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美丽英文(故事卷)


来源:网络
发布时间:2011-12-30 21:46:00
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内容提要:收集了不少英语美文,有空可以看看。

    吉莱斯皮先生的天使

    安杰拉?斯特吉尔

    我上七年级的时候,在镇上的一家当地医院做义工。夏天,我自愿每周工作30到40个小时。通常,我都跟吉莱斯皮先生在一起。从来都没人探望过他,也没人关心过他的情况。大多时候,我总是握着他的手,跟他说话,帮他做一切需要做的事。他成了我一个亲近的朋友,即使他的反应也仅仅是偶尔捏一下我的手。他一直处于昏迷状态。

    我和父母去度假,离开了一个星期,我回来时,吉莱斯皮先生不见了。我没有勇气去问护士他的去向,我害怕他们也许会告诉我,他已经去世了,所以许多问题都没问。我继续利用八年级的时间自愿待在这里。

    多年以后,我上高三时,在一个加油站注意到了一张似曾相识的面容。当我认出他时,眼中充满了泪水。他还活着!我鼓起勇气问他是不是叫吉莱斯皮先生,是否昏迷过五年。他的脸上流露出不确定的表情,回答了是。我解释我是怎么认识他,在医院里我花很多时间跟他说话。他的眼中顿时充盈着泪水,他给了我一个我所得到的最温暖的拥抱。他开始告诉我,他昏迷时,能听到我说的话,能感觉到我一直握着他的手。他觉得陪在他身边的人完全是一个天使,而非人类。吉莱斯皮先生坚信是我的声音和抚爱使他活了下来。

    之后,他告诉我他身上发生的事,以及他昏迷的原因。我们都哭了,相互拥抱着说了再见,又踏上了各自的路。

    虽然自此以后,我再没见过他,但他使我的心每天都充满快乐。我知道,在他徘徊在生死边缘时,我起了特殊的作用。更重要的是,他使我的生命有了巨大改变。我永远无法忘记他,以及他为我所做的事:他使我成了一个天使。

    An Angle to Mr. Gillespie

    Angela Sturgill

    When I was in seventh grade, I was a candy striper at a local hospital in my town. I volunteered1 about thirty to forty hours a week during the summer. Most of the time I spent there was with Mr. Gillespie. He never had any visitors, and nobody seemed to care about his condition. I spent many days there holding his hand and talking to him, helping with anything that needed to be done. He became a close friend of mine, even though he responded with only an occasional squeeze2 of my hand. Mr. Gillespie was in a coma3.

    I left for a week to vacation with my parents, and when I came back, Mr. Gillespie was gone. I didn’t have the nerve to ask any of the nurses where he was, for fear they might tell me he had died. So with many questions unanswered, I continued to volunteer there through my eighth-grade year.

    Several years later, When I was a junior in high school, I was at the gas station when I noticed a familiar face. When I realized who it was, my eyes filled with tears. He was alive! I got up the nerve to ask him if his name was Mr. Gillespie, and if he had been in a coma about five years ago. With an uncertain look on his face, he replied yes. I explained how I knew him, and that I had spent many hours talking with him in the hospital. His eyes welled up with tears, and he gave me the warmest hug I had ever received.

    He began to tell me how, as he lay there comatose4, he could hear me talking to him and could feel me holding his hand the whole time. He thought it was an angel, not a person, who was there with him. Mr. Gillespie firmly believed that it was my voice and touch that had kept him alive.

    Then he told me about his life and what happened to him to put him in the coma. We both cried for a while and exchanged a hug, said our good-byes and went our separate ways.

    Although I haven’t seen him since, he fills my heart with joy every day. I know that I made a difference between his life and his death. More importantly, he has made a tremendous5 difference in my life. I will never forget him and what he did for me: he made me an angel.

