天方夜谭英文故事：The First Voyage

The First Voyage : 

 

My father passed away when I was still a young boy. He left behind considerable wealth. Like all young boys, I was thrilled to get so much wealth. I enjoyed myself with my friends. I drank good wines, visited the best places for food and spent my money buying fine silk garments and luxury items. I enjoyed all this for nearly a year but then I got into a routine. I dislike the same old friends, the same parties all over every day. I wanted a change in life. 

 

 

One day, I took some money and bought some goods which I decided¹ to trade. For this, I made contacts with a group of merchants who travelled from port to port in their merchant ship. One fine day, I set sail in a merchant ship carrying my goods to Indian Ocean. 

 

 

As we sailed on, we did not see land anywhere for days. One morning we discovered an island. It was a deserted² island. No vegetation grew there and we found no signs of humans or animals whatsoever³. We explored it and were returning to our ship when there was a loud rumble⁴ and the earth shook. It was an earthquake. The merchants on the ship sent some boats to us who were exploring the island. All of us scrambled⁵ to the boats. But Alas⁶! Just as I was about to get into a boat, there was a huge sea wave, the earth shook once more and the island sank into the sea. All of my friends were safe on the boats and had reached the ship while I was left in the rough sea waters. When I looked around, I realized that we had mistaken the back of a giant whale to be an island. When it went into water, we had thought there was an earthquake. 

 

 

I tried to swim to save myself. The merchants in the ship took me to be dead and soon the ship set sail and went away. I saw a log floating by and clung to it till I reached a tiny island. I lay on the beach of the island for a while. Then I got up to explore the island. I found some wild fruit trees. I took some fruits to feed myself and walked on. I came to an opening where I saw a large green meadow. A horse was grazing there. As I approached the horse, a came to me and asked, "Who are you, my friend? 

 

 

I replied, "I am Sindbad, the sailor." Then I told him my tale. 

 

 

The man introduced himself, "King Mihrage is the owner of this and I work as a stable groom⁷ for him. Let's go to meet him." 

 

 

I went with the stable groom to King Mihrage's palace. There he, too, heard my tale and said, "You are our guest, Sindbad. Stay here for as long as you want to." 

 

 

I stayed in the palace and had a luxurious⁸ life. I went around exploring the other nearby islands. On one island, a ghost resided. All night long I could hear him beating drums. Then one day as I was sitting on the beach I saw fish in the sea waters. They were no ordinary fish. Each one was nearly a hundred and twenty feet in length. 

 

 

On King Mihrage's island, I befriended many merchants. Once when I was on the islands port, I watched the merchant ships anchored there. I happened to see packages of goods that were addressed in my name. I realised they were the goods I had carried in the ship that had left without me. I looked around carefully and to my joyful⁹ surprise, I saw the merchant ship. I went onto the ship and surely there were my merchant friends. They welcomed me with open arms. They were happy to learn that I was alive. Then the Captain gave me tea and refreshments¹⁰. He invited me to join him and the merchants again. He told me that the ship would set sail that evening. 

 

 

I left the ship and rushed to the palace. There I informed King Mihrage of my good luck at finding the merchant ship. I took his leave. He was sad to let me go but I made him happy when I gave him gifts. The gifts were my goods that I had found in the ship and at the port. I then bought some goods from the islanders and loaded with the ship that took me back to Baghdad. 

 

 

In Baghdad, I sold the exclusive goods from the islands at a great price. I made a lot of money. Then I bought a large mansion¹¹ with luxurious interiors. I saved some wealth for the future and enjoyed myself for a few years." 

 

 

Then Sindbad turned to his guests and said, "So, my friends, that was the tale of my first voyage. All of you and my dear friend, Hindbad, too, must come for a feast tomorrow evening. Then I'll tell you about my second voyage." 

 

 

As the guests left, Sindbad called Hindbad and gave him a hundred gold coins as a goodwill¹² gift. Hindbad was joyous¹³ to receive so much money. He thanked Sindbad for his generosity¹⁴ and promised to come the next evening.  

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

3 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

4 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

5 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

7 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

8 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

9 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

10 refreshments   

n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待

参考例句：

• We have to make a small charge for refreshments. 我们得收取少量茶点费。
• Light refreshments will be served during the break. 中间休息时有点心供应。

11 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

12 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

13 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

14 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。