散文：忠诚的朋友Part 1

【英文原文】

   The Devoted¹ Friend

 One morning the old Water-rat put his head out of his hole. He had bright beady eyes and stiff² grey whiskers and his tail was like a long bit of black india-rubber. The little ducks were swimming about in the pond, looking just like a lot of yellow canaries, and their mother, who was pure white with real red legs, was trying to teach them how to stand on their heads in the water.

  "You will never be in the best society unless you can stand on your heads," she kept saying to them; and every now and then she showed them how it was done. But the little ducks paid no attention to her. They were so young that they did not know what an advantage it is to be in society at all.

  "What disobedient children!" cried the old Water-rat; "they really deserve³ to be drowned."

  "Nothing of the kind," answered the Duck, "every one must make a beginning, and parents cannot be   too patient."

  "Ah! I know nothing about the feelings of parents," said the Water- rat; "I am not a family man. In fact, I have never been married, and I never intend to be. Love is all very well in its way, but friendship is much higher. Indeed, I know of nothing in the world that is either nobler⁴ or rarer⁵ than a devoted friendship." 

 

【词汇简析】

beady adj. 小而圆的

stiff adj. 坚硬的

whisker n. 髭须，胡须

rubber n. 橡胶，橡皮

canary n. 金丝雀

disobedient adj. 反抗的，不顺从的

devoted adj. 忠诚的，献身的

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

3 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

4 nobler   

高贵的，华丽的； 高尚的( noble的比较级 )； 贵族的； （头衔、地位、身份等）显贵的； （质量、品质等）极好的

参考例句：

• He was nobler than his neighbours. 他比他的邻居出身高贵。
• He began to have a nobler opinion of himself than ever before. 他从没有像现在这样感到自己是个不平凡的人。

5 rarer   

adj.更稀罕的，更珍贵的(rare的最高级)；罕见的( rare的比较级 )；极好的；稀薄的；肉半熟的

参考例句：

• The results show that rarer variants are distributed more unevenly among populations. 本研究结果显示：越罕见的变体，其在人群中的分布也越不均衡。 来自互联网
• There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability. 有的东西比才能稀罕得多，珍贵得多，这就是识别的能力。 来自互联网