    难忘的恶作剧

    佚名

    一天,我们大学里一个年轻的学生和一位教授一起散步。这位仁慈的教授常称呼学生为朋友,他对那些急切希望得到指教的学生非常友善。

    散步途中,他们看到一双旧鞋放在路边,便猜测鞋子可能是某个在附近田地里劳作的穷人的,他们想他一天的劳动也该结束了。

    学生转过头对教授说:“我们捉弄他一下吧。先把他的鞋藏起来,然后躲到灌木丛后面,等着看他找不到鞋子时会是怎样困惑的表情。”

    “年轻的朋友,”教授答道,“我们永远不该以损害穷人为代价,来换取自己的快乐。如果你富有,就应该去帮助穷人,那样会让你获得更大的快乐。我们在每只鞋里各放一枚硬币,然后躲起来看他对这一意外发现有何反应。”

    学生按教授说的做了,然后他们躲到附近的灌木丛中。

    很快,那个穷人劳动结束了,他从田地走出来,来到放外套和鞋子的小路上。他边穿外套,边把一只脚伸到鞋子里,感觉到鞋里有硬东西,他便弯下腰摸摸看是什么东西,结果他摸到了那枚硬币。

    他吃惊地看着那枚硬币,翻转过去又看了看。然后,他扫视了一下周围,一个人影都看不到。他把这枚硬币装进口袋,又去穿另一只鞋。结果又发现了另一枚硬币,他更惊讶了。

    他感动极了,双膝跪地,仰望上苍,大声地表达着自己的感激之情,正是陌生人的解囊相助使他患病无助的妻子和食不果腹的孩子有了新的希望。

    那个学生被深深地感动了,他的眼里饱含着泪水。“喏,”教授说,“这难道不比搞恶作剧更令你快乐吗?”

    年轻人答道:“您给我上的这堂课我将永生难忘。现在我终于明白了那句我一直都不理解的话:‘给予比接受更幸福。’”

    A Trick

    Anonymous

    A young man, a student in one of our universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students’ friend, for his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.

    As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day’s work.

    The student turned to the professor, saying, “Let us play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity1 when he cannot find them.”

    “My young friend,” answered the professor,“we should never amuse2 ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery affects him.”

    The student did so, and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by.

    The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes. While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes; but feeling something hard, he stooped down3 to feel what it was, and found the coin.

    Astonishment4 and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon5 the coin, turned it round, and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.

    His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent6 thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom the timely bounty7, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing.

    The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears. “Now,” said the professor, “are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?”

    The youth replied, “You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before:‘It is more blessed8 to give than to receive.’”

    梅罗普的奖励(1)

    佚名

    梅罗普是七个漂亮的姐妹中最文静也最不引人注意的一个。她已习惯并心甘情愿做配角。“每个人都很关注她们,”她想,“所以她们要努力做得更完美。没有人关注我,我做得差不多就可以了。”

    她的姐妹们总是受到各种各样年轻男子的青睐,他们迷恋、崇拜并追求她们。梅罗普只能静静地待在角落里看他们来来往往,并为姐妹们的幸福而高兴。闲着没事儿时,她就读书写字,并且写下了许多幻想中的生活:她想象着如果自己和姐妹们一样漂亮迷人、大方出众,她的生活会如何如何。

    其他六个姐妹都对梅罗普深表同情,因为她们也都认为自己很漂亮,而在她们看来,梅罗普只是可爱。她们享受着生活的欢愉,而梅罗普那梦幻般的面容,却丝毫不能引起人们的兴趣。她似乎只沉湎于她的梦幻世界,而让人误以为她对现实生活极不满意。

    年轻男子络绎不绝,姐妹们的心情也随之飘忽不定。只有一张男子的脸,是梅罗普能经常看到的,那人叫西绪福斯,是个泥瓦匠,他正在梅罗普家的房子周围砌石墙。她的姐妹们从不会正眼瞧他一下,因为他穿得很寒酸,且从不带礼物给她们,他总是从后门进入厨房,然后让梅罗普找她父亲,问石墙确切应该砌在什么位置。

