首页 -> 2008年第10期
兄弟袋
作者：宋韵声
“How long must I reap?”asked the poor man.
“Until the light in the sky sets.”said the farmer and poined up at the sky.
一个农场主有一大片成熟了的麦田。他从村里请了一个穷人为他收割这块麦田。
“我得割多长时间？”这个穷人问道。
“到天空完全没有亮的时候。”农场主举手指着天空说。
ripe[raip]成熟的
corn[k:n]谷物，小麦
reap[ri:p]收割point[pint]指
“And what will you pay me?”
“I’ll give you a small bag of flour if you work well.”
The poor man agreed and began to reap the rich man’s corn. He worked without rest. At noon he stopped and rested for a short time under a tree. He had only one slice of bread to eat for lunch.
“你将给我什么报酬？”
“如果你活干得好的话，我将给你一小袋面粉。”
穷人同意了，于是便开始收割农场主的小麦。他不停地割着，只是在中午的时候停下来，在一棵树下休息了片刻，把仅有的一小块面包吃了。
pay[pei]付
flour[flau]面粉
Then he took his sickle and went back to work.
When the sun set,the tired poor man wiped the sweat from his face and said,“That’s enough.”
“How is that?”said the farmer,”You have reaped only half the field.”
“But the sun has set and it is growing dark,”answered the reaper.
然后他便拿起镰刀回到田里继续割麦子。
当太阳落山的时候，干得筋疲力尽的穷人擦了擦脸上的汗说：“活干完了。”
“那怎么能行呢？”农场主说，“你只割了一半呀。”
“可是太阳已落了，天马上就黑了。”穷人回答道。
sickle[＇sikl]镰刀set[set]落，沉落
tired[＇taid]疲劳的wipe[waip]擦
sweat[swet]汗enough[i＇nf]足够的
reaper[＇ri:p]收割者
“The sun has set.”said the rich man,“But look at the sky! His sister,the moon,is now in the sky.She gives us light. You must reap until the moon sets too. Otherwise I will not give you any flour.”
“太阳落山了，”农场主说，“可你看看天空，他的妹妹月亮还在天空，不是照样给我们光亮吗？你得割到月亮也落了才行。不然的话，我就不会给你面粉。”
otherwise[＇waiz]否则，要不然
“The poor man could not answer this argument.He went on with his work.He worked hard all night long,while the rich farmer lay down under the tree and had a good sleep.The workman reaped the field from end to end.
“Now I’ll give you the flour.”said the rich man,“Go home,bring your bag, and come to my mill. My flour is there.”
穷人无法与他争辩，他只得继续干活，他辛苦地干了一整夜，这期间，那个农场主就躺在树下睡觉，天亮时整个一片地全割完了。“现在我可以给你面粉了。”农场主说，“你回家取袋子，然后到我的磨坊去，我的面粉放在那里。”
argument[＇a:gjumnt]争议，理由
mill[mil]磨坊
So the poor man went home and came a little later with a big bag.
“Pour in the flour!”he said.
穷人回家去了，不多时就拿着一个大袋子来到磨坊。
“往里倒面粉吧!”他说。
pour[p:]倒，倾倒
The rich farmer opened his eyes wide and shouted.“Why did you bring such a big bag?”
“It’s the small bag’s big brother,”laughed the poor man.
“How can a small bag have a big brother?”said the farmer.
“Well,if the moon is the sun’s sister,a small bag can have a big brother,can’t it ?”
This time the rich farmer couldn’t answer the poor man’s argument.He had to to fill the big bag with flour.
农场主睁大眼睛喊道：“为什么你拿来这么大的一个袋子？”
“这是那个小袋子的大哥。”穷人笑着说。
“一个小袋子怎么会有一个大哥呢？”农场主问。
“是呀，如果月亮是太阳的妹妹的话，一个小袋子就能有一个大哥。不能吗？
这次，农场主也反驳不了穷人说出的理由，只好给他装满一大袋面粉。
shout[aut]呼喊，喊叫
fill[fil]装满
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