英文悅讀 伊索寓言 13 THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW 敗家子和燕子

THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW

敗家子和燕子

A Spendthrift, who had wasted his fortune, and had nothing left but the clothes in which he stood, saw a Swallow one fine day in early spring. Thinking that summer had come, and that he could now do without his coat, he went and sold it for what it would fetch. A change, however, took place in the weather, and there came a sharp frost which killed the unfortunate Swallow. When the Spendthrift saw its dead body he cried, 「Miserable bird! Thanks to you I am perishing of cold myself.」

One swallow does not make summer.

辭彙學習

spendthrift["spen(d)θr?ft]

n.浪費的人

adj.浪費的；揮霍無度的

fortune["f??t?u?n; -t?(?)n]

n. 財富；命運；運氣

swallow["sw?l??] n. 燕子

v. 忍受；吞下；咽下

fetch[fet?]

v. 取來；接來；到達；吸引

sharp[?ɑ?p] adj.突然的；急劇的，強烈的

frost[fr?st]

v. 結霜於；凍壞

n. 霜；冰凍，嚴寒；冷淡

unfortunate[?n"f??t?(?)n?t]

adj. 不幸的，倒霉的;不吉利的;可惜的

n. 不幸的人

miserable["m?z(?)r?b(?)l]

adj. 悲慘的；痛苦的；卑鄙的

perish["per??]

vt. 使麻木；毀壞

vi. 死亡；毀滅；腐爛；枯萎

文章理解

A Spendthrift, who had wasted his fortune, and had nothing left but the clothes in which he stood

有一個敗家子，他把家中的財產揮霍一空，除了身上穿的衣物，一無所有。

(1)who had wasted his fortune在句中做非限制性定語從句，修飾前面的spendthrift一詞。

(2)had nothing left but....除了...一無所有

Thinking that summer had come, and that he could now do without his coat, he went and sold it for what it would fetch. 他看到了一隻燕子，心想夏天就要來了，那麼就沒有必要穿大衣了。於是他便把大衣賣掉了換錢。

A change, however, took place in the weather, and there came a sharp frost which killed the unfortunate Swallow.但是，天有不測風雲，一場猛烈的寒流襲來，那隻可憐的燕子被凍死了。

change改變，take place發生，此部分意為天氣發生變化

a sharp frost一場猛烈的寒流襲來

which killed the....也為定語從句，修飾frost

When the Spendthrift saw its dead body he cried, 「Miserable bird! Thanks to you I am perishing of cold myself.」敗家子看到燕子的屍體，哭道：「唉！倒霉的鳥！都是因為你，我也快要凍死了！」

(1)thanks to 因為，由於 thanks for因...而感謝

Thanks to the good weather, we had a great time.

多虧了好天氣，我們玩的很開心。

Thanks for your help.多謝你的幫助。

(2) I am perishing of cold myself. perish的正式用法為die,所以這句話可以翻譯成「我也快要凍死了」

故事寓意

One swallow does not make summer.

一花不成春，一隻燕子並不代表夏天來了。

英語如何說「敗家子」

敗家子 n. wastrel ， adj. spendthrift ，a black sheep

艾瑞克是個敗家子，幾年就揮霍了一百萬美金。

Eric is a black sheep ,splashing one million dollars in a few years .

吃飽了撐的，敗家子一個！

Eat a hold of, a wastrel !

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