听美国故事练听力 37

　　(MUSIC)Our story today is, "The Devil¹ and Tom Walker. " It was written byWashington Irving. Here is Shep O'Neal with our story.
(MUSIC)Storyteller: Before we begin our story, let us go back three hundredyears to the late sixteen hundreds. In those years, one of the mostfamous men in the world was Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd was apirate. He sailed the seas, capturing³ any ships he found. He and hismen took money from these ships. Captain Kidd hid this money indifferent⁴ places.
Captain Kidd was captured⁵ by the English in Boston, Massachusetts andexecuted in the year seventeen-oh-one.
From that time on, people all over the world searched in many placesfor Captain Kidd's stolen money.
The people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundredsbelieved Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston. Not farfrom Boston was a small river which ran into the Atlantic Ocean. Anold story said that Captain Kidd had come up this river from theocean. Then he buried his gold and silver and jewels under a big tree.
The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself,who was a good friend of Captain Kidd.
In the year seventeen twenty-seven, a man named Tom Walker lived nearthis place. Tom Walker was not a pleasant man. He loved only one thing-- money. There was only one person worse than Tom. That was his wife.
She also loved money. These two were so hungry for money that theyeven stole things from each other.
One day, Tom Walker was returning home through a dark forest. Hewalked slowly and carefully, so that he would not fall into a pool ofmud.
At last, he reached a piece of dry ground. Tom sat down on a tree thathad fallen. As he rested, he dug⁶ into the earth with a stick. He knewthe story that Indians had killed prisoners⁷ here as sacrifices to theDevil. But this did not trouble him. The only devil Tom was afraid ofwas his wife.
Tom's stick hit something hard. He dug it out of the earth. It was ahuman skull⁸. In the skull was an Indian ax⁹.
Suddenly, Tom Walker heard an angry voice: "Don't touch that skull!"Tom looked up. He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. Tom had neverseen such a man. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almostblack and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. His blackhair stood up from his head. He carried a large ax.
The giant asked, "What are you doing on my land?" But Tom Walker wasnot afraid. He answered, "What do you mean? This land belongs toMister Peabody."The strange man laughed and pointed¹¹ to the tall trees. Tom saw thatone of the trees had been cut by an ax. He looked more closely¹² and sawthat the name Peabody had been cut into the tree. Mr. Peabody was aman who got rich by stealing from Indians.
Tom looked at the other trees. Every one had the name of some rich,important man from Massachusetts. Tom looked at the tree on which hewas sitting. It also had a name cut into it -- the name of AbsalomCrowninshield. Tom remembered that Mister¹⁰ Crowninshield was a veryrich man. People said he got his money as Captain Kidd did -- bystealing ships.
Suddenly, the giant shouted: "Crowninshield is ready to be burned! I'mgoing to burn many trees this winter!"Tom told the man that he had no right to cut Mister Peabody's trees.
The stranger laughed and said, "I have every right to cut these trees.
This land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen¹³ came toMassachusetts. The Indians were here. Then you Englishmen killed theIndians. Now I show Englishmen how to buy and sell slaves¹⁴. And I teachtheir women how to be witches¹⁵."Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself. But TomWalker was still not afraid.
The giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under thetrees, but nobody could have them unless the giant permitted¹⁶ it. Hesaid Tom could have these treasures. But Tom had to agree to give thegiant what he demanded.
Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life. But he asked for timeto think.
Tom went home. He told his wife what had happened. She wanted CaptainKidd's treasure. She urged¹⁷ him to give the Devil what he wanted. Tomsaid no.
At last, Misses Walker decided¹⁸ to do what Tom refused to do. She putall her silver in a large piece of cloth and went to see the darkgiant. Two days passed. She did not return home. She was never seenagain.
People said later that Tom went to the place where he had met thegiant. He saw his wife's cloth hanging in a tree. He was happy,because he wanted to get her silver. But when he opened the cloth,there was no silver in it -- only a human heart.
Tom was sorry he lost the silver, but not sorry he lost his wife. Hewanted to thank the giant for this. And so, every day he looked forthe giant. Tom finally decided that he would give the giant what hewanted in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure.
One night, Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchangefor Captain Kidd's treasure. The Devil now wanted more than that. Hesaid that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devil's work.
He wanted Tom to buy a ship and bring slaves to America.
As we have said, Tom Walker was a hard man who loved nothing butmoney. But even he could not agree to buy and sell human beings asslaves. He refused to do this.
The Devil then said that his second most important work was lendingmoney. The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor people whoborrowed money to pay back much more than they had received.
Tom said he would like this kind of work. So the Devil gave himCaptain Kidd's treasure.
A few days later, Tom Walker was a lender of money in Boston. Everyonewho needed help -- and there were many who did -- came to him. TomWalker became the richest man in Boston. When people were not able topay him, he took away their farms, their horses, and their houses.
As he got older and richer, Tom began to worry. What would happen whenhe died? He had promised his soul to the Devil. Maybe. . .maybe. . .
he could break that promise.
Tom then became very religious¹⁹. He went to church every week. Hethought that if he prayed enough, he could escape from the Devil.
One day, Tom took the land of a man who had borrowed money. The poorman asked for more time to pay. "Please do not destroy me!" he said.
"You have already taken all my money!"Tom got angry and started to shout, "Let the Devil take me if I havetaken any money from you!"That was the end of Tom Walker. For just then, he heard a noise. Heopened the door. There was the black giant, holding a black horse. Thegiant said, "Tom, I have come for you." He picked up Tom and put himon the horse. Then he hit the horse, which ran off, carrying Tom.
Nobody ever saw Tom Walker again. A farmer said that he saw the blackhorse, with a man on it, running wildly into the forest.
After Tom Walker disappeared, the government decided to take Tom'sproperty. But there was nothing to take. All the papers²⁰ which showedthat Tom owned land and houses were burned to ashes. His boxes of goldand silver had nothing in them but small pieces of wood. The wood camefrom newly²¹ cut trees. Tom's horses died, and his house suddenly burnedto ashes.
(MUSIC)Announcer: You have heard the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker." Itwas written by Washington² Irving. Our storyteller was Shep O'Neal.
Listen again next week at this same time for another AMERICAN STORYtold in Special English on the Voice of America. This is ShirleyGriffith.

