牙牙学英语之:蚂蚁和蚱蜢

The Ant and the Grasshopper¹
蚂蚁和蚱蜢

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping² about, chirping³ and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil⁴ an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
     "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling⁵ and moiling in that way?"
     "I am helping⁶ to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."
     "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; "We have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.
     When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger - while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for days of need.

夏日的一天，一只蚱蜢正在一块庄稼地上蹦来跳去，无忧无虑地唱着歌。 这时，一只蚂蚁从它身边爬过。蚂蚁正十分费劲地拖着一个玉米棒子，它是要把玉米棒子拖回到蚂蚁巢里面去。
“过来跟我聊聊天吧，”蚱蚂说，“用不着那么辛苦地工作吧？”
“我正帮忙收集过冬用的粮食，”蚂蚁说，“我建议你也去收集点粮食。”
“为了过冬用不着这么费劲吧？”蚱蚂说，“我们现在有大把的粮食”。
蚂蚁没有听它的，而是继续辛苦地拖着粮食往回赶。
冬天来了，蚱蚂没有粮食，都快要饿死了。 这时，蚱蚂看到蚂蚁们正分发他们在夏天时收集并储存起来的玉米和谷物。 蚱蚂明白了： 什么事都要提早做好准备，将来才有好的结果。

1 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

2 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

3 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

4 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

5 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。