1级-《猴爪》-第11课

前情提要 

怀特太太朝窗外看去，一个来自自莫和麦金森的陌生男人来寻找怀特夫妇。怀特太太有些忐忑，她担心赫伯特是不是出事了……

故事原文 

The Monkey's Paw L11

猴爪 L11

The stranger did not look at their faces--and Mr White began to be afraid too.

陌生人并不瞧他们的脸……怀特先生也开始害怕了。

'Please, tell us!' he said.

“请告诉我们！”他说。

'I'm very sorry,' the man from Maw and Meggins began. He stopped for a minute and then he began again. 'I'm very sorry, but this morning there was an accident at the factory… '(1)

从莫和麦金森来的人停了好一会儿才开始说，“对不起，非常对不起，今天早晨，工厂发生了一起事故……。”

'What's the matter? Is Herbert OK?' Mrs White cried again.

“到底出了什么事，赫伯特还好吗？”怀特太太又叫了起来。

'Well...' the man began slowly.

“是这样……”陌生人慢慢地说。

'Is he in hospital?' the old woman asked, very afraid now.

“他住院了吗？”老妇人问，现在她非常害怕。

'Yes, but……' the stranger looked at Mrs White's face and stopped.

“是的，但是……”陌生人看了一眼怀特太太的脸又停了下来。

'Is he dead? Is Herbert dead?' Mr White asked quietly.(2)

“他死了吗？赫伯特死啦？”怀特先生平静地问。

'Dead!' Mrs White cried. 'Oh no… please... not dead! Not Herbert! Not our son!'

 “死啦！”怀特太太哭叫着。“哦，不……请不要这样说……，不，赫伯特不会死，我们的儿子不会死！”

Suddenly the old woman stopped because she saw the stranger's face. Then the two old people knew. Their son was dead! Old Mrs White began to cry quietly and Mr White put his arm round her.

突然，老妇人不喊了，因为她看见了陌生人的表情。两个老人明白，他们的儿子已经死了！老怀特太太呜咽着，怀特先生搂着她。

Sometime later the man from Maw and Meggins said, 'It was the machinery--an accident. Herbert called, "Help!". The men heard him--and ran to him quickly, but they could do nothing. The next minute he was in the machinery. I'm very, very sorry,' he finished.(3)

过了一会儿，从莫和麦金森来的男人说，“那是一起机器事故，听到赫伯特喊救命，工友们跑过去，可一点办法也没有。只能眼睁睁地看着赫伯特卷进机器里。对不起，非常对不起。”他结束了讲话。

For a minute or two the room was quiet. At last Mrs White said, 'Our son! Dead! We're never going to see him again.(4) What are we going to do without him?'

一时间，屋子里非常安静。最后，怀特太太说，“我们的儿子，死了，我们再也不能见到他了，没有他，我们以后的日子怎么过？”

 （原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点 

1. accident 事故， 意外， 偶然

例句：I’m sorry about breaking the vase. It was an accident.

很抱歉打破了花瓶。 这是个意外。

His wealth is an only accident of birth.

他有钱是因为出生在有钱人家。

2. dead 死亡， 没电了

例句：The phone is dead.

手机没电了。

The radio went dead.

收音机没电了。

I think the batteries are dead.

我想是电池没电了。

3. do nothing 什么都做不了， 无计可施

例句：I really wanted to help, but I can do nothing.

我真的想帮忙， 但是我什么都做不了。

I can do nothing but give him money for the beggar.

对于乞丐， 我只能给他一些钱。

4. at last 最终

例句：He managed to do it at last.

他最终设法做成这件事。

She was at last with her sister again.

最终她和她姐姐重逢了。