英語童話:蛤蟆夜哭

　　In the past, there was a man named Ai Zi who was fond of sailing on the sea.

　　One night, Ai Zi had his boat moored1 near a small island Around midnight, he seemed to hear someone weeping or talking under the water. So he listened intently, and soon he heard someone say: "Yesterday the Dragon King issued an order that all living creatures with tails in water are to be beheaded. I am an alligator2 and have a tail. I am very frightened of being slaughtered3, so I am crying. You are a toad4 and don't have a tail. What are you weeping for?"

　　After a while, Ai Zi seemed to hear someone answer: "Though I have no tail now, I am afraid that I may be traced back to the time when I was a tadpole5 with a tail then, so I am weeping."

　　從前，有個叫艾子的人，喜歡在海上航行。

　　一天晚上，船停泊在一個小島的附近。大約半夜時分，他仿佛聽到水底下有人發(fā)出哭泣的聲音，又好像有人在說話。于是，他認認真真地聽了下去。一會兒，他聽到有人說：“昨天龍王下了命令，水中的動物，凡是有尾巴的都必須斬首。我是鱷，有尾巴，非常害怕遭到殺戮，所以哭了起來。你是蛤蟆，又沒有尾巴，哭什么呀?”

　　一會兒，他仿佛又聽到有人回答說：“我現(xiàn)在雖然沒有尾巴，但是我害怕會追究到我蝌蚪年代的事情上去，因為那時候我是有尾巴的，所以哭泣。”

　　點擊

　　收聽單詞發(fā)音

　　1 moored

　　adj. 系泊的動詞moor的過去式和過去分詞形式

　　參考例句：

　　The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 該船現(xiàn)在永久地停泊在倫敦泰晤士河邊。

　　We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我們收起槳，把船泊在岸邊。

　　2 alligator

　　n.短吻鱷(一種鱷魚)

　　參考例句：

　　She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她開始玩鱷魚玩具。

　　Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鱷魚皮比通常的皮革要貴5倍。

　　3 slaughtered

　　v.屠殺，殺戮，屠宰( slaughter的過去式和過去分詞 )

　　參考例句：

　　The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略軍殺了許多人。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

　　Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 數(shù)百名無辜平民遭殘殺。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

　　4 toad

　　n.蟾蜍，癩蛤蟆

　　參考例句：

　　Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是兩棲動物。

　　Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.許多種蟾蜍在冬天都會冬眠。

　　5 tadpole

　　n.[動]蝌蚪

　　參考例句：

　　As a tadpole changes into a frog,its tail is gradually absorbed.蝌蚪變成蛙，它的尾巴就逐漸被吸收掉。

　　It was a tadpole.Now it is a frog.它過去是蝌蚪，現(xiàn)在是一只青蛙。