美國語文第六冊 第245期:磚石切磚石(5)

"What we desire," said Omar, raising his voice, "is ants'wings, half male and half female. You have two hours in which to furnish the twenty pounds you have promised us."

“我們要的是，”奧馬爾說，抬高了聲音。“螞蟻的翅膀，半雄半雌的。在兩個小時內你必須提供你保證的二十磅螞蟻的翅膀。”

"This is absurd," cried the jeweler, "it is impossible. I should need half a score of persons and six months labor to satisfy so foolish a demand."

“這太荒謬了，”珠寶商喊道，“這不可能。這起碼需要二十個人用六個月時間來滿足這愚蠢的要求。”

"Are there any winged ants in Jidda?" asked the cadi.

“在吉達有長翅膀的螞蟻嗎?”地方法官問道。

"Of course," answered the merchants, laughing, "they are one of the plagues of Egypt. Our houses are full of them, and it would be doing us a great service to rid us of them."

“當然，”這位商人哈哈大笑道，“這種螞蟻是埃及一種瘟疫的始作俑者。我們家里到處都是這東西，需要費很大勁才能趕走它。”

"Then Ali must keep his promise or give back the casket," said the cadi.

“看來阿里必須信守諾言，不然的話就歸還那只匣子。”大方法官說。

 

"This young man was mad to sell his diamonds weight for weight; he is mad to exact such payment.

“這年輕人簡直瘋了，居然用相同重量的鉆石換螞蟻的翅膀;他要求用這種支付方式，真是瘋了啊。

So much the better for Ali the first time, so much the worse for him the second.

對阿里來說，這樣的好事還是第一次碰到，第二次碰到就要倒大霉了。

Justice has not two weights and measures. Every bargain holds good before the law.

公正就意味著不會存在兩個重量和兩個尺度。在法律面前，每一樁交易都要體現公正。

Either furnish twenty pounds of ants'wings, or restore the casket to the Banian."

要么提供二十磅重的螞蟻翅膀，要么將裝鉆石的匣子還給印度商人。”