雙語閱讀姑息養(yǎng)鼠和粵犬吠雪

1、中國寓言小故事:姑息養(yǎng)鼠和粵犬吠雪A man in Yongzhou was afraid that doing things oncertain d ays would bring misfortune .永州有個人,害怕在某些日子里辦事會倒霉.As he was born in the year of zi, and the rat wasconsidered the deity of zi, he especially shielded it.他生于子年,而且老鼠被認為是子神,所以他特別袒護老鼠.He not only didn't keep cats and dogs, but

2、 alsowouldn ' t allow his servants to kill rats.他不但不養(yǎng)貓和狗,而且不準仆人打老鼠.He allowed rats to run wild in his granary and kitchen and ne ver bothered about them.他家的糧倉、廚房,任憑老鼠怎么橫行,也從來不去過問.Hence, the rats told one another about this and moved one after another into his house, wherethey ate their fill all

3、day lo ng and lived in safety.于是,老鼠互相轉(zhuǎn)告,紛紛搬到他家來住,飽食終日,安然無恙.This gentleman 's house was so ruined by the rats that there was neither an i ntact utensil nor awhole garment on the clothes rack.這位先生的家里,被老鼠糟蹋得沒有一件完好的器具,衣架上沒有一件完整的衣裳,Even his own food was mostly leftovers by the rats.自己的食品也大多是老鼠吃剩下來的剩余

4、.In the daytime, the rats walked in swarms around the master .At night, they fought for food, quarrelled and squeaked,mak ing such a racket that no one could sleep. Yet this gentlema nnever felt annoyed .白天,老鼠成群結隊跟主人一道行走；夜晚,搶吃東西,吵架爭斗,刺耳的尖叫聲,吵得人無法睡覺,然而這位先生卻從不覺得 厭煩.Several years later, this gentleman

5、moved away and another family moved in. Yet the rats wenton brazenly with their evil deeds as before.幾年后,這位先生遷居外地,另一戶人家搬進來居住.老鼠仍舊 像過去那樣為非作歹,肆無忌憚.The new master was very angry. He said:These shameless pests steal things and maketrouble so de vastatingly. How could they be tolerated? 新主人十分惱火,說：“這些見不得陽

6、光的壞東西,偷竊搗亂得太 厲害了,怎么能容忍呢He immediately borrowed five to six good cats, closed the do ors and windows, and let themcatch the rats. He also engag ed men to move bricks and tiles, fill up the holes with water so asto close in on the rats on all sides.他立即借來了五六只好貓,關了門窗捕捉,還專門雇人搬傳移瓦, 用水灌洞,四面圍剿.Thus, the rat

7、s caught and killed were thrown to an out-of- th e-way place, heaped up like a hill. It took several months for the stench to dissipate .就這樣,捕殺的老鼠被扔在偏僻的地方,堆積如山,臭味幾個月 后才慢慢散盡.Those rats probably thought they could always eat their fill w ithout any disaster. Actually thiswas lamentable. The rats sho u

8、ld never be tolerated.那些老鼠可能自以為它們能一直飽食終日,安然無恙.這種想法實際上是很悲哀的.人們決不應該姑息老鼠.In the past, I heard people say:我過去聽人講過：Formerly, it was often cloudy and drizzly for days onend in t he south of the juncture of Sichuan, Shaanxiand Hubei, with very few fine days in between. Whenthe sun shone occasion ally, the

9、dogs would barkconsistently without stop.“從前,四川、陜西、湖北交界處的南部,常常陰雨連綿,少有 晴日,偶然日出,狗就吠個不停.I never quite believe this kind of talk, and consider itexagger ated .這種傳聞,我一直不太相信,認為它言過其實.Six or seven years ago, I came to the south. In the winter of the following year, there was aheavy snow rarely seen befor e.

10、六七年前,我來到南方.第二年冬天,恰巧下了一場罕見的大雪.It crossed the Naming Mountain and covered several prefect ures in the southern part of Yue(Guangdong Province).大雪越過南嶺,覆蓋了粵地南部好幾個州.Consequently, the dogs in these prefectures were all panic -st ricken.They barked wildly and ranabout in confusion for seve ral days in succession.于是,幾個州的狗都驚恐萬狀,一連幾天狂吠亂奔,It wasn ' t until the weather had cleared and the snow melted that the y became quiet.直到天空放晴,積雪融化,才安靜下來.Only by then did I believe that it was likely that the dogs in S hu (Sichuan Province) barked atthe sun.這時候,我才相信