英国语文第三册 第68期:穷人的抱怨

 Lesson 57 Complaints of the poor 第五十七课 穷人的抱怨

"And wherefore do the Poor complain?" “穷人为什么抱怨？”

The Rich man asked of me;— 富人问道我——

"Come, walk abroad with me," I said, “过来，和我一起到外面走走”我说道，

"And I will answer thee." “我将会回答你的。”

'Twas evening, and the frozen¹ streets 这是晚上，街道上结了冰

Were cheerless to behold²; 看到的是一片惨淡，

And we were wrapped and coated well, 我们都穿的很厚，

And yet we were a-cold. 我们很冷。

We met an old bareheaded man, 我们见到了一位头上没有戴任何东西的人，

His locks were few and white; 他头发稀疏花白，

I asked him what he did abroad 我问他来外面做什么，

In that cold winter's night. 在那个寒冷的冬天的夜里。

The cold was keen indeed, he said, 他说确实很冷，

But at home no fire had he, 但是家里面没有火，

And therefore he had come abroad 因此他就出来了

To ask for charity. 寻求施舍。

We met a young barefooted child, 我们看到了一位光脚的小孩儿

And she begged loud and bold; 她在大声地勇敢的乞讨着

I asked her what she did abroad 我问她出来做什么？

When the wind it blew so cold. 当风吹得如此寒冷的时候

She said her father was at home, 她说她的爸爸在家里，

And he lay sick a-bed, 躺在病床上

And therefore was it she was sent, abroad to beg for bread. 因此她出来乞讨些面包。

We saw a woman sitting down, upon a stone to rest; 我们看到一位妇人坐在石头上休息

She had a baby at her back, 她背着一个婴儿，

And another at her breast. 胸前还抱着一个。

I asked her why she loitered there, 我问她为什么在那里闲逛，

When the night-wind was so chill³; 夜风是如此的寒冷

She turned her head, and bade the child, that screamed behind, be still;— 她转过头，命令后面哭泣的小孩安静下来，

Then told us that her husband served, 然后她告诉我们她的老公正在服役，

A soldier, far away, 是个士兵，在很远的地方，

And therefore to her parish， she was begging back her way. 因此她去投奔她的教区，在返回的路上乞讨。

I turned me to the Rich man, then, 然后我看向这个富人

For silently stood he— 他静静地站在那，

"You asked me why the Poor complain,and these have answered!" “你问我为什么穷人老是抱怨，这些人已经回答了你”。

1 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

2 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。

3 chill   

vt.使变冷，使冷却，使沮丧；n.寒冷，风寒

参考例句：

• With the chill factor,it's nearly minus forty here.加上风寒指数，气温接近零下40度。
• The bad news cast a chill over the whole family.这坏消息使全家人感到沮丧。