书城英文图书不畏将来,不念过往
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第1章 A Fish of the World一条见过世面的鱼

早安,和梦想一起醒来

To see a world in a grain of sand.And a heaven in a wild flower.

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand.And eternity in an hour.

从一粒沙子看到一个世界,从一朵野花看到一个天堂。

把握在你手心里的就是无限,永恒也就消融于一个小时。

早安心语

You can't have a better tomorrow if you're still thinking about yesterday.

如果你无法忘掉昨天,就不会有一个更好的明天。

A herring once decided to swim right around the world.“I'm tired of the North Sea,”he said.“I want to find out what else there is in the world.”So he swam off south into the deep Atlantic.Once he was nearly eaten by a shark.And once he was nearly electrocuted by an electric eel.And once he was nearly stung by a stingray.

But he swam on and on.Round the tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean,and he passed by devilfish and sailfish and sawfish and swordfish and bluefish and blackfish and mudfish and some fish,and he was amazed by the different shapes and sizes and colors.On he swam into the Java Sea.

And he saw fish that leapt out of the water and fish that lived on the bottom of the sea and fish that could walk on their fins.And on he swam through the Coral Sea where the shells of millions and millions of tiny creatures had turned to rock and stood as big as mountains.

But still he swam on into the wide Pacific.He swam over the deepest parts of the ocean where the water was so deep that it was inky black at the bottom and the fish carried lanterns over their heads and some had lights on their tails.And through the Pacific he swam and then he turned north and headed up to the cold Siberian Sea where huge white icebergs sailed past him like mighty ships,and still he swam on and on and into the frozen Arctic Ocean where the sea was forever covered in ice.And on he went past Greenland and Iceland and finally he swam home into his own North Sea.

All his friends and relations gathered around and made a great fuss of him.They had a big feast and offered him the very best food they could find,but the herring just yawned and said,“I've swum around the entire world.I've seen everything there is to see and I have eaten more exotic and wonderful dishes than you could possibly imagine.”And he refused to eat anything.Then his friends and relations begged him to come home and live with them.But he refused.“I've been everywhere there is and that old rock is too dull and small for me.”And he went off and lived on his own.

And when the breeding season came,he refused to join in the spawning,saying,“I've swum around the entire world.And now I know how many fish there are in the world.I can't be interested in herrings anymore.”

Eventually,one of the oldest of the herrings swam up to him and said,“Listen,if you don't spawn with us,some herrings eggs will go unfertilized and will not turn into healthy young herrings.If you don't live with your family,you'll make them sad and if you don't eat,you'll die.”

But the herring said,“I don't mind.I've been everywhere there is to go,I've seen everything there is to see,and now I know everything there is to know.”

The old fish shook his head.“No one has ever seen everything there is to see,”he said.“Nor known everything there is to know.”

“Look,”said the herring,“I've swum through the North Sea,the Atlantic Ocean,the Indian Ocean,the Java Sea,the Coral Sea,the Great Pacific Ocean,the Siberian Sea,and the frozen Arctic.Tell me,what else is there for me to see or know?”

“I don't know,”said the old herring.

“But there may be something.”

Well just then,a fishing boat came by,and all the herrings were caught in a net and taken to market that very day.And a man bought the herring and ate it for his supper,and he never knew that it had swum right around the world and had seen everything there was to see,and knew everything there was to know.

多少人就像这条青鱼一样愚昧无知,以为自己所认识和感知的一切就是整个世界,甚至为自己的见多识广而扬扬自得。

他们以为可以永远自由自在地畅游在自己的世界里。殊不知,一种神秘而致命的力量一直潜伏在每一个人的身边,只是我们浑然不知,这个力量就是命运。

有一条青鱼曾经决定周游世界。“北海的生活我早已过腻了,”他说,“我想去看看世界上其他的地方有什么东西。”

所以它向南游去,游向大西洋深处。它曾差点被一条鲨鱼吞食;也曾险些被一条电鳗击中;还有一次,他差点被一条黄貂鱼刺伤。

可他仍然继续向前游着,从非洲屋脊处的河流游过,抵达印度洋。这里形形色色的鱼游过他的身边,有章鱼、旗鱼、锯鳐、箭鱼、竹荚鱼、黑鲸、泥鱼,等等,这些鱼的形状、大小和颜色各不相同,令他感到很惊奇。他继续向前游,进入爪哇岛海域。他在这里见到了跃出水面的鱼、生活在海底的鱼,还有能用鳍行走的鱼。

他又继续游过珊瑚海,不计其数的微生物的外壳在那里变成了岩石,并堆积成山。

他仍继续向前,向宽广的太平洋游去。当游至大洋的最深处时,那儿的水是那么深,到处是漆黑一片。这里的鱼,有些头顶“灯笼”,有些尾部“点灯”。他游过了太平洋,然后游向北方,向着寒冷的西伯利亚海域游去,在那里从他身旁经过的巨大的白色冰山就像巨大的航船一样。他继续向前游,进入了冰冻的北冰洋,那里的海面终年结冰。他又游过格陵兰岛和冰岛,最后游回了老家——北海。

青鱼回家后,所有的亲朋好友都赶来看望他,大家嘘寒问暖,并设宴为他接风,把他们能找到的最好的食物都拿出来给他,而他只是打个哈欠说道:“我周游了整个世界,世上一切东西我都见过,我品尝过远远超过你们可能想象到的奇珍异味。”他对所有食物都不予理睬。而后,他的亲戚朋友们都邀请他去家里和他们一起住,但他都拒绝了。“什么地方我没去过,我绝不会去你们家那又阴暗又狭小的岩石里住的。”说完他便转身离开了。自此,他便孤独一人居住。

到了繁殖的季节,他也拒绝产卵,说道:“我周游过整个世界。我认识世界上很多种鱼,我已对青鱼不再感兴趣了。”

最终,一条最年老的青鱼游到他面前说:“听着,如果你不与我们一起产卵,一些青鱼卵就不会受精,也就孵不出健康的小青鱼。若你不与家人同住,就会令他们很伤心。还有,如果你不吃东西,你会饿死。”

但这条青鱼却说:“我不介意!能去的地方我都去了,能看到的东西我也都看过了,现在我已通晓一切。”

老青鱼摇着头说:“没有人见识过世界上的一切,也没有人能通晓一切。”

“你看,”青鱼说,“我游过北海、大西洋、印度洋、爪哇海、珊瑚海、太平洋、西伯利亚海和冰天雪地的北冰洋。那你告诉我,还有什么我没看过,有什么是我不知道的呢?”

“我也不知道,”老青鱼说,“可一定有些东西是你没见过的、也不知道的。”

就在那时,一条渔船经过,所有的青鱼被一网打尽,当天就被带到了集市。有人把那条“周游了世界”的青鱼买去了,当晚把他吃掉了,而且这个人永远也不会知道这条青鱼曾周游过世界,看到过一切,知晓一切!

轻英语

易错的英文

1.rest room厕所

2.busybody爱管闲事的人

3.busboy餐馆勤杂工

4.dry goods(美)纺织品,(英)谷物

5.heartman换心人

6.mad doctor精神病科医生

7.eleventh hour最后时刻

8.blind date男女初次会面(由第三者安排的)

9.personal remark人身攻击

10.sweet water淡水

11.confidence man骗子

12.criminal lawyer刑事律师

13.service station加油站

14.dressing room化妆室

15.horse sense常识

16.capital idea好主意

17.familiar talk庸俗的交谈

18.blue stocking女学者、女才子

19.black art妖术

20.Chinese dragon麒麟