美国小学英语教材5:第114课 点金术(8)

 Midas started up joyfully¹, and ran about the room grasping at everything that happened to be in his way. 迈达斯高兴地跳了起来，在房间里跑来跑去，抓住面前的一切东西。

He seized one of the bed-posts, and it became a golden pillar. 他抓住一根床柱，它变成了一根金柱。

He pulled aside a window-curtain, and the tassel² grew heavy in his hand—a mass of gold. 他拉开窗帘，流苏在他手里变得沉甸甸的，变成了一团金子。

He took up a book from the table. 他从桌子上拿起一本书。

At his touch the leaves became a bundle of thin golden plates. 在他的触摸下，书页变成了薄薄的金片。

He hurriedly put on his clothes, and was delighted to see himself in a magnificent suit of gold cloth, which kept its softness, although it burdened him a little with its weight. 他急忙穿上衣服，高兴地看到自己穿了一套华丽的金衣服，虽然有点沉重，但仍然很柔软。

Wise King Midas was so excited by his good fortune that the palace seemed not large enough to contain him. 聪明的迈达斯国王对自己的好运如此兴奋，以至于宫殿似乎不够大来容纳他。

He therefore went downstairs and smiled to see that the railing of the staircase became a bar of burnished³ gold as his hand passed over it on his way down. 于是他走下楼来，微笑着看到楼梯扶手在他下楼的时候变成了一根擦得锃亮的金条。

He lifted the door latch⁴ (it was brass⁵ only a moment ago, but golden when his fingers left it) and went into the garden. 他打开门闩(刚才还是黄铜的，但手指离开时是金色的)，走进花园。

Here he found beautiful roses in full bloom, and others in all the stages of lovely bud and blossom. 在这里，他发现了盛开着的美丽的玫瑰花，还有一些处于花蕾和花期的玫瑰花。

But Midas knew a way to make them far more precious, according to his way of thinking, than roses had ever been before. 但迈达斯知道一种方法，可以使它们比以往任何时候的玫瑰都更加珍贵。

So he took great pains in going from bush to bush, and used his magic touch freely until every flower and bud, and even the worms at the heart of some of them, were changed to gold. 于是他煞费苦心地从一丛灌木走到另一丛灌木，自由自在地施展他的魔法，直到每一朵花和每一个花蕾破土而出。

By the time this good work was completed. King Midas was called to breakfast; 当这项工作完成时，迈达斯国王被叫去吃早餐；

and, as the morning air had given him an excellent appetite, he made haste back to the palace. 早晨的空气使他食欲大增，他急忙赶回宫殿。

 

1 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

2 tassel   

n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须

参考例句：

• The corn has begun to tassel.玉米开始长出穗状雄花。
• There are blue tassels on my curtains.我的窗帘上有蓝色的流苏。

3 burnished   

adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光

参考例句：

• The floor was spotless; the grate and fire-irons were burnished bright. 地板上没有污迹；炉栅和火炉用具擦得发亮。 来自辞典例句
• The woods today are burnished bronze. 今天的树林是一片发亮的青铜色。 来自辞典例句

4 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

5 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。