    梅罗普注意到,西绪福斯对她十分尊重,当问她怎么做的时候总是诚心诚意的。偶尔,他会带一小桶草莓或一袋苹果给她,这些都是他闲逛时采摘的。而梅罗普总会红着脸接受这些礼物。她的姐妹们便嘲笑她,对那些礼物不屑一顾,因为她们身边的那些年轻男子常给她们带些金银珠宝、玫瑰花、装饰带和皮具等贵重物品。

    但是文静的梅罗普却为这些朴实的礼物而激动。“宝石谁都会买,”她对姐妹们说,“玫瑰花和皮具任何人也都可以买,但是在烈日下花整整一上午或一下午的时间,忍受蚊蝇叮咬去采摘果子,却不是人人都可以做得到的,更别提那些纨绔子弟了。”对于她的话,姐妹们只是一笑了之,笑声明显不像以往那么畅快。

    一天下午,梅罗普的父亲和西绪福斯一起去了农田,想向他解释围墙应砌在什么位置。不一会儿,西绪福斯浑身湿漉漉的,把梅罗普的父亲背回了厨房。父亲浑身湿透,似乎失去了知觉。西绪福斯把他放在桌子上,大声叫梅罗普拿来干净的毛巾和白兰地酒。

    父亲呷了几口烈酒,便气喘吁吁地讲了事情的经过。原来梅罗普的父亲手拿六分仪边测量边往后退,一不小心掉进了她家旁边那条水流湍急的深水河里,幸亏西绪福斯立即跳入河中,把他从冰冷的河水中救了上来。

    父亲苏醒后,对西绪福斯感激不尽,并许诺:西绪福斯可以娶他的任何一个女儿为妻。他把女儿们都叫到书房,其中六个哭闹着不情愿,都认为西绪福斯配不上她们。梅罗普像往常一样站在角落里,微笑着,默不作声。

    父亲很生气,责备女儿们没有良心,西绪福斯救了他的命,理所应当得到她们的爱。听了父亲的斥责,她们不再哭闹,只是抽泣着,板着脸,红肿着眼睛,一声不吭地呆立在那儿。

    西绪福斯微笑着,谨慎地做着自己的选择,他的目光落在梅罗普身上,说道:“先生,我想选择梅罗普,娶她为妻。”姐妹们猛地抬起头,刚才的恐惧感顿时被欣喜或者说是失望所取代。

    “你宁可选择梅罗普也不选择我们?”大姐简直不敢相信自己的耳朵,“你难道瞎了眼吗?”

    父亲又严厉地呵斥了她们,除了梅罗普,其余的姐妹都离开了书房。“西绪福斯,我很高兴把梅罗普嫁给你,但是,你必须告诉我,为什么选她而不选我其他的女儿呢?”

    “先生,”泥瓦匠解释说,“你的每个女儿都美貌出众,这是毫无疑问的。但是如果没有人追求她们,她们的美丽就会褪色,她们的光彩也会渐渐消退且不堪一击。然而梅罗普的美丽源于善良的心灵,聪明的头脑,这种美是永远不会褪色的。我认为她是我的最佳选择,先生!”

    梅罗普的奖励(2)

    西绪福斯和梅罗普结婚了,随着时间的流逝,他的预言真的得到了证实,梅罗普的姐妹们都失去了往日的美丽容颜,不再是男人们追求的对象,她们越来越感到了苦闷,终日不出家门,也不再有男人登门拜访,与她们共度美好时光。

    在西绪福斯的爱情滋润下,梅罗普变得越来越光彩迷人,她写的幻想故事给两个人的生活平添了许多乐趣——他们一人写作,一人欣赏——幸福快乐地白头偕老。

    Merope’s Reward

    Anonymous

    Of the seven beautiful ones, Merope was the quietest and the easiest to overlook. She herself became accustomed to blending into the background, and found a way to content herself with that. “Everyone is always watching them,” she thought, “so they have to be perfect. No one watches me, I can settle for being good.”

