美国小学英语教材6:第101课 金河王(2)

 The whole of this little valley belonged to three brothers called Schwartz, Hans, and Gluck. 整个小山谷属于这个三兄弟，他们叫施瓦兹，汉斯以及格拉克。

Schwartz and Hans, the two elder brothers, were very ugly men, with heavy eyebrows¹ and small, dull eyes, which were always half shut, 施瓦兹和汉斯是两个丑陋的男子，他们是老大和老二，有着浓郁的小眉毛，有一双总是半闭的迟钝眼睛，

so that you could not see into them, yet you always thought they saw very far into you. 所有你无法看清他们，但你总认为他们把你看得很清楚。

They lived by farming the Treasure Valley, and very good farmers they were. They killed everything that did not earn its food. 他们靠在宝藏谷务农为生，他们是非常好的农民，他们杀害所有无法赚取食物的东西。

They shot the blackbirds because they pecked² the fruit; they poisoned the crickets³ for eating the crumbs⁴ in the kitchen; 他们射杀了黑鹂，因为他们啄食水果；他们毒害了蟋蟀，因为它们食用厨房的碎屑，

and killed the locusts⁵, which used to sing all summer in the trees. 并杀害了曾经在整个夏天歌唱的蝗虫。

They worked their servants without any wages till they would not work any more, 他们不给佣人工钱，直到他们不再干活，

and then quarreled with them and turned them out-of-doors without paying them. 之后与他们争吵，在没有给薪水的情况下将他们赶出门。

They generally managed to keep their corn till it was very dear, and then sell it for twice its value; 他们通常会一直耕种玉米，知道它们的价格非常昂贵，并以两倍的价格出卖；

they had heaps of gold lying about on their floors, yet it was never known that they had given so much as a penny or a crust of bread to the poor. 地面上满是一堆堆金子，但他们却从来没有给穷人一分钱或是面包皮。

They never went to church, and were of so cruel and selfish a temper as to receive from everyone who knew them the nickname⁶ of the Black Brothers. 他们从不做礼拜，而且很无情很自私，所有知道他们的人给他们起了个名字，叫做黑兄弟。

The youngest brother, Gluck, was completely opposite in both appearance and character to his brothers. 最年轻的兄弟格拉克在性格和面貌上与二人完全不同。

He was not above twelve years old, fair, blue-eyed, and kind to every living thing. 他们还不到12岁，皮肤白皙，蓝色的眼睛，对所有活物都非常友好。

He did not, of course, agree very well with his brothers, or rather, they did not agree with him. 当然，他不太同意哥哥们的观点，或者是说他不同意。

When there was any meat to roast, Gluck was usually given the task of watching it. 如果有肉需要烘烤，他总要来这里盯着。

And it was not often they had meat, for the brothers were just about as stingy with themselves as they were with other people. 他们拥有肉的机会不多，兄弟们对他人和对自己一样扣。

At other times he cleaned the shoes, the floors, and sometimes the plates. 有时他清洗鞋子，地板，有时是盘子。

Things went on in this manner for a long time. At last came a very wet summer, and everything went wrong in the country around. 这样的日子持续了很久，最后是一个非常潮湿的夏天，周围的任何事情都变得非常不对劲。

The hay had hardly been got in, when the haystacks were floated bodily down to the sea by a flood; 几乎没有得到多少干草，干草堆全部被洪水冲到海中；

the vines were cut to pieces with the hail⁷; and the corn was all rotted. Only in the Treasure Valley all was safe. 冰雹打碎葡萄树，玉米全烂了，只有宝藏谷是安全的。

As it had rain when there was rain nowhere else, so it had sun when there was sun nowhere else. 当其他地方无雨时，这里会下雨，没有太阳时这里有太阳。

Everybody came to buy corn at the farm, and went away pouring curses on the Black Brothers, who made them pay a terrible price. 所有人到农场去买玉米，走时谩骂黑兄弟，他们让他们支付了巨额费用。

Some of the poor people, who could only beg, starved at their very door. 一些穷人只能到他们家门口乞讨。

 

1 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

2 pecked   

啄，啄食，小口地吃( peck的过去式和过去分词 )； 匆匆地吻

参考例句：

• The hen pecked a hole in the sack. 母鸡在麻袋上啄了一个窟窿。
• He pecked his aunt on the check. 他在姨妈的脸颊上匆匆吻了一下。

3 crickets   

n.蟋蟀( cricket的名词复数 )；板球

参考例句：

• The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note. 蟋蟀发出了它们持久的，单调而有意思的调子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。 来自辞典例句

4 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

5 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

7 hail   

n.雹，一阵；vi.下雹；vt.高呼，为...喝彩

参考例句：

• Hail fell with such violence that it broke windows.冰雹猛落，把玻璃窗也砸破了。
• The people lined the streets to hail the returning heroes.人们夹道欢迎凯旋的英雄们。