美国故事 SENEWS-2007-0505-Feature

Our story today is called "Many Moons", it was written by James Thurber. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story. Princess Lenore loved cakes. She once ate so many that she became sick. And the king's doctor could do nothing to help her. The king promised his little daughter anything she wanted if she would just get well. Lenore said she wanted the moon. She would get well if she had the moon.

The king called for his important official the Lord¹ High Chamberlain. He was a big, fat man who wore thick eyeglasses. The king asked him to get the moon for the young princess. The king's official took a long list from his pocket and said, "your majesty², I've gotten you many things. Here is a list of them: ivory³, monkeys, peacocks⁴, jewels, pink elephants, little blue dogs, gold insects, and the feathers of angels⁵ and I have brought you giants and a little man, and women who lived in the sea, and singers and dancers, a kilo of butter, a bag of sugar and 24 eggs. Oh, I'm sorry, my wife wrote that." The king said he did not remember any little blue dogs and did not want to talk about little blue dogs. He wanted the moon for his daughter, and he wanted it quickly. The Lord High Chamberlain said, " I have gotten things from far-off places like Africa and Asia, but I cannot get the moon. The moon is 60,000 kilometers from the earth. It is bigger even than the Princess Lenore's room and it is made of hot copper⁶, nobody can touch it. Little blue dogs, yes. But the moon, no."

The king ordered the Lord High Chamberlain out of the room and sent for his mathematician⁷, a little man with no hair on his head. He carried pencils behind his ear. The king said to him:" don't tell me all the problems you have settled⁸ for me in the last 40 years. I am not interested in them. I want the moon for Princess Lenore now. Get it." The mathematician said, "Thank you, thank you for asking me. On this paper I have written all the problems I have answered for you in the last 40 years. I have told you how far up is, and how far down is. I showed you the distance between the letters 'A' and 'Z', between day and night." The king got hot with anger. He said he didn't want to talk, he wanted the moon for his daughter. But the mathematician said he could not get the moon. The moon is 500,000 kilometers away. It is almost as big as the king's country and it is made of asbestos. And it is nailed¹⁰ to the sky, nobody can get it.

The king pushed the mathematician out of the room. He called for his jester, the only man who made him laugh. The jester came running into the room. He wore his funny clothes covered with bells. The king said, "My daughter will stay sick until she gets the moon. All my officials say that they cannot get it." The jester thought for a minute and said, "Well, they are all wise men, but have different ideas about the moon. Why don't we ask Princess Lenore what ideas she has about the moon?" The king agreed. And the jester went to Lenore's room. The little girl spoke¹¹ with difficulty¹². She asked the jester if he brought the moon. He said he would get it, but first he wanted to know how big she thought the moon was. Lenore answered, "It is as big as the nail⁹ on my finger. I know this is so, because when I put my small finger in front of the moon, my fingernail¹³ covers it." The jester then asked her how far away she thought the moon was. She said that it was not as high as the tree near the window. She knew this because sometimes the moon got caught in the top of the tree. The jester had one more question, "What do you think the moon is made of?" The princess laughed and said, "Of course, it is made of gold."

The jester left Lenore and went to see the king's jeweler. The jeweler made a round moon of gold, a little smaller than the fingernail of the Princess. Then he put the moon on a gold chain so that Lenore could wear it on her neck. The jester took the gold chain to Princess Lenore. She was so happy that she quickly got well. The next day she got out of bed and played in the garden. The king was happy, but then he began to worry. He knew the moon that night would be bright in the sky. If his daughter saw it, she would know that the moon on her neck was not really the moon.

Again he asked his officials to see him. The Lord High Chamberlain was first. The king asked what could be done so that Princess Lenore would not see the moon that night. The Lord Chamberlain thought for a long time. Then he said if the Princess wore black glasses she would not be able to see anything. The king said that if his daughter could not see anything she would walk into the furniture and hurt herself, and be back in bed.

He called for his mathematician. The mathematician walked around in a circle. He said he had the answer: Fireworks, every night in the gardens. So many bright lights shooting¹⁴ into the sky from the gardens would keep Princess Lenore from seeing the moon. The king told the mathematician that he was stupid. So much light in the sky would not let his daughter sleep.

