天方夜谭英文故事：Return of Princess and Her Ruby

Long years ago, Zaman was the Prince of a small Arab kingdom. He went to a nearby forest with his Princess Badora for a camp. After the meals the Princess removed all her jewels to take rest in the tent. 

 

When the Princess put the jewels beside her, a bird flew down fast and took a jewel with a Ruby¹ stone. On hearing the sound of the flying bird she cried for help “Alah! My precious stone." 

 

The Prince said "Don't worry. I will surely get it back dear." He soon hurried towards the direction of the flying bird which took the jewel The Prince ran very fast as he could. 

 

But it was very difficult for him to chase the bird by land. In a few minutes the bird was far away and finally went out of sight. 

 

He said. ‘What can I do now?" He had gone very deep in the thick forest and finally he lost the way and stopped there for a while. There he remembered the Princess Badora. He thought 'Alah my Princess was alone in the camp. I shall go back fast to meet the Princess." 

 

He tried to return back through thorns² and thick bushes At end he reached the place where he left the Princess. But for his shock there was no Princess. So he cried, “O my dear Badora! Where are you dear?" But it was in vain. There was no reply from his wife. 

 

Princess Badora had waited for some time there. She was scared by the forest animals. So she wandered here and there and finally came to a Kingdom on the other side of the forest. The Kingdom was ruled by King Aram. She narrated³ what happened in the forest. King Aram took pity on her and allowed her to stay in his Palace till her husband Zaman rescued her. 

 

But Zaman was wandering here and there and came to a beautiful garden. He was very tired and could not walk too. So he wanted to take rest in the garden for a while. He sat under a shadow of a big tree At the top, some birds were fighting with each other. He saw keenly what they were trying to snatch⁴ from the other bird. To his wonder one bird dropped something from her beak⁵. When it came down, it glittered⁶ brightly. 

 

Zaman jumped quickly and picked up the glittering⁷ object before the birds tried. On seeing the object he shouted in joy, “Here is my wife's Ruby" I am very lucky. Oh! God." 

 

And put it in his bog⁸ but he felt sod because he missed his Badora and could not find her anywhere in the forest. 

 

After some days Prince Zaman reached the Kingdom of King Aram. There he came to know that a new Princess had arrived to their palace some days ago. He prayed to God. "Oh God! It Shall be the princess Badora!" He wanted to find the princess in disguise⁹. So he disguised¹⁰ himself as a merchant and took a jar of honey to the King Aram's palace. There he dropped the ruby stone in the jar of honey and asked a guard to present it to the new Princess only. 

 

The guard gave the jar to the new Princess. The Princess asked her servant to pour the honey into a pot To her surprise, she found the ruby stone in the jar which was stolen by the bird in the forest. As she found the ruby she shouted in joy…oh! My ruby." 

 

Asked herself, “How did the merchant get her Ruby? "Soon the Princess ordered her servant to bring the merchant to her. 

 

Immediately they brought the merchant before the Princess Badora. On seeing the walk and face of the merchant, she identified her prince and said “ O Prince, Are you in disguise?" The Prince Zaman cried in joy, 'O princess, my Badora!’ 

 

Soon both of them met the King Aram and the Prince described the past incidents to him. King Aram sent them with greetings to their Kingdom. 

 

Zaman's sincere effort was fruitful. The Princess got her ruby and the Prince got his Princess Badora.  

1 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

2 thorns   

（玫瑰之类植物的）刺( thorn的名词复数 )； 棘刺； 带刺的树； 荆棘

参考例句：

• I was sitting on the thorns while waiting for the outcome. 等待结果时我如坐针毡。
• They had to stop to pick out thorns from their feet. 他们只得停下来把脚上的刺拔去。

3 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 snatch   

n.抢夺，碎片，一阵，一瞬间，一点点；v.夺取，抢劫，抓住

参考例句：

• The magazine was snatch from my hand before I could read it.我还没来得及看那期杂志，就被从我手里抢走了。
• He had a snatch of sleep sitting in his chair.他坐在椅子里稍睡片刻。

5 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

6 glittered   

闪烁，闪耀，闪光( glitter的过去式和过去分词 )； 眼睛闪现（某种强烈情感）

参考例句：

• The ceiling of the cathedral glittered with gold. 大教堂的天花板金光闪闪。
• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。

7 glittering   

a.闪闪发亮

参考例句：

• He has a glittering career ahead of him. 他前程似锦。
• He strove for the glittering prizes of politics. 他力争在政界取得辉煌的成绩。

8 bog   

n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖

参考例句：

• We were able to pass him a rope before the bog sucked him under.我们终于得以在沼泽把他吞没前把绳子扔给他。
• The path goes across an area of bog.这条小路穿过一片沼泽。

9 disguise   

vt.把...假扮起来；n.伪装物，假装，伪装

参考例句：

• He went about in the disguise of a sailor.他伪装成海员到处流窜。
• It is impossible to disguise the fact that business is bad.生意不好这件事无法隐瞒。

10 disguised   

v.假扮( disguise的过去式和过去分词 )；化装；伪装；掩盖

参考例句：

• The hijackers were heavily disguised. 劫持者伪装得严严实实。
• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。 来自《简明英汉词典》