11.另一則寓言笑話
The Ndele tribesmen of Africa were'a poor but proudpeople. Living as they did in the savannah regionssouth of the Sahara, they had only grass with whichto build their houses, but these were nonethelessbeautifully designed and spacious.
非洲的恩德拉部落是個貧窮但驕傲的民族,由于位在撒哈拉沙漠南部的大草原地區(qū),他們只能用草來造房子,但他們的房屋仍然設計美觀,內部寬敞。
In fact, the king's palace was all of three stories tall until the tragic events which I will nowrelate.
實際上,在我所要敘及的不幸事件之前,國王的皇宮都是三層樓的建筑。事情是這樣的。
The Ndele had always believed that as long as the king sat on the traditional golden throne,no harm could come to the tribe. In recent times, however, the kings had taken to sending theirheirs to Europe to be educated.
恩德拉族人自古以來都相信,只要國王坐在那張傳統(tǒng)黃金打造的王座上,老天就不會降災害于他們??墒亲罱侵迖鮽兌紵嶂杂诎阉麄兊睦^承人送到歐洲深造。
One particular crown prince came back from Oxford with nothing but contempt for theancient beliefs of his people. No sooner had he been crowned king than he had the goldenthrone removed to the palace attic and replaced with a comfortable steel-framed easy-chair.
其中一位王儲由牛津大學歸國,他除了鄙視該族人的古老迷信外,什么也沒學回來。他一登上王位就立刻把那張寶座搬到皇宮閣樓收藏,并換上一張鋼框的舒適安樂椅。
Sure enough, as soon as the young king settled his posterior into the new royal seat, anearthquake struck the entire territory of the Ndele, hundreds of homes were destroyed, andthe old golden throne came crashing through the two intervening floors directly onto thefoolish monarch,squashing him like a bug.
果然,那位年輕的國王剛坐下不久,地震就襲擊了恩德拉族境內,好幾百棟的房子損毀,而原來那張黃金寶座也一路撞穿兩個夾層樓正中那名愚蠢的統(tǒng)治者,他就像一只小蟲般被壓得扁扁的。
And the moral of the story is: Those who live in grass houses should not stow thrones.
這則故事的真義就是:“住在茅草房子的人們不可把國王的御座收藏起來!”
1.tragic events 悲慘事件
例句:The Italian designer said he had been"profoundly moved by the tragic events" of March'searthquake and tsunami.
這位意大利設計師說他一直被三月的地震和海嘯“這些悲痛事件深深感動”。
2.as long as 只要
例句:So we can do this directly as long as we have certain types of information.
因此,只要知道了一定類型的信息,我們就可以直接做到這一點。
3.contempt for 鄙視
例句:He expressed profound contempt for the act.
他對這一行為表示了極度蔑視。
4.replaced with 替換為
例句:Once this redacted document is saved, these words are replaced with redactionrectangles.
一旦此修訂的文檔被保存,這些單詞將用修訂矩形替換。