英語故事：粵犬吠雪

　　In the past, I heard people say: "Formerly1, it was often cloudy and drizzly2 for days on end in the south of the juncture3 of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei, with very few fine days in between. When the sun shone occasionally, the dogs would bark consistently without stop."

　　I never quite believe this kind of talk, and consider it exaggerated.

　　Six or seven years ago, I came to the south. In the winter of the following year, there was a heavy snow rarely seen before. It crossed the Naming Mountain and covered several prefectures in the southern part of Yue (Guangdong Province). Consequently, the dogs in these prefectures were all panic-stricken. They barked wildly and ran about in confusion for several days in succession. It wasn't until the weather had cleared and the snow melted that they became quiet.

　　Only by then did I believe that it was likely that the dogs in Shu (Sichuan Province) barked at the sun.

　　Of course there is nothing wrong with sunrise or snowing. In fact, the dogs just consider these phenomena4 strange out of ignorance!

　　我過去聽人講過：“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。”

　　這種傳聞，我一直不太相信，認(rèn)為它言過其實(shí)。

　　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。大雪越過南嶺，覆蓋了粵地南部好幾個縣。于是，幾個縣的狗都驚恐萬狀，一連幾天狂吠亂奔，直到天空放晴，積雪融化，才安靜下來。

　　這時候，我才相信蜀犬吠日會有其事。

　　這當(dāng)然并不是日出或下雪有什么不對，實(shí)在是那些犬類少見多怪。

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　　1 formerly

　　adv.從前，以前

　　參考例句：

　　We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我們現(xiàn)在享受到了過去只是聽說過的那些舒適條件。

　　This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.這船從前航行在中國內(nèi)河里。

　　2 drizzly

　　a.毛毛雨的(a drizzly day)

　　參考例句：

　　This section of the country is drizzly in the winter. 該國的這一地區(qū)在冬天經(jīng)常細(xì)雨蒙蒙。

　　That region is drizzly in winter. 那個地區(qū)冬天常下小雨。

　　3 juncture

　　n.時刻，關(guān)鍵時刻，緊要關(guān)頭

　　參考例句：

　　The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.該項(xiàng)目位于新老城區(qū)交界處。

　　It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此時很難預(yù)料公司的前景。

　　4 phenomena

　　n.現(xiàn)象

　　參考例句：

　　Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德無法用他所知道的任何理論來解釋這種現(xiàn)象。

　　The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.這些實(shí)驗(yàn)的目的就是探索這兩種現(xiàn)象之間的聯(lián)系，如果存在著任何聯(lián)系的話。

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