1级-《猴爪》-第2课

前情提要 

城堡路12号的一间小客厅里，老怀特先生一家迎来了他的老朋友汤姆·莫里斯……

故事原文 

The Monkey's Paw L2

猴爪 L2

After some time Tom Morris stopped talking and Mr White said to his wife and son, 'Tom was a soldier in India for twenty-one years. India is a wonderful country.'(1)

不知过了多长时间，汤姆·莫里斯停止了交谈。怀特先生告诉他太太和儿子，“汤姆到印度服兵役有21年了。印度是一个非常有趣的国家。”

'Yes,' Herbert said. 'I'd like to go there.'

“是的，”赫伯特说，“我想去那儿。”

'Oh, Herbert!' his mother cried. She was afraid because she did not want to lose her son.(2)

“哦，赫伯特！”他母亲惊叫起来。她非常害怕，因为她不想失去儿子。

'I wanted to go to India too,' her husband said, 'but...'

“我也想去印度，”她的丈夫说，“不过……”

'It's better for you here!' the soldier said quickly.

“对你来说，这儿很不错！”老兵很快地说。

'But you saw a lot of strange and wonderful things in India. I want to see them too one day,' Mr White said.

“你在印度看到了那么多奇怪又有趣的东西，我想有一天也能去看看。”怀特先生说。

The soldier put down his whisky. 'No!' he cried.' Stay here!'

老兵放下威士忌。“不！”他嚷道，“待在这儿！”

Old Mr White did not stop. 'But your stories were interesting,' he said to Tom Morris. 'What did you begin to say about a monkey's paw?'

老怀特先生并没有停下，“你的故事很有趣，”他对汤姆·莫里斯说，“关于猴爪的事你想告诉我们什么？”

'Nothing!' Morris answered quickly. 'Well…nothing important,'

“没什么！”莫里斯很快地回答，“真的……无关紧要。”

'A monkey's paw?' Mrs White said.

“猴爪？”怀特太太惊问。

'Come on, Mr Morris! Tell us about it,' Herbert said.(3)

“继续给我们讲讲吧，莫里斯先生。”赫伯特说。

Morris took his whisky in his hand, but suddenly he put it down again. Slowly he put his hand into the pocket of his coat and the White family watched him.

莫里斯用手拿起他的威士忌，但突然又把它放下，然后慢慢地把手伸进他的外套口袋。怀特一家看着他。

'What is it? What is it?' Mrs White cried.

“那是什么东西？那是什么东西？”怀特太太叫道。

Morris said nothing. He took his hand out of his pocket. The White family watched carefully--and in the soldier's hand they saw something little and dirty.

莫里斯什么也没说，他把手拿出口袋。怀特一家仔细地看着——在老兵手里他们看到了一个又小又脏的东西。

Mrs White moved back, afraid, but her son, Herbert, took it and looked at it carefully.

怀特太太害怕地缩了回来，但她的儿子赫伯特却把那东西拿过来仔细地看。

'Well, what is it?' Mr White asked his friend.

“喂，那是什么？”怀特先生问他的朋友。

'Look at it,' the soldier answered.' It's a little paw…a monkey's paw.'

“看看吧，”老兵答道，“它是一只小爪子啊……一只猴子的爪子。”

'A monkey's paw!' Herbert said--and he laughed. 'Why do you carry a monkey's paw in your pocket, Mr Morris?' he asked the old soldier.

“一只猴子的爪子！”赫伯特说着大笑起来。“为什么你在口袋里带着猴爪，莫里斯先生？”他问老兵。

'Well, you see,' Morris said, 'this monkey's paw is magic!'

“你要明白，这个猴爪是有魔力的！”莫里斯说。

Herbert laughed again, but the soldier said, 'Don't laugh, boy. Remember, you're young.(4) I'm old now and in India I saw many strange things.' He stopped talking for a minute and then he said, 'This monkey's paw can do strange and wonderful things. An old Indian gave the paw to one of my friends. My friend was a soldier too. This paw is magic because it can give three wishes to three people.'(5)

赫伯特又笑了，但老兵认真地说，“孩子，别笑了，记住，你还年轻，可我现在老啦，我曾在印度见到了很多奇怪的事情。”他停了一会儿，接着说，“这个猴爪能做奇怪而又奇妙的事情，一个印度老人把这个猴爪给了我的一位朋友，我的朋友也是一个当兵的。这猴爪有魔力是因为它能满足三个人每人提出的三个愿望。”

 （原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点 

1. country 国家

拓展：foreign country 外国

developing country 发展中国家

2. lose 失去

例句：David's very upset about losing his job.

大卫因为失去工作而非常难过。

3. come on 加油， 继续

例句：Come on, you can do it!

加油， 你能行的！

4. remember 记得

例句：I can't remember her exact words.

我不记得她的话了。

5. because 因为

例句：I like English because it opens my eyes.

我喜欢英语， 因为它开阔了我的眼界。