美国小学英语教材5:第5课 神奇的牛奶罐(3)

 　　They would cheerfully have gone without their dinners any day, rather than refuse a slice of their brown loaf, a cup of new milk,   他们可以不吃饭而高高兴兴的度过任何一天，而不会拒绝把一片黑面包、一杯新鲜的牛奶

　　and a spoonful of honey to the weary traveler who might stop at their door. 和一勺蜂蜜给可能会停在他们家门口的疲倦的旅行者。

　　Their cottage stood a short distance from the village, which lay in a valley. 他们的小屋在一个山谷里，离村庄不远。

　　This valley, when the world was new, had probably been the bed of a lake. 起初，这个山谷可能是一个湖床。

　　There, fishes had glided¹ to and fro in the depths, and the water-weeds had grown along the shore. 那里曾经有在湖水深处来回游动的鱼儿和沿岸生长的水草。

　　But it was now a fertile spot of fields and meadows. 但如今却是一片肥沃的农田和牧场。

　　Never was there a prettier or more fruitful valley. 那里再没有一个更漂亮和多产的山谷了。

　　The very sight of the beautiful fields and orchards² with their rich crops should have made the people kind and gentle, and ready to do good to their fellow-men. 漂亮的田地和果园以及丰富的农作物，应该会使那里的人温和、善良并愿意帮助他们的同胞。

　　But, we are sorry to say, the men and women of this lovely valley were very selfish and hardhearted, and had no pity for the poor. 但是遗憾的是，这个秀丽山谷里的男人和女人却非常自私和冷酷，他们并不同情穷人。

　　You will hardly believe what I am going to tell you. 你可能不相信我将要讲述的事情。

　　These naughty people used to clap their hands when they saw the little boys and girls run after some poor stranger, shouting at his heels and pelting³ him with stones. 当看见小男孩和小女孩追赶某个可怜的陌生人，在陌生人身后大喊并向他扔石头时，这些没规矩的人经常会拍手叫好。

　　They kept large and fierce dogs, and whenever a stranger showed himself in the village street, 他们养着又大又凶猛的狗，无论哪一个陌生人任何时候出现在村庄的大街上，

　　this pack of ugly curs scampered⁴ to meet him, barking and snarling⁵. 这群令人讨厌的恶狗就会狂吠着，咆哮着向他飞奔而去。

1 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

3 pelting   

微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的

参考例句：

• The rain came pelting down. 倾盆大雨劈头盖脸地浇了下来。
• Hailstones of abuse were pelting him. 阵阵辱骂冰雹般地向他袭来。

4 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险