英文短篇故事（纽约）344 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

 　　"Mirrors are destroying our nation's productivity," the dictator¹ said in a nationwide broadcast. "Too many people are spending too much time looking in too many mirrors. Everybody wants to be on TV or in the movies, or look like somebody on TV or in the movies. Enough already! We all have jobs to do. We can't do our jobs if we're busy thinking about our looks. Looks aren't that important. Look at me. I look terrible. Do I care? No, because I'm too busy running this country. If I spent hours a day looking at myself in the mirror, our country would go to pot. So tomorrow I'm destroying all the mirrors." The people balked². His wife said, "Can you blame them? How can people, especially your own wife and children, live without mirrors?" He said, "Okay, you're right. Instead, tomorrow I'm destroying all the TVs and movie theaters."

1 dictator   

n.独裁者，爱发号施令的人

参考例句：

• We felt quite impotent to resist the will of the dictator.我们感到无力抗拒独裁者的意志。
• A dictator must have a firm hand.独裁者的手段是很厉害的。

2 balked   

v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》