365个英语简短小故事-198. Monkeys Cause Man’s Death

A florist¹ in Delhi, India fell to his death after he was attacked by a gang² of monkeys. He was on his balcony watering his plants. Three monkeys, which usually were friendly beggars³, sat on his balcony railing and watched. They were hoping that he would offer them some food. When he finished watering the plants, he sat down in a chair to enjoy the sunset.

The monkeys waited a minute. When they realized that he was not going to feed them anything, they leaped on him. They scratched his face and pulled at his hair and his clothes. Bleeding and screaming, he panicked. Instead of going back into his apartment through the sliding glass door, he leapt off his balcony. He lived on the second floor, so it was only ten feet to the pavement below. However, he struck the pavement head first, immediately breaking his neck.

The monkeys jumped to the pavement. They dug through his shirt and pants pockets looking for food. One monkey took off with his keys. As humans destroy the forests in India, monkeys like these are getting hungrier and more aggressive.

“Our monkeys are getting out of control,” said a neighbor. He said he had already barricaded⁴ his balcony with barbed wire. “It’s ugly, I must admit. A balcony shouldn’t look like the outside of a prison. My neighbors want me to take it down. They say the barbed wire might injure the monkeys and it’s unsightly. But I’ll bet⁵ that some of my neighbors will be going to the hardware⁶ store tomorrow.”

 

1 florist   

n.花商；种花者

参考例句：

• The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
• Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？

2 gang   

n.一伙，一帮；结伴的朋友

参考例句：

• The gang live abroad,beyond reach of the British police.这帮匪徒住在国外，英国警方鞭长莫及。
• Some gang came in and shot the place up.有股匪帮进来对这个地方开枪扫射。

3 beggars   

乞丐( beggar的名词复数 )； 家伙

参考例句：

• The rubbish left behind by the Cup Final crowd beggars description. 观看决赛的观众们丢下的垃圾实非笔墨所能描述。
• To give money to beggars sometimes amounts to encouraging begging. 给乞丐钱，有时就等于鼓励行乞。

4 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

5 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

6 hardware   

n.重型武器；五金器具；硬件

参考例句：

• He bought a pot and other hardware at the store. 他从商店买了一个壶和其他金属制品。
• That family has carried on a hardware business for five generations.那家已经经营五金生意五代了。