1级-《猴爪》-第3课

前情提要  

老怀特先生和汤姆·莫里斯聊起了印度，随后汤姆拿出了一只猴子的爪子。赫伯特十分好奇，汤姆说出了猴爪的魔力……

故事原文  

The Monkey's Paw L3

猴爪 L3

'Wonderful!' Herbert said.

“太妙了！”赫伯特说。

'But these three wishes don't bring happiness,' the soldier said. 'The old Indian wanted to teach us something--it's never good to want to change things.'(1)(2)

“但这三个愿望并不能带来幸福。”老兵提醒说，“印度老人想告诉我们——想改变现实并不一定是好事。”

'Well, did your friend have three wishes?' Herbert asked the old soldier.

“那么，你的朋友也有三个愿望吗？”赫伯特问老兵。

'Yes,' Morris answered quietly. 'And his third and last wish was to die!'(3)

“是的，”莫里斯静静地回答，“并且他的第三个也是最后一个愿望就是去死！”

Mr and Mrs White listened to the story and they felt afraid, but Herbert asked, 'And did he die? '

怀特先生和怀特太太听了这个故事感到有些害怕，赫伯特问，“他死了吗？”

'Yes, he did,' Morris said. 'He had no family, so his things came to me when he died. The monkey's paw was with his things, but he told me about it before he died,' Tom Morris finished quietly.

“是的，他死了，”莫里斯说，“他没有家，所以他死的时候把他的东西全给了我，猴爪是这些东西的附带品，不过他死之前就告诉过我有关猴爪的故事。”汤姆·莫里斯静静地说。

'What were his first two wishes, then?' Herbert asked. 'What did he ask for?'

“那么，他的头两个愿望是什么？”赫伯特追问，“他要求什么？”

'I don't know. He didn't want to tell me,' the soldier answered.

“我不知道，他不想告诉我。”老兵回答说。

For a minute or two everybody was quiet, but then Herbert said, 'And you, Mr Morris: did you have three wishes?'

一两分钟里大家都沉默着，然而赫伯特又问，“莫里斯先生，你有三个愿望吗？”

'Yes, I did,' Morris answered. 'I was young. I wanted many things--a fast car, money...' Morris stopped for a minute and then he said with difficulty,' My wife and my young son died in an accident in the car.(4) Without them I didn't want the money, so, in the end, I wished to lose it. But it was too late. My wife and my child were dead.'

“是的，我有过，”莫里斯问答说，“我年轻时，我想要很多东西——一辆跑车，还有钱……”莫里斯顿了一会儿，然后很艰难地说，“我的妻子和我年轻的儿子在一次车祸中丧生，没有了他们我不再想要钱，以至到最后，我希望一无所有，但为时已晚，我的妻子和孩子并不能死而复生。”

The room was very quiet. The White family looked at the unhappy face of the old soldier.

房子里很静，怀特一家看着老兵苦楚的脸。

Then Mr White said, 'Why do you want the paw now? You don't need it. You can give it to someone.'

接着，怀特先生问，“为什么你现在还要这个爪子呢？你不需要它，你可以把它送给别人。”

'How can I give it to someone?' the soldier said.' The monkey's paw brings unhappiness with it.'

“我怎么能送给别人呢？”老兵说，“猴爪会给拥有它的人带来痛苦。”

'Well, give it to me,' Mr White said. 'Perhaps this time it...

“那么，给我吧，”怀特先生说，“也许这次它……”

'No!' Tom Morris cried.' You're my friend. I can't give it to you.' Then, after a minute, he said, 'I can't give it to you, but, of course you can take it from me. But remember--this monkey's paw brings unhappiness!'(5)

“不！”汤姆·莫里斯叫道，“你是我的朋友，我不能把它给你。”过了一会儿，他说，“我不能把它给你，但你可以从我身边把它拿走，不过要记住——猴爪会给你带来痛苦！”

 （原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点  

1.teach 告诉某人该如何做

例句：When I was young, we were taught to treat older people with respect.

小时候， 我们都被教育要尊敬老人。

He taught me that the easy option isn’t always the best one.

他告诉我简单的选择并不总是最好的。

2. It’s never good to do sth. 做某事不好。

例句：It is never good to take an enemy as a friend.

把敌人当成朋友是不会有好处的。

3. be to do sth. 一般表示下命令或是强调未来发生的事情

例句：You are to wait here until I return.

你在这儿等着， 直到我回来。

They are to be married on May 25th.

他俩会在 5 月 25 号结婚。

4. do sth. with difficulty 做某事很困难

例句：I see a lot of students learn English with great difficulty.

我看到很多学生学习英语有很大的困难。

5. unhappiness 不幸

    unhappy 不高兴的

例句：He was unhappy with the quality of the food.

他对食物的质量不太高兴。

The children were all unhappy about going back to school.

孩子们都对回归学校感到不高兴。