英語(yǔ)故事：千金買(mǎi)骨

　　Shortly after King Zhao of the State of Yan came to the throne, he went to visit Guo Kui, an able and virtuous scholar, and asked for his advice on how to govern the state and make it strong, and how to avenge his father and wipe off the shame of the state. Guo Kui told him the story of "Buying Bones with 1,000 Pieces of Gold".

　　In ancient times, there was a king very fond of horses that could cover 1,000 1i a day. He sent many people, sought many means and spent lots of money to buy such horses. Yet three years had passed, and no such horses were available.

　　One day, a guard volunteered to help and said to the king: "I am willing to buy a thousand-li steed for Your Majesty"

　　The king was pleasantly surprised. He asked: "You? Can you make it?"

　　"Your Majesty, you can rest assured," replied the guard.

　　The king complied with his request and let him go on his mission.

　　The guard sought for the horse wholeheartedly. He spent three months, and after much effort found out the whereabouts of such a horse. But when he hastened there, the horse had already died. Without the least hesitation, he bought the bones of the horse with 500 pieces of gold, and returned to report to the king.

　　On seeing the horse bones the guard had actually bought, the king flew into a rage. "You! What I want is a live horse, but you have bought the bones of a dead horse. What is the use? You have wasted 500 pieces of gold. What punishment do you think you deserve?"

　　The guard replied calmly: "Your Majesty, this is to let the general public know that Your Majesty is willing to pay a high price for even a dead thousand-li horse, let alone a live one. All the people in the world will know that Your Majesty wishes to buy a thousand-li horse sincerely. Your Majesty, don't be angry. Just wait and the horse you want will come very soon."

　　As the guard had expected, the king bought three thousand-li horses within one year.

　　燕國(guó)國(guó)君燕昭王即位后不久，去拜訪(fǎng)賢士郭魄先生，向他請(qǐng)教如何治國(guó)圖強(qiáng)，為先王報(bào)仇，為國(guó)雪恥。郭魄給燕昭王講了一個(gè)“千金買(mǎi)骨”的故事。

　　古時(shí)候，有一位國(guó)君，他非常喜歡千里馬。他派了很多人，想了不少辦法，花了許多錢(qián)去買(mǎi)馬。可是，三年過(guò)去了，千里馬仍然沒(méi)有買(mǎi)到。

　　一天，一個(gè)衛(wèi)士自告奮勇，對(duì)國(guó)君說(shuō):“我愿意為大王買(mǎi)馬。”

　　“你!”國(guó)君又驚又喜，“你能行嗎?”

　　“請(qǐng)大王放心!”

　　國(guó)君答應(yīng)了他的請(qǐng)求，讓他去了。

　　衛(wèi)士一心一意尋找千里馬，花了三個(gè)月的時(shí)間，好不容易打聽(tīng)到了一匹千里馬的下落。但是，等他趕到那兒的時(shí)候，這匹千里馬已經(jīng)死了。衛(wèi)士毫不猶豫，花了五百金買(mǎi)下了這副千里馬的骨頭，回來(lái)報(bào)告國(guó)君。

　　國(guó)君一看買(mǎi)回來(lái)的竟是馬骨，氣得暴跳如雷，罵道：“你!我要的是活馬?？墒?，你買(mǎi)回來(lái)的卻是死馬骨頭，有什么用?白白糟蹋了五百金，該當(dāng)何罪?”

　　衛(wèi)士不慌不忙地回答說(shuō)：“大王，我是為了讓老百姓知道，大王連死的千里馬也肯花大價(jià)錢(qián)買(mǎi)，何況活的千里馬呢?天下的人都會(huì)知道，大王是真心誠(chéng)意要買(mǎi)千里馬。大王，您不要生氣，您等著吧!不久，您要的千里馬一定會(huì)來(lái)的。”

　　果然，不出衛(wèi)士所料，一年不到，國(guó)君就買(mǎi)到了三匹千里馬。

　　virtuous

　　adj.有品德的，善良的，貞潔的，有效力的

　　參考例句：

　　She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是個(gè)有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。

　　My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直為娶到一位賢德的妻子而驕傲。

　　avenge

　　v.為...復(fù)仇，為...報(bào)仇

　　參考例句：

　　He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他發(fā)誓說(shuō)要向黑手黨報(bào)仇。

　　He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他將為人民向壓迫者報(bào)仇。

　　majesty

　　n.雄偉，壯麗，莊嚴(yán)，威嚴(yán);最高權(quán)威，王權(quán)

　　參考例句：

　　The king had unspeakable majesty.國(guó)王有無(wú)法形容的威嚴(yán)。

　　Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊貴的陛下，您必須趕快做出決定!

　　hesitation

　　n.猶豫，躊躇

　　參考例句：

　　After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.躊躇了半天，他終于直說(shuō)了。

　　There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的態(tài)度有些猶豫不決。