英語(yǔ)故事：磨磚成鏡
A man in Yongzhou was afraid that doing things on certain days would bring misfortune.
As he was born in the year of zi, and the rat was considered the deity1 of zi, he especially shielded it. He not only didn't keep cats and dogs, but also wouldn't allow his servants to kill rats. He allowed rats to run wild in his granary and kitchen and never bothered about them. Hence, the rats told one another about this and moved one after another into his house, where they ate their fill all day long and lived in safety.
This gentleman's house was so ruined by the rats that there was neither an intact utensil2 nor a whole garment on the clothes rack. Even his own food was mostly leftovers3 by the rats.
In the daytime, the rats walked in swarms4 around the master. At night, they fought for food, quarrelled and squeaked5, making such a racket that no one could sleep. Yet this gentleman never felt annoyed.
Several years later, this gentleman moved away and another family moved in. Yet the rats went on brazenly6 with their evil deeds as before.
The new master was very angry. He said: "These shameless pests steal things and make trouble so devastatingly7. How could they be tolerated?"
He immediately borrowed five to six good cats, closed the doors and windows, and let them catch the rats. He also engaged men to move bricks and tiles, fill up the holes with water so as to close in on the rats on all sides.
Thus, the rats caught and killed were thrown to an out-of- the-way place, heaped up like a hill. It took several months for the stench to dissipate.
Those rats probably thought they could always eat their fill without any disaster. Actually this was lamentable8. The rats should never be tolerated.
永州有個(gè)人，害怕在某些日子里辦事會(huì)倒霉。
他生于子年，而且老鼠被認(rèn)為是子神，所以他特別袒護(hù)老鼠。他不但不養(yǎng)貓和狗，而且不準(zhǔn)仆人打老鼠。他家的糧倉(cāng)、廚房，任憑老鼠怎么橫行，也從來不去過問。于是，老鼠互相轉(zhuǎn)告，紛紛搬到他家來住，飽食終日，安然無(wú)恙。
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，自己的食品也大多是老鼠吃剩下來的殘余。
白天，老鼠成群結(jié)隊(duì)跟主人一道行走;夜晚，搶吃東西，吵架爭(zhēng)斗，刺耳的尖叫聲，吵得人無(wú)法睡覺，然而這位先生卻從不覺得厭煩。
幾年后，這位先生遷居外地，另一戶人家搬進(jìn)來居住。老鼠仍舊像過去那樣為非作歹，肆無(wú)忌憚。
新主人十分惱火，說:“這些見不得陽(yáng)光的壞東西，偷竊搗亂得太厲害了，怎么能容忍呢?”
他立即借來了五六只好貓，關(guān)了門窗捕捉，還專門雇人搬磚移瓦，用水灌洞，四面圍剿。
就這樣，捕殺的老鼠被扔在偏僻的地方，堆積如山，臭味幾個(gè)月后才慢慢散盡。
那些老鼠可能自以為它們能一直飽食終日，安然無(wú)恙。這種想法實(shí)際上是很悲哀的。人們決不應(yīng)該姑息老鼠。
點(diǎn)擊
收聽單詞發(fā)音
1 deity
n.神，神性;被奉若神明的人(或物)
參考例句：
Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.許多動(dòng)物被看作神的化身。
The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在廟宇壁龕的最深處。
2 utensil
n.器皿，用具
參考例句：
The best carving utensil is a long, sharp, flexible knife.最好的雕刻工具是鋒利而柔韌的長(zhǎng)刻刀。
Wok is a very common cooking utensil in every Chinese family.炒菜鍋是每個(gè)中國(guó)人家庭里很常用的廚房食用具。
3 leftovers
n.剩余物，殘留物，剩菜
參考例句：
He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用廚房里幾樣剩飯做出一頓美餐。
She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼湊成一頓晚飯。
4 swarms
蜂群，一大群( swarm的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )
參考例句：
They came to town in swarms. 他們蜂擁來到城里。
On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，這個(gè)公園里有一群群的孩子玩耍。
5 squeaked
v.短促地尖叫( squeak的過去式和過去分詞 );吱吱叫;告密;充當(dāng)告密者
參考例句：
The radio squeaked five. 收音機(jī)里嘟嘟地發(fā)出五點(diǎn)鐘報(bào)時(shí)訊號(hào)。 來自《現(xiàn)代英漢綜合大詞典》
Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走過走廊時(shí)，鞋子踩在地磚上嘎吱作響。 來自辭典例句
6 brazenly
adv.厚顏無(wú)恥地;厚臉皮地肆無(wú)忌憚地
參考例句：
How dare he distort the facts so brazenly! 他怎么敢如此肆無(wú)忌憚地歪曲事實(shí)! 來自《現(xiàn)代英漢綜合大詞典》
"I don't know," he answered, looking her brazenly over. “我也不知道，"他厚顏無(wú)恥地打量著她。 來自英漢文學(xué) - 嘉莉妹妹
7 devastatingly
adv. 破壞性地，毀滅性地，極其
參考例句：
She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她溫存無(wú)比，魅力四射而又絕不矯揉造作。
I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我對(duì)他逐項(xiàng)痛加駁斥。
8 lamentable
adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的
參考例句：
This lamentable state of affairs lasted until 1947.這一令人遺憾的事態(tài)一直持續(xù)至1947年。
His practice of inebriation was lamentable.他的酗酒常鬧得別人束手無(wú)策。
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