美文记英语4级词汇 02.The House with a Golden Window

In the bowels¹ of a mountain of frontier zone, a little boy lived in crude house, which could only accommodate five people of his household. There was not any railroad, freeway, highway or even a pub (an inn) around the mountain. His ancestors and he were the exclusive inhabitants on the mountain for several centuries.

As he was 6 years old, he could see a wonderful house across the valley on a higher altitude of the opposite mountain, which had a golden window. He fancied that the emperor, prince and princess in fable² must have been living in that king of palace. Sometimes, in order to assure himself that it was an authentic³ house, the innocent boy often stared at it, with exceeding thirst for living in it.

6 years later, the little boy believed that he had acquired plentiful⁴ knowledge and skills to dominate his life. Accordingly, he made a farewell to his grandmother and parents, and flung himself to the expedition with a manual kit⁵, which was made of the fabric⁶ that was weaved by his mother. There was a coil of nylon cord, a saw and other implements⁷ in it.

In spite of the hindrance⁸ of the muddy and slippery slope, for impulse of his keen desire, he probed the road through thorns with a stick, and proceeded towards the house consistently.

As he mounted the summit, he focused on the trail that led to the house and then on it. It seemed to appear an abnormal phenomenon----the house vanished weirdly⁹ and was replaced by an ugly and shabby house, which was comparable with his little house in every inch, and its windows were plain and rather dirty.

After opening the door, he found that the house was an obsolete¹⁰ mill in a state of disorder¹¹. In the center of the house, the tools which could grind wheat into flour were covered with thick dust and the trace of mice, a rude donkey saddle and some stained sacks lying nearby it. In one corner, a primitive¹² rack was full of cracks, a spider was spinning web on it, and some fragments of mat were underneath¹³ it. In another corner, there was a stack of straw in mess, a rusted¹⁴ spade and a leaky barrel.

The little boy was extremely disappointed. When he was ready to leave, he detected a sight which amazed him----there was his little house across the valley on the lower mountain and its window was shining with golden color identically----as the midday daylight (sunshine) was shinning on the glass of its window…

This story gives us a hint (cue) that we shouldn't be blind to the welfare in our real life. What we need is to adjust and convert our ritual notions (concepts), to find and enjoy the happiness that belongs to us.

1 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

3 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

4 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

5 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

6 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

7 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 hindrance   

n.妨碍，障碍

参考例句：

• Now they can construct tunnel systems without hindrance.现在他们可以顺利地建造隧道系统了。
• The heavy baggage was a great hindrance to me.那件行李成了我的大累赘。

9 weirdly   

古怪地

参考例句：

• Another special characteristic of Kweilin is its weirdly-shaped mountain grottoes. 桂林的另一特点是其形态怪异的岩洞。
• The country was weirdly transformed. 地势古怪地变了样。

10 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

11 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

12 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

13 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

14 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》