英国语文第四册 第23期:寓言(1)

LESSON 11 Fables²

第十一课 寓言

I．THE MONKEY AND THE CATS

I．猴子和猫

Two hungry cats, having stolen some cheese, could not agree between themselves how to divide their booty.

两只饥饿的猫偷了一些奶酪，它们之间就如何分配战利品无法达成统一意见。

They therefore went to law, and a cunning monkey was to decide their cause.

因此，他们去寻求法律帮助，一只狡猾的猴子决定处理他们的争端。

"Let us see," said the judge with as arch a look as could be: "ay, ay, this slice truly outweighs³ the other;"

法官尽量弓着身子好好看了看，说道：“让我们看看，嗯嗯，这一片真得比那片分量要重。”

and so saying he bit off a large piece, in order, as he told them, to make the shares equal.

它这么说着时，咬下一大块，并告诉猫们这样就可以使每份一样重了。

The other scale had now become too heavy, which gave this upright judge a pretence⁴ to help himself to a mouthful from the second slice.

现在天平的另一端变得太重了，正好给这位正直的法官一个借口，让它咬了第二片奶酪一大口。

"Hold! hold!" cried the two cats; "give each of us our share of what is left, and we shall be content."

“等等！等等！”两只猫叫道，“把我们每人剩下的份额给我们吧，我们就满意了。”

"If you are content," said the monkey, "justice is not: the law, my friends, must take its course."

“如果你们满意了，”猴子说道，“司法公正就不满意了：我的朋友们，法律必须按正常程序进行。”

Upon this, he nibbled⁵ first one piece and then the other, till the poor cats saw that their cheese was in a fair way to be all eaten up.

依据与此，猴子左啃一口，右啃一口，直到可怜的猫们眼睁睁看到它们的战利品奶酪大有可能被猴子全部吃完。

They therefore most humbly⁶ begged him not to put himself to any further trouble, but to give them what was still left.

因此，猫们低三下四地恳求，不想再给法官添更多麻烦，只要把剩余的奶酪给它们就行了。

"Ha! ha! ha! not so fast, good ladies," said the monkey;

“哈哈哈！好姑娘们，别急啊，”猴子说道，

"we owe justice to ourselves as well as to you; and what remains⁷ is due to me as the lawyer."

“我们亏欠自己公正，也亏欠你们。我作为律师，剩余的奶酪应该归我所有。

So he crammed⁸ the whole into his mouth at once, and very gravely broke up the court!

于是，猴子立刻把整个奶酪塞进嘴里，非常庄重地结束了整个法庭审理程序！

This fable¹ teaches us that it is better to put up with a trifling⁹ loss, than to run the risk of losing all we have by going to law.

这则寓言故事告诉我们，与其冒着失去所有的风险去寻找法律帮助，还不如忍受一些微不足道的损失。

1 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

2 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

3 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

4 pretence   

n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰

参考例句：

• The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
• He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。

5 nibbled   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

9 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。