1 devil   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him.召鬼容易驱鬼难。
• Susie,you're a determined little devil.苏茜，你真是个坚决的小家伙。

2 Washington   

n.华盛顿特区(是美国首都)

参考例句：

• His birthplace is Washington,but he lives in San Francisco.他出生于华盛顿，但住在旧金山。
• They, together with my father,have gone to Washington.他们和我父亲一起去华盛顿了。

3 capturing   

俘获( capture的现在分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Since when is capturing a felon considered interference? 从何时起抓住重案犯被认为是妨碍组员行动？
• Capturing the enemy-held towns is the pivot of our plans. 夺取敌人控制的城镇，是我们计画的轴心。

4 indifferent   

adj.冷漠的，不关心的，不积极的；一般的

参考例句：

• Her English is indifferent.她的英文很一般。
• His manner was cold and indifferent.他的态度既冷淡又无动于衷。

5 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

6 dug   

n.动物的乳房[乳头]v.挖，掘( dig的过去式和过去分词 )；（如用铲、锨或推土机等）挖掘；挖得；寻找

参考例句：

• He dug a deep hole in the garden. 他在花园里挖了个深坑。
• We dug a deep pit in the yard. 我们在院子中挖了个深洞。

7 prisoners   

n.囚徒( prisoner的名词复数 )；俘虏；被夺去自由的人[动物]等

参考例句：

• The president granted a general amnesty for all political prisoners. 总统大赦了所有的政治犯。
• The prisoners were living in appalling conditions. 囚犯的居住条件极为恶劣。

8 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

9 ax   

n.斧子

参考例句：

• He cut a hole through the wall with an ax.他用斧子在墙上砍出一个洞。
• He carried a large ax.他带了一把大斧。

10 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 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。

13 Englishmen   

n.英国人；英格兰（男）人，英国（男）人( Englishman的名词复数 )；英国人的家就是他的城堡（意即一个人的家是安全的私人场所）

参考例句：

• Few Englishmen wear frock coats now.They went out years ago. 现在，英国人很少穿大礼服了，大礼服在多年以前就不时兴了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• During the disturbance which followed, three Englishmen were hurt. 在接下来的骚乱中，3名英国人受伤。 来自辞典例句

14 slaves   

n.奴隶( slave的名词复数 )；苦工；完全受（某事物）控制的人；完全依赖（某事物）的人v.奴隶般地工作，做苦工( slave的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Slaves were not emancipated until 1863 in the United States. 美国奴隶直到1863年才获得自由。
• fashionistas who are slaves to the latest trends 被潮流牵着鼻子走的赶时髦者

15 witches   

n.女巫，巫婆( witch的名词复数 )；讨人嫌的丑女人v.女巫，巫婆( witch的第三人称单数 )；讨人嫌的丑女人

参考例句：

• Witches used to be burned at the stake. 巫婆过去要被处以火刑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Witches ain't got no power in the daytime." 巫婆白天是没有法力的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

16 permitted   

允许( permit的过去式和过去分词 )； 许可； 许用

参考例句：

• Radios are not permitted in the library. 图书馆内不许使用收音机。
• Entrance is permitted only on production of a ticket. 出示门票才可进入。

17 urged   

v.力劝( urge的过去式和过去分词 )；强烈要求；推进；驱策

参考例句：

• She urged him to stay. 她力劝他留下。
• Urged on by the PM the police tried to end the strike. 在首相的敦促下，警方力图终止罢工。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 religious   

adj.宗教性的，虔诚的，宗教上的；n.修道士，出家人

参考例句：

• She is very religious person who goes to church every Sunday.她十分虔诚，每个星期天都上教堂。
• It is hard for me to reject religious beliefs.要我抛弃自己的宗教信仰是困难的。

20 papers   

n.文件，纸币，论文

参考例句：

• I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前，我要与我的秘书商议。
• The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。

21 newly   

adv.新近，最近；重新，再度；以新的方式

参考例句：

• Have you reviewed for this newly published novel?你给这本新出版的小说写书评了吗？
• It is a newly planted tree and it has not established yet.这是一颗新栽的树，还没有扎下根来。