Good and Bad News

     Two friends who had not seen each other a great while, meeting by chance, one asked the other how he did? He replied that he was not very well, and was married since they had last met.

    “That is good news indeed.”

    “Nay, not so very good neither, for I married a shrew.”

    “That is bad, too.”

    “Not so bad, neither, for I had two thousand pounds with her.”

    “That is well again.”

    “Not so well, neither, for I laid it out in sheep, and they all died of the rot¹.”

    “That was hard, in truth.”

    “Not so hard, neither, for I sold the skins for more than the sheep cost me.”

    “Aye, that made you amends².”

    “Not so much amends, neither, for I laid my money out in a house, and it was burned.”

    “That was a great loss³, indeed.”

    “Not so great a loss, neither—for my wife was burned in it.

1 rot   

n.腐烂，腐蚀，败坏；vi.腐烂，烂，堕落，憔悴；vt.使腐烂，使腐朽，使堕落

参考例句：

• Dead plants rot and become part of the soil again.枯死的植物腐烂，又成为土壤的一部分。
• Much rain will make the fruit rot.这么多雨会使水果腐烂。

2 amends   

n. 赔偿

参考例句：

• He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花，为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
• This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。

3 loss   

n.损失，遗失，失败，输，浪费，错过，[军]伤亡，降低

参考例句：

• His death was a great loss to the country.他的逝世对这个国家是一大损失。
• Because of the continued loss,the factory closed down.由于连续亏损，工厂关闭了。