美国语文第三册 第17期:寡妇和商人

 　　LESSON 18 第18课

　　died  死

　　woman  女人

　　convinced  相信

　　amazed  惊讶

　　wrote 写了

　　pity  遗憾

　　mistake  错误

　　rewarded  奖励

　　grateful  感激

　　check 检查

　　distress¹ 贫困

　　THE WIDOW AND THE MERCHANT 寡妇和商人

　　A merchant, who was very fond of music, was asked by a poor widow to give her some assistance.  有一个商人很喜欢音乐，一个可怜的穷寡妇曾经向他求助。

　　Her husband, who was a musician, had died, and left her very poor indeed. 她的丈夫是一个音乐家，可惜英年早逝，给她留下了少得可怜的财产。

　　The merchant saw that the widow and her daughter, who was with her, were in great distress.  商人注意到，这个寡妇和她身边的女儿极其贫困。

　　He looked with pity into their pale faces, and was convinced by their conduct that their sad story was true. 他很同情地看着寡妇那苍白的脸，心中已被她们的行为说服了，对她们那悲伤的故事信以为真。

　　"How much do you want, my good woman?" said the merchant. “你想要多少钱，夫人？”商人说。

　　"Five dollars will save us," said the poor widow, with some hesitation². “5美元就能救救我们了。”这个可怜的寡妇略带犹疑地说。

　　The merchant sat down at his desk, took a piece of paper,wrote a few lines on it, and gave it to the widow with the words,  商人坐在桌前，拿出一张纸，写下了几行字，然后递给寡妇，说：

　　Take it to the bank you see on the other side of the street. 把它拿到街对面的那家银行去换钱吧

　　The grateful widow and her daughter, without stopping to read the note, hastened to the bank.  感激不尽的寡妇和女儿甚至都没有认真看字条，就急忙赶到了银行。

　　The banker at on cecounted out fifty dollars instead of five, and passed them to the widow. 银行里的职员并没有给她五美元，而是立刻数出了五十美元，递到这个寡妇手里。

　　She was amazed when she saw so much money.  看到这么多钱，她惊呆了。

　　"Sir,there is a mistake here," she said. "You have given me fifty dollars, and I asked for only five." “先生，是不是弄错了，”她说，“您给了我五十美元，而我只要了五美元。”

　　The banker looked at the note once more, and said, "The check calls for fifty dollars." 银行里的职员马上又看了一下支票，说：“这是一张五十美元的支票。”

　　"It is a mistake—indeed it is," said the widow. 寡妇又说：“那一定是弄错了。”

　　The banker then asked her to wait a few minutes, while he went to see the merchant who gave her the note. 银行职员让她耐心等几分钟，然后就去找开出支票的商人。

　　"Yes." said the merchant, when he had heard the banker's story,  当商人听完银行职员的叙述后，说：“是的，我犯了一个错误。”

　　I did make a mistake. I wrote fifty instead of five hundred.  我只写下了五十美元，而不是五百美元。

　　Give the poor widow five hundred dollars, for such honesty is poorly rewarded with even that sum. 给那个可怜的寡妇五百美元吧，因为这种诚实的美德多少钱也换不来。

1 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

2 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。