[心灵鸡汤] THE CROW AND THE ORIOLE

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1^# 大中小发表于 2008-8-6 19:09 只看该作者

THE CROW AND THE ORIOLE

Once upon a time a crow fell in love with a Baltimore oriole．He had seen her flying past his nest every spring on her way North and every autumn on her way South，and he had decided that she was a tasty dish．He had observed that she came North every year with a different gentleman，but he paid no attention to the fact that all the gentlemen were Baltimore orioles．“Anybody can have that mouse，”he said to himself．So he went to his wife and told her that he was in love with a Baltimore oriole who was as cute as a cuff link．He said he wanted a divorce，so his wife gave him one simply by opening the door and handing him his hat．“Don't come crying to me when she throws you down，”she said．“That fly-by-season hasn't got a brain in her head．She can't cook or sew．Her upper register sounds like a streetcar taking a curve．You can find out in any dictionary that the crow is the smartest and most capable of birds—or was till you became one．”“Tush！”said the male crow．“Pish！You are simply a jealous woman．”He tossed her a few dollars．“Here，”he said，“go buy yourself some finery．You look like the bottom of an old teakettle．”And off he went to look for the oriole．英语互助论坛汇聚英语学习爱好者所普通关注的英语最新资讯、英语知识问答、英语热门考试、英语分类学习和英语音乐影视等多个版块为一体的综合英语学习门户网站，是广大英语爱好者值得关注的英语学习基地。! y; ?7 z1 Q1 {4 u( D
This was in the springtime and he met her coming North with an oriole he had never seen before．The crow stopped the female oriole and pleaded his cause—or should we say cawed his pleas？At any rate，he courted her in a harsh，grating voice，which made her laugh merrily．“You sound like an old window shutter，”she said，and she snapped her fingers at him．“I am bigger and stronger than your gentleman friend，”said the crow．“I have a vocabulary larger than his．All the orioles in the country couldn't even lift the corn I own．I am a fine sentinel and my voice can be heard for miles in case of danger．”“I don't see how that could interest anybody but another crow，”said the female oriole，and she laughed at him and flew on toward the North．The male oriole tossed the crow some coins．“Here，”he said，“go buy yourself a blazer or something．You look like me bottom of an old coffeepot．”英语互助、英语学习、英语社区、英语辩论、英语Flash% H: N; i- g! i7 E0 g* G" t4 ^: n
The crow flew back sadly to his nest，but his wife was not there．He found a note pinned to the front door．“I have gone away with Bert，”it read．“You will find some arsenic in the medicine chest．”
Moral：Even the llama should stick to mamma．

乌鸦和黄鹂

从前，有一只乌鸦爱上了一只巴尔的摩黄鹂。每年春天，他看见她经过自己的巢往北飞去；秋天，又飞往南方。他断定她是一位高雅漂亮的女子。他还观察到，她每年都和一位不同的绅士北去，而却没注意到所有的绅士都是巴尔的摩黄鹂这样一个事实。“任何人都可以得到那位姑娘”，他自言自语道。于是，他去到他妻子那里，告诉她，他爱上了一位像链扣一样娇小可爱的巴尔的摩黄鹂，他要离婚。他妻子只是打开门把帽子交给他，使他如愿以偿。“当她拒绝了你时，不要来向我哭诉，”她说，“那种喜欢随季节外出的人，她的头上没有大脑，她既不会烹调也不会缝纫，她的高嗓音听起来像市内有轨电车拐弯时发出的声音。你能够在任何字典里查到，乌鸦是鸟类中最漂亮和最能干的鸟——或许你能够变成这样。”“啐！”雄乌鸦说，“呸！你简直是个好妒忌的妇人。”他扔给她几元钱，“拿着，”他说，“给你自己买些华丽的衣服吧，你看起来跟旧茶壶底似的。”说完，他走了，去找那只黄鹂。
这时正是春天，他遇到了她，她和一只他以前从没见过的黄鹂正往北去。乌鸦拦住雌黄鹂，倾诉他的衷曲——或者我们应该说，乌鸦哇哇地叫出他的恳求？无论如何，他用他那刺耳而讨厌的声音向她求了爱，这使她愉快地笑了。“你的声音听起来像旧百页窗板发出的嘎嘎声，”她说，并对他打了一个响亮的榧子。“我比你的绅士朋友高大而强壮，”乌鸦说，“我的词汇量比他丰富。我的粮食多得连全国所有的黄鹂也搬不动。我是一位好警卫，在危险的情况下，我的声音几里外都能听到。”雌黄鹂说：“我想，这些除了乌鸦外，无人会感兴趣的。”她嘲笑了乌鸦一番，又继续往北飞走了。雄黄鹂扔给乌鸦几分钱，“拿着，”他说，“去买件茄克或别的东西，你看起来跟旧咖啡壶底似的。”
乌鸦伤心地回到窝里，但他的妻子已不在了。他发现前门上钉了张条子。上面写着：“我和伯特走了，你会在药柜里找到砒霜。”英语互助、英语学习、英语社区、英语辩论、英语Flash8 S8 Z5 K/ E: @3 ^
寓意：即使无峰驼也会忠于妈妈。! p- A j2 w' f0 t2 }: d

《我们时代的寓言》，詹姆斯·瑟伯

前几章你读过的詹姆斯·瑟伯的寓言，以处于各种境况中的各类动物，阐明了人类的某些弱点。相当聪明的苍蝇并非聪明绝顶；想陡直上跃的狮子却重重地摔在了地上。而你刚读过的这则寓言则涉及了人类最基本的两难问题：爱。
为造成喜剧性效果，瑟伯在一定程度上依仗了双关语和象征语言。双关语包括喜欢随季节外出的人（fly-by-season）[习惯表达式为喜欢在夜间外出的人（fly-by-night），意思是心浮气躁的人（scatterbrained）]和语词的颠倒，如乌鸦倾诉他的衷曲——或者……哇哇地叫出他的恳求（pleaded his cause—or…cawed his pleas）。www.en580.com, g7 F8 M% L$ C8 W: o% O
象征语言也被大量使用。例如，高雅漂亮的女子（a tasty dish）是有吸引力的妇女（或者这种情况的鸟），而姑娘（a mouse）是对年轻姑娘相当通俗的口语称呼。乌鸦认为黄鹂女士像链扣一样娇小可爱（cute as a cuff link），而乌鸦妻子把黄鹂女士的声音比作市内有轨电车拐弯时发出的声音（streetcar taking a curve）。乌鸦对他妻子的告诫“你看起来跟旧茶壶底似的”（you looks like the bottom of an old teakettle）与雄黄鹂后来对他贬低的提醒“你看起来跟旧咖啡壶底似的”（you look like the bottom of an old coffeepot．）很相似。
尽管《乌鸦与黄鹏》读起来轻松，但它却提出了一系列涉及人类关系的问题。选择一个题目，用适合这个题目的手法来展开；如果你喜欢，可综合采用几种方法。

百度一下“英语互助”你就知道！