天方夜谭英文故事：Three Brothers

Once upon a time there lived three brothers. They were Ali, Hassim and Khaieel. Before their father died, he asked his sons to divide the wealth into three equal shares. After their father's death, they divided the wealth into three parts. 

 

Ali started a business in the same place. Hassim and Khaieel let the place to seek knowledge and learn from the opportunities. Ali's business improved very well and he had all the facilities of luxury¹ and lived happily. 

 

One day he found Laila a wise maiden² who had magical³ powers. They got married and lived happily. She led a loving life, serving her husband. 

 

Ali's brothers visited all the places in the kingdom. Their part of wealth was spent up. So they became beggars⁴. One day they came to Ali’s shop and begged. Ali took some coins and went near the beggars. When he was ready to give the coins, he recognized their voices. Ali was shocked at their look. 

 

“What happened to you?" said Ali in a stammering⁵ voice. 

 

“We lost what ever you gave us. O brother! Our business failed because of our carelessness⁶". They confessed 

 

Ali said. “Don’t worry brothers. What we have now is ours, come on. We shall go to our home. They went to Ali’s house with a wicked⁷ plan to kill their brother Ali at any cost. Laila also looked after them very well. But she found out their wicked plan to kill Ali through her magical power. 

 

Ali gave them each thousand gold coins and said, “You start some business here and come up in life." 

 

Hassim said, “We have a plan to go east. You also come along with us. You bring Laila also. There we can earn more and shall live together." 

 

Khaleel also accepted the idea of Hassim. Ali and Laila accepted their idea. But Laila knew the cunning⁸ plan of Hassim and Khaleel. 

 

All of them set off on a voyage⁹ to the east. The two wanted to kill Ali in the voyage itself. Laila watched them carefully with her magical power. Hassim and Khaleel pushed Ali into the sea. Laila followed them alertly¹⁰ she took Ali to the ship again with a rope. When they returned home, She with her magical power had cast¹¹ spell on the brothers and sent them to their house as watchdogs at the gate. 

 

When Ali and Laila returned home, Ali saw two dogs in the gate tied with a rope. Laila said, “The dogs are your wicked brothers. I turned them into dogs." 

 

Ali became sad and said "Please forgive them and make them as men again". 

 

But Laila said, "Now it is not possible because the spell is for a limited years. Until then I can not change them." 

 

So they lived as dogs for ten years and then were changed as men. Then they felt sorry for their behavior and lived with Ali helping¹² him in the business. 

 

1 luxury   

n.难得享受到的愉悦；奢侈，奢华的生活

参考例句：

• He invited me to his suite. The luxury takes your breath away.他请我到他的套房里去，那豪华的气派真会令你吃惊。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods.政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

2 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

3 magical   

adj.魔术的，有魔力的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• I used to believe my mother had magical powers.我以前一直相信我母亲有奇妙的魔力。
• The effect of the medicine on the sick man was magical.药对病人的效力是不可思议的。

4 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。

5 stammering   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He betrayed nervousness by stammering. 他说话结结巴巴说明他胆子小。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Why,\" he said, actually stammering, \"how do you do?\" “哎呀，\"他说，真的有些结结巴巴，\"你好啊？” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 carelessness   

n.粗心；漫不经心

参考例句：

• You should make an apology to her for your carelessness.你应该为你的粗心大意向她赔礼道歉。
• I have been punished for my carelessness.我因粗心而被处罚。

7 wicked   

adj.邪恶的，恶劣的，缺德的；淘气的

参考例句：

• Let everyone know all the wicked things she has done.把她干的坏事给大家抖搂抖搂。
• The wicked must be wiped out.恶人必须除掉。

8 cunning   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；n.狡猾，奸诈

参考例句：

• A spy used cunning means to find out secrets.间谍使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• The fox is known for its cleverness and cunning.狐狸的机敏和狡猾是人所共知的。

9 voyage   

n.航行，航海，航程，旅行，航空；vi./vt.航海，航行；渡过，飞过

参考例句：

• Life is compared to a voyage.人生好比航海。
• The December weather favoured our voyage.12月的天气使我们的航行顺利。

10 alertly   

adv. 提高警觉地,留意地

参考例句：

• Jordan looked at him alertly, cheerfully, without answering. 乔丹很机灵，很高兴地看着他，但并没有答话。
• Rhett's eyes came alertly back and they were sharp, but his voice was casual. 瑞德的眼睛警觉地往后一缩，但还是犀利的，不过声音有点犹豫了。

11 cast   

vt./vi.(cast,cast)投掷；投射；抛

参考例句：

• You can cast your vote at the local polling station.你可以在当地的投票站投票。
• He cast off fear and decided to make a try.他去掉害怕心理，决定试一试。

12 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。