《The Wolf and the Lamb》封面

That innocence is not a shield, A story teaches, not the longest. The strongest reasons always yield To reasons of the strongest.

清白无辜并非护身盾牌,这个故事所要告诉我们的道理不仅如此。强者的道理总是压倒一切,无论那道理多么牵强。

A lamb her thirst was slaking, Once, at a mountain rill. A hungry wolf was taking His hunt for sheep to kill, When, spying on the streamlet's brink This sheep of tender age, He howl'd in tones of rage, 'How dare you roil my drink? Your impudence I shall chastise!'

曾经有一次,一只小羊羔在山间小溪边饮水解渴。一只饥饿的狼正四处寻猎绵羊,想要猎杀充饥。他看见溪边这只稚嫩的小羊,怒气冲冲地咆哮道:“你怎么敢弄脏我的水!你的无礼放肆,我必定要惩罚你!”

'Let not your majesty,' the lamb replies, 'Decide in haste or passion! For sure 'tis difficult to think In what respect or fashion My drinking here could roil your drink, Since on the stream your majesty now faces I'm lower down, full twenty paces.'

“求陛下,”小羊回答道,“请不要仓促动怒!要说清楚,实在很难想清楚,我在这儿喝水,怎么可能弄脏了陛下面前的水呢,因为在陛下所面对的这条溪流上,我可是在您下游整整二十步远的地方啊。”

'You roil it,' said the wolf; 'and, more, I know You cursed and slander'd me a year ago.' 'O no! how could I such a thing have done! A lamb that has not seen a year, A suckling of its mother dear?' 'Your brother then.' 'But brother I have none.'

“是你弄脏的,”狼说,“而且,我还知道,你去年还咒骂诽谤过我。”“哦,不!我怎么可能做过这样的事呢?我还不满周岁,还是吃奶的孩子呢!”“那就是你哥哥干的。”“可我没有哥哥啊。”

'Well, well, what's all the same, 'Twas some one of your name. Sheep, men, and dogs of every nation, Are wont to stab my reputation, As I have truly heard.' Without another word, He made his vengeance good— Bore off the lambkin to the wood, And there, without a jury, Judged, slew, and ate her in his fury.

“好吧,好吧,反正都一样,肯定是你们家族里的谁干的。绵羊啊,人啊,还有各族的狗啊,都老是爱诋毁我的名声,这我可是听得真真切切。”话音未落,他便毫不留情地实施了报复——把这只小羊羔叼进了树林,未经任何审判,就把她判了罪、杀了、吃掉了,以泄他心头的怒火。

🧠 检验你的理解

  1. What does the wolf first accuse the lamb of doing?

    查看答案

    答案:Muddying his drinking water

    The wolf howls at the lamb for daring to "roil" (muddy) his drink at the stream.

  2. How does the lamb prove the wolf's first accusation is impossible?

    查看答案

    答案:She points out she is downstream from the wolf, so she cannot be dirtying his water

    The lamb explains she is drinking twenty paces below the wolf, so her drinking cannot affect his water upstream.

  3. When the water excuse fails, what does the wolf accuse the lamb of instead?

    查看答案

    答案:Slandering him a year ago

    The wolf claims the lamb "cursed and slander'd" him a year ago, even though the lamb is less than a year old.

  4. What does the opening moral of the poem say about reasons and strength?

    查看答案

    答案:The strongest reasons always yield to the reasons of the strongest

    The poem opens by warning that being innocent is no shield, since the powerful will always make their excuse count as the winning one.

  5. What finally happens to the lamb?

    查看答案

    答案:The wolf drags her off and kills her without any real trial

    Having run out of patience for excuses, the wolf carries the lamb into the wood and, "without a jury," kills and eats her.

喜欢这个故事?在应用中收听完整版并查询任意单词

  • 点按任意单词即可查看释义
  • 完整收听每个故事,离线阅读
  • 复习词汇、练习发音、完成测验
在 Google Play 上获取