胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯第172期:劇作家筆下的水管工 The Playwright's Plumber

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2018年06月09日

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胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯第172期:劇作家筆下的水管工 The Playwright's Plumber

中英對(duì)照

172 The Playwright's Plumber

172 劇作家筆下的水管工

There was a play write, who at the plea of his publisher, pledged to write a pleasing, yet plausible story about plight of a plump plumber who wore plumage.

有一個(gè)劇作家，在出版商的再三懇求之下，保證寫(xiě)一個(gè)既令人滿意又合情合理的故事。這個(gè)故事講的是一個(gè)身披羽毛衣的胖嘟嘟的水管工人在身處困境之時(shí)發(fā)生的種種事情。

The story went something like this:

下面是故事的梗概：

The plumber was replacing a pipe on a farm when the farmer asked about his plumage.

這個(gè)水管工在某農(nóng)場(chǎng)修理管道的時(shí)候，農(nóng)場(chǎng)主問(wèn)及他身上的羽毛。

Then he merely said, Never mind my sense of fashion, you can just go back to your plow.

他輕描淡寫(xiě)地回答道：我不過(guò)就是太追求時(shí)髦了嘛，不要介意，繼續(xù)你的耕作吧！”

Offended, the plumber's eyes began to well with tears.

但隨即，他還是感覺(jué)受到了傷害，淚水奪眶而出。

The farmer said:Have I insulted you with my question about your plumage?

看到這種情形，農(nóng)場(chǎng)主問(wèn)道：我問(wèn)及你的羽毛是不是傷害了你？”

The plumber wanted to be pliant with his customer,No, he replied,

水管工人想對(duì)他的主顧更順從點(diǎn)，于是回答說(shuō)：沒(méi)有。

Pollen is a pollutant to the eyes, you know, and I am afraid that my eyes have been polluted.

你知道花粉對(duì)眼睛來(lái)說(shuō)算得上是一種污染物質(zhì)，我的眼睛可能就被花粉污染了。

yeah, I guess your eyes don't need pollinating, do they?

沒(méi)錯(cuò)，我想你的眼睛應(yīng)該不需要授粉吧！

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! the farmer chortled. The plumber continued to work.

哈哈哈！農(nóng)場(chǎng)主忍俊不禁。水管工繼續(xù)工作。

He first plunged a pipe into a liquid cleaner, bent the pliable pipe to the proper shape, and used a plumb line to make sure it was plumb, then he polished the pipe to give it a sheen.

首先他把一根水管投入到液體清潔器里，把柔軟的管子彎成適當(dāng)?shù)男螤?，然后用一根垂直線來(lái)測(cè)量管子，確保其完全垂直。

Finally, he connected the wire from the poles of the electrical unit as the pipe was also to serve as electrical ground.

接著他又把管子擦亮，讓它熠熠生輝。最后，由于管子同時(shí)也是電源的地面設(shè)備，他用金屬絲把管子與一端電極連接起來(lái)。

Satisfied with the good job he had done, the plumber left the farm, waddling along with his plumage and his poise and dignity despite the famer's insults.

做完這一切以后，他對(duì)他的工作表示滿意，全不把農(nóng)場(chǎng)主的侮辱當(dāng)回事，帶著他的羽毛衣，神色鎮(zhèn)定而莊重地大搖大擺而去。

There was a poll at the publishing house about this story.

對(duì)這個(gè)故事出版社進(jìn)行了一次民意測(cè)驗(yàn)。

The staff was polarized: half of them really liked it, and the other half didn't.

員工們的意見(jiàn)兩極分化很?chē)?yán)童：一半人非常喜歡，一半人一點(diǎn)也不喜歡。

Regardless, they decided to go ahead and publish it.

但不管怎樣，他們都決定要繼續(xù)努力以出版此書(shū)。

Now the playwright can line his pocketbook with money from the story.

現(xiàn)在，這個(gè)劇作家可以用此書(shū)的稿費(fèi)所得將也的皮錢(qián)夾塞得鼓鼓囊囊的而感到躊躇滿志了。