胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯057：好奇的看守人 The Curious Custodian
It was midnight in the old Public Records Depository. “Curiosity kills the cat,” muttered the custodian as he nervously descended the stairs. The curious custodian felt drawn to the dark basement. Moisture from an underground river had dampened the walls. “There’s a secret down here, and it’s got to be worth some currency,” he said to himself. “I’ll just make a cursory search.”
故事發(fā)生在午夜時(shí)分的公共檔案儲存處。“不要太好奇。”看守人一邊緊張地沿著樓梯往下走，一邊嘟囔著。好奇的看守人感到自己被什么東西吸引著來到黑暗的地下室。地下河的濕氣使周圍墻壁也很潮濕。“這下邊有秘密寶庫，它肯定能值不少錢幣。”他自言自語道，“我先大致地搜查一下。”
“What is that?” he screamed as his flashlight lit the darkest and dampest corner of the basement. It appeared to be an ancient dagger, angling in the air. The situation was rather daunting. “What should I do?” he asked himself as he dabbed the sweat from his brow. He was not a daring man. He grabbed a small seat cushion from an old chair and threw it at the dagger. It triggered a howling sound and a concurrent gust of wind, both of which sent him scurrying up the stairs.
“什么東西?”當(dāng)他的手電筒照到地下室最黑暗、最潮濕的角落時(shí)，他尖叫起來。看上去是把古代短劍，它懸在空中。眼前的一切使他畏縮膽怯。“怎么辦?”他邊問自己，邊輕輕擦去額頭上的冷汗。他并不勇敢。他抓起一把舊椅子的小坐墊朝短劍投過去，這一下引起一陣吼叫聲和隨之而來的一陣狂風(fēng)，嚇得他抱頭鼠竄奔上樓梯。
The following night, he returned to the basement with the curator of a local museum. The curator was a dauntless man.
第二天晚上，他和當(dāng)?shù)夭┪镳^的館長又來到地下室。館長很膽大。
“Don’t dally, go get it,” said the custodian.
“別磨磨蹭蹭的，快去拿短劍。”看守人說。
“Don’t be curt.” replied the curator. “The study of ancient daggers was not part of my college curriculum. You’ve just lucky that the museum has a current need for artifacts. I know you’re only interested in the reward money.”
“不能魯莽。”館長回答道，“我讀大學(xué)時(shí)全部課程中并不包括古代短劍的研究。你很幸運(yùn)，因?yàn)槲覀儾┪镳^正需要一些人工制品。我知道你對酬金感興趣。”
“That’s a cynical remark,” the custodian snapped back.
“別挖苦我了。”看守人反駁道。
The curator entered the darkest part of the basement to search for the dagger. The custodian could see him darting back and forth in the darkness. He finally emerged.
館長開始走進(jìn)地下室最黑暗的地方去尋找短劍。看守人看見他在黑暗中奔來跑去。最后他終于出來了。
“There’s nothing here,” the curator said, staggering out of the darkness. “Perhaps you should curtail your alcohol consumption.”
“這什么都沒有。”館長跌跌撞撞地從黑暗中跑來說，“也許你該削減酒的消費(fèi)量了。”
“Okay, I will,” the custodian replied, as his jaw began to drop, “but what’s that stuck in your back?”
“好吧，”看守人回答道，同時(shí)他驚訝得張口結(jié)舌，“可你背上插的是什么?”
Words:
curator n. (博物館等)館長
curiosity n 好奇心
curious adj. (令人)好奇的
currency n. 通貨，貨幣
current n. (液體，氣體的)流，趨勢;adj. 現(xiàn)今的
curriculum n. 學(xué)校的全部課程
cursory adj. 倉促的，粗略的，草率的
curt adj. (言辭，行為)簡略的，唐突草率的
curtail v. 縮短，刪減
cushion n. 墊層
custodian n. 看守人，保管人
cynical adj. 憤世嫉俗的;挑剔挖苦的
dab vt. 輕拍
dagger n. 短劍
dally v. 閑蕩，嬉戲;蹉跎，磨蹭
damp adj. 潮濕的，有時(shí)期的
dampen vt. 使潮濕
dangle vt. 懸擺
daring adj. 大膽的，勇敢的
dart vi. 飛奔，飛快的動作
daunting adj. 使人畏縮的
dauntless adj. 勇敢的，無謂的