    Her sisters went through the world being cherished and adored and sought after by all manner of young men. Merope watched the parade pass by her quiet corner, pleased that it made her sisters happy. To amuse herself, she learned to read and write and began writing down her fantasies of what her life would be like if she were as beautiful and brilliant as her siblings1.

    The other six pitied Merope, for while they thought themselves beautiful; to them she was only pretty. Where they were vibrant with the joy of life, Merope wore a dreamy countenance that many found uninviting. She seemed so taken with the world of her dreams that they assumed she was unhappy with her lot.

    The young men continued to come and go, changing as frequently as her sisters’ whims. The only male face Merope saw with any regularity was Sisyphus, the mason who was building a stone wall around their property. Her sisters paid him no heed, for he didn’t wear fine clothes and didn’t bring them gifts. He would come into the kitchen through the back door and would ask Merope to find her father for him to answer some question or other about the exact placement of the wall.

    Merope noticed that Sisyphus treated her with complete respect, and seemed to genuinely care when he asked how she was. On occasion, he would bring her a bucket of berries or a bag of apples he’d found in his wanderings, and Merope would blush as she accepted these gifts. Her sisters laughed at her, and the gifts from Sisyphus, for the flocks of young men who swarmed2 about her sisters offered them jewels and roses, lace and furs.

    But the quiet Merope was inwardly thrilled by these homely tributes3. “Anyone can buy a ruby,” she told them, “anyone can buy a rose or a fur. But not one of those dandies would spend a morning or an afternoon collecting fruit in the broiling sun, being tortured by buzzing, biting flies for one of you.“ Her sisters laughed at that, but a little less brilliantly than they had before.

    One afternoon, Merope’s father went out into the fields with Sisyphus, to explain to him where he wanted the fence placed. A short time later, a soaked Sisyphus carried the unconscious, equally drenched man into the kitchen and laid him on the table. He barked orders to Merope, telling her to find clean towels and fetch some brandy.

    梅罗普的奖励(3)

    The story was told in gasps, between sips of the strong liquor. Her father had been backing up, holding a sextant4 to his eye, and had fallen into the deep, swift river that ran along the edge of their property. Sisyphus had immediately plunged in after him, and had pulled him from the cold water.

    After he recovered, the grateful man offered Sisyphus any one of his daughters for his wife. The daughters were summoned to his study, six of them crying and protesting that Sisyphus was unworthy. Merope took her customary place in the corner, smiling serenely 5and saying nothing.

    Their father became angry and told the girls sharply that they were being ungrateful and that Sisyphus had proven himself worthy without a doubt by saving his life. At his admonition, their cries became sniffles6, and they sat quietly, swollen-eyed and sullen.

    Sisyphus surveyed his choices and smiled when his eyes landed upon Merope. “I would have Merope, sir. Merope will be my wife.” Her sisters’ heads snapped up, and where there had been dread a moment before, there was now jubilation7 and chagrin in quick succession.

    “You would prefer Merope over us?” the eldest asked incredulously. “Have you no eyes to see?”

    Their father spoke harshly again, and all the sisters but Merope left the room. “Sisyphus, I am happy to give you Merope’s hand in marriage, but I must know why you chose her but not one of my other daughters.”

    “Sir,” the mason explained, “your daughters are brilliant beauties, that no one can deny. But their beauty will fade and their brilliance will become brittle and bitter when they realize they are no longer desirable. But Merope’s beauty is of the spirit, and that will not fade. Her brilliance is of the mind, and that will not fade. I think I made the wisest choice from among all of your daughters, sir.”

    So Merope and Sisyphus were married, and over time, his prophecy came to pass. Merope’s sisters lost their beauty and ceased to be the quarry of young men’s quest for love. They became bitter and morose, locked in their father’s house with no more gentleman callers to pass the hours with them.

    Merope glowed in the light of Sisyphus’s love for her, and her brilliant stories entertained them both—her with the writing of them and him with the reading of them—as they grew old together.

   


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