Lesson 92 - CROCODILE TEARS / SOB STORY

crocodile tears

sob¹ story

大家知道，眼泪的英文字就是tears。英文里有一个说法，叫做：crocodile tears。 Crocodile就是鳄鱼。Crocodile tears和中国人常说的"猫哭老鼠假慈悲"是一样的意思。Crocodile tears这个俗语来自一个古老的神话，说是鳄鱼往往发出一种哭的声音来引诱那些它们要吃的动物，然后一面吃一面流眼泪。这当然不会是事实，但是这个说法已经成常用语。下面我们来举个例子：

例句-1: The truth is that Pete never liked his rich Uncle John. But you should have seen his crocodile tears when the old man died and left him a million dollars!

这句话是说：皮特从来都不喜欢他那个有钱的叔叔约翰，这是事实。可是那老人去世的时候给他留了一百万美元，你可真该看看皮特当时那假伤心的样子。

下面这个例子说的是一位政客：

例句-2: In his speeches the mayor² always puts on a big show of crocodile tears for poor and homeless people. But I don't see him doing anything to help them.

这是说：这位市长在讲话的时候总是装得好像他对穷人和无家可归的人非常同情。但是，我并没有见到他做些什么来帮助他们。

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我们要讲的另一个和"哭"有关的俗语是：sob story。Sob是哭泣的意思，story就是故事。Sob story的意思就是某人编造一个令人伤心的故事来赢得别人的同情，甚至于让别人给钱来帮助他。下面是一位女士在描述她怎么听了一个sob story以后受骗的：

例句-3: Usually I don't give money to beggars³. But this nice young man told me a sob story about needing money for a bus ticket to see his dying⁴ mother, so I gave him two dollars.

这位女士说：一般我是不给乞丐钱的。但是，这个看上去挺不错的年轻人告诉我他需要钱坐公共汽车去看他那快要死的妈妈。他说得这么悲惨，我就给了他两块钱。

世界上好心人是不少的，下面这个例子又是一个人上了sob story的当：

例句-4: On my way to work this man stopped me and said that he hadn't eaten in three days so I gave him a dollar. On my way home I saw him get into a new car and drive off and now I know he had given me a sob story.

这个好心人说：在我去上班的路上那个人挡住了我，对我说，他已经三天没有吃东西了。所以我给了他一块钱。可是，我在回家的路上看见他跨进了一辆新的汽车后就开走了。我这才知道他说的事全是假的。

我们今天讲的两个习惯用语都是和眼泪有关的。它们是：crocodile tears和sob story。Crocodile tears从字面上来解释就是：鳄鱼的眼泪，实际上也就是"猫哭老鼠假慈悲"。Sob story是编造悲惨的故事来赢得人们的同情。

1 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

2 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。

3 beggars   

乞丐( beggar的名词复数 )； 家伙

参考例句：

• The rubbish left behind by the Cup Final crowd beggars description. 观看决赛的观众们丢下的垃圾实非笔墨所能描述。
• To give money to beggars sometimes amounts to encouraging begging. 给乞丐钱，有时就等于鼓励行乞。

4 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。