The king looked out of his window. He saw the moon begin to rise. He quickly called for his jester and told him that his little daughter would see the moon. This would make her sick again. None of his officials knew what to do about it. The jester said, "If these wise men do not know how to hide the moon, then the moon cannot be hidden." Again, the king looked out of his window and saw that the moon was shining into Lenore's room. The jester spoke to him,"Who knew what the moon was made of and how far away it was. I think that Princess Lenore is wiser than your officials and knows more about the moon than they do. I will ask her to explain how the moon can be on her neck and in the sky."

The king could not stop him. The jester went to Lenore's room. She was in bed but not sleeping. She was looking out of the window at the moon in the sky. She held the little moon that the jester had brought her. The jester asked her, "How can the moon shine in the sky when it is hanging around your neck?" She looked at him and laughed. She said, "That's a foolish question. When I loose a tooth, a new one grows in its place, doesn't it?" The jester answered, "Of course! And when a deer loses its horns¹⁵, new horns grow." She said, "That's right. And when we cut the flowers in the garden other flowers grow in their places." The jester said, "That's right. And after the night takes the place of the day, the day takes the place of the night." Princess Lenore said, "It is the same with the moon. And I think it is the same with everything." Her voice got lower¹⁶ and lower. And the jester looked at her closely¹⁷ and saw that she was asleep. He covered her gently with the blankets and walked quietly out of her room on his toes.

You have just heard the American story "Many Moons". It was written by James Thurber. Your narrator¹⁸ was Shep O' Neal. The producer was Lawan Davis. Listen again next week for another American story in Special English on the Voice of America. I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

2 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

3 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

4 peacocks   

n.（雄）孔雀( peacock的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Yunnan province is the home of elephants and peacocks. 云南是大象和孔雀的生息地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 angels   

n.天使( angel的名词复数 )；可爱的人；品行高洁的人；大好人（感激某人时所说）（非正式）

参考例句：

• Angels are usually shown in pictures dressed in white. 图画中的天使通常身穿白衣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Angels are celestial beings. 天使是天上的神灵。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

7 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

8 settled   

a.固定的；稳定的

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled without acrimony. 没有唇枪舌剑，这场纠纷就解决了。
• a settled way of life 安定的生活方式

9 nail   

n.钉子，指甲；vt.用钉钉牢，使固定，使集中于，揭露

参考例句：

• He drove a nail into the wall.他把钉子钉在墙上。
• In order to hang the picture,he had to hammer a nail.为了挂那幅画，他必须钉枚钉子。

10 nailed   

v.钉住( nail的过去式和过去分词 )；抓住；证明…不属实；揭露

参考例句：

• I can't get this lid off—It'seems to be nailed down. 我打不开这个盖子，好像是被钉住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The letter was nailed to the wall with an arrow. 一支箭把信钉在了墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 difficulty   

n.困难，费劲；难事，难题；麻烦，困境

参考例句：

• If there is any difficulty,please let us know promptly.倘有困难，请迅速通知我们。
• A little difficulty like this is nothing to us.这点困难算不了什么。

13 fingernail   

n.手指甲

参考例句：

• Why does she always paint that one fingernail blue?她为什么总是把一个手指甲涂成蓝色？
• I have the fingernail clippers.我有指甲钳。

14 shooting   

n.射击，发射；猎场，狩猎场

参考例句：

• The soldiers began shooting away at the enemy positions.战士们开始朝敌人的阵地不断地射击。
• I was in the act of shooting him when I suddenly recognized him.我正要向他开枪时，突然认出了他。

15 horns   

n.角( horn的名词复数 )；号；角质；（蜗牛等的）触角

参考例句：

• The young goat was just beginning to grow horns. 这只小山羊刚开始长角。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The blare of horns could be heard in the distance. 可以听到远处传来的号角声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 lower   

adj.较低的；地位较低的，低等的；低年级的；下游的；vt.放下，降下，放低；减低

参考例句：

• Society is divided into upper,middle and lower classes.社会分为上层、中层和下层阶级。
• This price is his minimum;he refuses to lower it any further.这个价格是他开的最低价，他拒绝再作任何降价。

17 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

18 narrator   

n.讲述者；解说员；旁白者

参考例句：

• He listens and waits for the narrator to explain more.他听著，等待讲的人进一步解释。
• The story's narrator is an actress in her late thirties.故事的叙述者是位年近四十的女演员。