浮华背后篇01：The Gold Chain金链

Once upon a time, there was a poor fisherman who always dreamed of becoming rich. He wished to become a millionaire, and so did his wife.
很久以前，有个贫穷的渔夫，他总是梦想着能够发大财，希望自己能够成为百万富翁，他妻子也是如此。

He had heard from some old men before, that several ships loaded with diamonds and gold had once sunk in the nearby seashore.
他曾听一些年长者说过，以前有几艘载满金银珠宝的船只沉没在附近的海域。

Because of this, for a long time he kept searching that whole area for this treasure.
因此，长期以来，他一直在这一带的海域里搜寻着金银珠宝。

One day, while he was sitting on the boat daydreaming¹, he suddenly felt that the fishing rod was being weighed down by a heavy object.
有一天，正当他坐在船上想入非非时，忽然感到钓线被非常沉重的东西拖住了。

He excitedly pulled hard at it, and what he saw made him exclaim,“Wow！ A big, shiny gold chain！”
他非常兴奋，使劲地往上拉，当鱼线拖出水面时，他不禁大声尖叫起来：“哇！金光闪闪的长金链！”

He pulled hard at the gold chain to get it into the boat, but there seemed to be no end to it. His boat started to get over-loaded and the sea water filled his boat.
他拼命地把金链子往船上拖，可是似乎没有尽头。他的小船超载了，海水开始灌进船舱。

However, he had begun dreaming of a big house, a big piece of land and buying horses and cows...He kept pulling in the chain though the boat kept sinking.
然而，他却依旧没完没了地做着黄粱美梦：可以买一幢大房子，置一大片稻田，再买下几头牛、几匹马……尽管小船一直往下沉，他却依然拖着金链。

The boat was finally submerged and he struggled to stay afloat. Unfortunately his feet were entangled³ in the gold chain and he drowned.
最后，小船终于沉下去了，落入水中的他拼命挣扎想游出水面。不幸的是，他的双脚被金链死死缠住，淹死了。

单词注解
recluse  n.隐居者，遁世者，隐士

angelic  a.天使的；天国的

exclaim   v.（由于强烈的情感或痛苦而）呼喊；大声说

entangle² v.使缠绕；使陷入

实用句型
... that might restore his poise⁴ and bring him back to his normal self.
……（拒绝参加）一切能使他恢复平静、回到自我的活动。

No longer would his darling's candle be extinguished by his useless tears.
而宝贝女儿的蜡烛再也没有被他那无用的眼泪熄灭过。

His boat started to get over-loaded and the sea water filled his boat.
他的小船超载了，海水开始灌进船舱。

智慧点津
Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened.
别为结束了而哭泣，要为曾经发生过而微笑。

Greed can overcome common sense.
贪婪使人失去理智。

1 daydreaming   

v.想入非非，空想( daydream的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop daydreaming and be realistic. 别空想了，还是从实际出发吧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework. 比尔坐着空想， 他母亲要他面对现实，去做课外作业。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 entangle   

vt.缠住，套住；卷入，连累

参考例句：

• How did Alice manage to entangle her hair so badly in the brambles?爱丽丝是怎么把头发死死地缠在荆棘上的？
• Don't entangle the fishing lines.不要让钓鱼线缠在一起。

3 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。