1级-《猴爪》-第13课

前情提要 

对于赫伯特的死，陌生男人表示很难过。他代表工厂，在这个不幸的时候，给予怀特夫妇帮助——他给了怀特夫妇30，000英镑……

故事原文 

The Monkey's Paw L13

猴爪 L13

Three days later, in the big, new cemetery two miles from their house, the two old people said goodbye to their dead son. Then they went back to their dark, old house. They did not want to live without Herbert, but they waited for something good to happen, something to help them. The days went by very slowly.(1)(2) Sometimes they did not talk because there was nothing to say without Herbert.(3) And so the days felt very long.

三天后，在离他们家两英里远的一个大而新的墓地，两位老人和他们死去的儿子道别了。然后，他们回到了又黑又旧的房子。没有了赫伯特，他们什么也不想做，他们等待着奇迹发生，等待着什么来帮助他们。时间过得很慢，有时他们连话也不想说，因为没有了赫伯特，就无话可说了。所以他们觉得日子很长。

Then, one night, about a week later, Mrs White got out of bed because she could not sleep. She sat by the window and she watched and waited for her son. He did not come and she began to cry quietly.

大约一周后的一天晚上，怀特太太因失眠从床上爬了起来。她坐在窗户边看着，等着她的儿子回来。想到赫伯特再也回不来了，她又低声地哭了起来。

In the dark her husband heard her and he called, 'Come back to bed. It's cold out there.'

黑暗中，她丈夫听见了她的哭声，叫她，“过来睡吧，那儿太冷了。”

'It's colder for my son,' his wife answered. 'He's out there in the cold cemetery.'

“我儿子那儿更冷，”他妻子回应他，“他一个人待在外面冰冷的墓地里。”

Mrs White did not go back to bed, but Mr White was old and tired and the bed was warm. So, in the end, he went to sleep again. Suddenly he heard a cry from his wife.

怀特太太没有回去睡觉，但怀特先生因又老又累，加上温暖的被窝，很快又睡着了。突然他听见了妻子的叫声。

'The paw!' she cried. 'The monkey's paw!' She came back to the bed and stood there.

“爪子！”她喊道，“猴爪！”她走到床边站在那儿。

'What is it? What's the matter?' Mr White cried.(4) He sat up in bed. 'What's the matter?' he thought. 'Why is she excited? What's she talking about?' He looked at his wife.

“出了什么事？怎么啦？”怀特先生叫着从床上坐了起来，他想，“怎么啦？她为什么那么兴奋？她说什么？”他看着妻子。

Her face was very white in the dark. 'I want it,' she said quietly, 'and you've got it! Give it to me! Please!'

她的脸色在黑暗中显得很苍白。“我要猴爪，在你那儿！请把它给我！”她静静地说。

'What?' Mr White asked.

“什么？”怀特先生没听明白。

'The monkey's paw,' Mrs White said. 'Where is it?'

“猴爪，”怀特太太说，“猴爪在哪儿？”

'It's downstairs.' Mr White answered. 'Why?'

“在楼下，但你为什么要它？”怀特先生不解。

Mrs White began to laugh and cry. 'We can have two more wishes!' she cried. 'We had one--but there are two more!'

怀特太太高兴得又笑又叫。“我们可以再许两个愿！我们已经许了一个——还有两个！”

'Oh, no! Not again! Think, woman!' Mr White cried. But Mrs White did not listen.

“哦，不！再也不要了！好好想一想，老太太！”怀特先生大叫着，但怀特太太并不听他说的话。

'Quickly,' she said. 'Go and get the paw. We're going to wish for our boy to come back to us!'(5)

“快点，去把猴爪拿来，我们许愿我们的儿子回到我们身边来！”她说。

'No!' Mr White cried. 'You're mad!'

“不！你疯啦！”怀特先生叫了起来。

 （原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点 

1. wait for something... to happen 等待……发生

例句：He could do nothing but sit and wait for something to happen.

他对此束手无策， 只能听天由命。

Be the master of your life. Do not wait for something good to happen.

要掌控自己的生活。 不要想着有奇迹发生。

2. go by = pass （时间） 逝去

例句：Things will get easier as time goes by.

慢慢地事情就会变得容易。

Many years have gone by since the last time I saw her.

自从我上次见她已经过去很多年了。

3. nothing to do 没有……

例句：I have nothing to say on this question.

这个问题我没什么好说的。

I have nothing to declare.

我没有要申报的。

4. What is it? 怎么了？

    What’s wrong? 怎么了？

5. go and do sth. 去某个特定场合以便于做某事

例句：They went and changed it!

他们去了， 而且改变了局势！

I went and talked to the manager.

我去跟经理谈了谈。