英国语文第二册 第46期:狮子

 　　LESSON 46 The lion 第四十六课 狮子

　　The lion is called the "king of beasts." He is fierce and bold, very noble-looking, and of great strength. 狮子号称“百兽之王”，因为狮子凶猛英勇，长相威武，力量强大。

　　The home of the largest lions is far away in the wild mountains and great plains of Africa. 最大的狮子生活在非洲的大山里和大草原上。

　　The lion lives also in Asia; but there he is not so large and strong as the lion of Africa. 亚洲也有狮子；但是亚洲狮子比不上非洲狮子的体型和力量。

　　He is seldom seen abroad during the day; but when the sun is going down, the lion leaves his den¹ and goes forth² to hunt.  狮子白天很少外出，但一到太阳下山，它们就会出动去捕猎。

　　He steals along softly, and makes no sound as he treads. 它们悄无声息地跟随猎物，在准备攻击时也不会发出声音。

　　When all is still, his terrible voice is heard. In the silence of the night it sounds like thunder. 当捕猎结束，狮子就会发出让人战栗的叫声。在寂静的夜晚，狮子的吼叫声极似惊雷。

　　If he is near a village, the dogs bark, and the horses, oxen, and camels rush about in terror; for they know the voice of the lion.  如果周围有村落，村里的狗也会不安的狂吠，马，牛和骆驼都会受到惊吓，因为这些动物都能认出狮子的叫声。

　　The men light fires all around, and toss about flaming torches, to scare him away. 村民们会在四周点起火把，挥动火把将狮子赶走。

　　But he minds them very little.  但是狮子啊并不害怕，

　　He goes on to the place where the cattle are kept, and in a few minutes a horse or a cow falls beneath his terrible paw.  它会继续往牛圈去，仅仅几分钟就会有马或牛惨死于它的爪下。

　　In this way the natives of the north of Africa often lose a great part of their flocks and herds³. 这使北非的村民经常损失大量的家禽牲畜。

　　Although the lion seldom leaves his den before evening, yet, when he is hungry, he may even in the day-time be found roaming over the plains. 虽然狮子在夜幕降临前很少离窝，但如果它饿了，那么即使在白天也能看到它在草原上晃荡。

　　There, large herds of wild asses⁴ and antelopes⁵ go trooping along. 那里会有大量成群结队的野马河羚羊。

　　They scent⁶ the lion at a great distance; and when they hear his voice, they scour⁷ away over the desert like the wind. 它们很远就能嗅到狮子的气味；一旦它们听到叫声，就会在荒漠四散奔逃。

　　In their terror, some of them come near the place where the lion lies hid.  有些猎物会靠近狮子的住处，

　　Then he couches,　his eye glares, and with one bound he springs on his prey⁸. 随后狮子会躺下，眼盯着猎物，跳起发动攻击。

　　The lion has a long, shaggy mane, and his skin is of a dull yellow colour. 狮子有长长地蓬松的鬃毛，肤色暗黄。

　　The lioness is much smaller than the lion, and she has no mane. 雌狮比雄狮小许多，并且身上没有鬃毛。

　　She makes her home in the deepest part of the forest, and there she lives with her young ones.  雌狮在森林最深处安家，和小狮子们住在一起。

　　Woe⁹ to him, whether man or beast, that comes　near the lioness in her den! 接近雌狮住处的不管是人类还是野兽都不会有好下场。

1 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 asses   

n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人

参考例句：

• Sometimes I got to kick asses to make this place run right. 有时我为了把这个地方搞得像个样子，也不得不踢踢别人的屁股。 来自教父部分
• Those were wild asses maybe, or zebras flying around in herds. 那些也许是野驴或斑马在成群地奔跑。

5 antelopes   

羚羊( antelope的名词复数 )； 羚羊皮革

参考例句：

• One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.' 你只要一跳就出来了，我们可以像羚羊那样飞快地逃掉。”
• Most antelopes can withhold their young for weeks, even months. 绝大部分羚羊能把分娩期推迟几个星期，甚至几个月。

6 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

7 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。