婪地吃着盘里的肉，只停下来说了一句，

　　I hope, madam, that you like your feast? Don't you think that my mince is first-rate? 希望你喜欢这段大餐，难道不觉得我做的碎肉是一流的吗？

　　The stork made no reply, but retired⁴, hungry and much displeased⁵, from the almost untasted meal. 鹳没答话，但是她又累又饿，很不高兴。这一切都是因为这顿饭。

　　A few days afterwards the stork returned the compliment by asking the fox to dinner. 几天后，鹳也请狐狸去吃晚餐。

　　Reynard hastened to the place of meeting, where the stork had made ready her meal. 狐狸很快到了约定的地方，鹳已经准备好了食物。

　　Great was the disgust of the fox to behold⁶ the food served up in a long-necked jar, which let in the stork's slender bill, 食物呈在一个长颈瓶里，只有鹳的尖尖的喙能伸进去，

　　but into which he could not thrust even his pointed⁷ nose! 狐狸却连自己尖尖的鼻子都塞不进去。

　　"I hope, sir, that you like your feast?" said the stork. “我希望你喜欢这顿饭。”，鹳说道。

　　who was not generous enough to return good for evil, and who wished to give Reynard a lesson. 鹳做不到以德报怨，她想给狐狸一个教训。

　　And as the hungry fox looked sadly up into her face, she added: 狐狸很哀怨地抬头看了她一眼，她接着说道：

　　Those who cannot take a joke in good part should never make one. 不能开善意得玩笑就不要开。

　　Never do to others, what you would not like them to do to yourself. 己所不欲，勿施于人。

1 stork   

n.鹳

参考例句：

• A Fox invited a long-beaked Stork to have dinner with him.狐狸请长嘴鹳同他一起吃饭。
• He is very glad that his wife's going to get a visit from the stork.他为她的妻子将获得参观鹳鸟的机会感到非常高兴。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 mince   

n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说

参考例句：

• Would you like me to mince the meat for you?你要我替你把肉切碎吗？
• Don't mince matters,but speak plainly.不要含糊其词，有话就直说吧。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。

6 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。