The Wall
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Once upon a time, further back than anyone can remember, two kingdoms got into an argument.
从前,比任何人都记得的还远 两个王国陷入了争吵之中
No one could recall what it was about, for it was ages upon ages ago, but everyone was so furious about it that they decided to build a wall between their lands.
没有人会记得它是什么, 因为它是很久以前, 但每个人都非常愤怒, 他们决定 在自己的土地之间建造一堵墙。
It was taller than anyone could climb and longer than anyone could travel.
它比任何人都高 攀爬的时间比任何人都长
The wall kept the two kingdoms utterly separate, though no one could remember just why they couldn’t stand to be neighbors anymore.
墙壁将两个王国完全分开,
Nonetheless, when cracks appeared in the wall, people repaired them, and when streams wore away holes under the wall, the people quickly filled them in with earth and stones.
尽管如此,当墙上出现裂缝时,人们修复了这些裂缝,而当溪流穿去墙下洞口时,人们很快地将地和石头填满.
“We don’t want those scoundrels from the other side coming over here,” they said.
“我们不希望那些来自对方的无赖过来,”他们说:
Since so much time had passed since anyone had seen the other kingdom, no one was sure what it looked like anymore.
自从有人看到另一个王国以来, 已经过去了这么多的时间, 没有人知道它看起来像什么。
But they assumed there must be some reason for the wall being there.
但他们认为墙存在一定有什么原因
There must be something about the people of that other kingdom, either good or bad, if the wall was needed to keep them out.
如果需要墙来挡住他们,那另一个王国的人民肯定有好坏之分。
Or is the wall there to keep us out of their kingdom?
还是那堵墙让我们远离他们的王国?
the people wondered.
人民开始怀疑
Eventually, people began to tell stories about what had become of the other kingdom.
最终,人们开始讲述另一个王国的去向.
One story said that the other kingdom had bred an army of hideous, fire-breathing monsters.
一个故事说,另一个王国培养出一支由可怖的,有火气的怪物组成的军队.
They treated the monsters very cruelly, and kept them angry all the time.
他们非常残酷地对待怪物,并一直让他们愤怒.
“The monsters will cross the wall and invade us any day now,” the people shouted.
人们喊道,“怪物将越过墙,随时入侵”。
“The other kingdom is evil and cruel.”
“另一个王国是邪恶和残酷的。 “
Another story said that aliens had come from the sky one day and blasted the other kingdom to powder.
另一个故事说,外星人有一天从天而降,把另一个王国炸成粉花.
Then the aliens took everything that remained, loaded it on their ships, and flew away, leaving an open land.
然后外星人带走了剩下的一切,装上他们的船,并飞走,留下了一片空地.
“The aliens are on our side,” said the people.
人民说,“外国人站在我们一边”。
“They have destroyed the other kingdom and left the land for us.
“他们摧毁了另一个王国,并将土地留给我们。
The aliens are all-knowing, and they obviously proved us right about that other kingdom.”
外星人是全能的 他们显然证明了我们对另一个王国的看法 “
But there was another story, one that was much more disturbing.
但还有一个故事,一个更令人不安的故事。
Most people claimed that they did not believe it, but in their hearts, they wondered whether it might be true.
大多数人声称他们不相信,但是在他们的心中,他们怀疑这是否是真的.
Over the unnumbered years, the other kingdom had become a paradise.
在非数年中,另一个王国成为了天堂.
The streets were paved with candy, the trees were made of chocolate, and everyone was blissfully happy.
街上铺满了糖果 树由巧克力制成 所有人都很开心
“And we sit here working all day, with nothing but regular bread, meat, and vegetables to eat,” grumbled the people.
“我们整天坐在这里工作,只吃普通的面包、肉和蔬菜。”
“That greedy kingdom just wants to keep the paradise to themselves.”
“这个贪婪的王国只想让天堂保持自己。 “
No matter which story people told, it only made them despise the other kingdom more and more.
无论人们讲什么故事,这只会使他们越来越轻视另一个王国.
“Evil attackers will come any day now!”
“攻击者随时会来! “
cried some.
哭了一点。
“The supreme alien race proved that they were terrible and deserved to die,” shouted others.
“最高的外星种族证明他们是可怕的,理应死亡”,其他人喊道。
“They look down upon us as poor ruffians,” muttered others.
“他们视我们为可怜的流氓,”
But no one knew for sure.
但没人知道
But the children of the kingdom were tired of hating.
但是王国的孩子们厌倦了憎恨.
“How can we hate something if we don’t know what it is?”
如果我们不知道是什么, “
asked Richard.
问理查德。
“I say we discover who’s on the other side of the wall.
「我说,
Once we learn about them, maybe we can figure out what the argument was, and we might even be able to end the fight.
一旦我们了解了他们,也许我们可以找出争论是什么,我们甚至可以结束这场斗争。
Then we can finally get rid of this ugly old wall.”
然后我们终于可以摆脱这堵丑陋的老墙了. “
“But how would we find out?”
“但是,我们如何发现? “
asked Mary.
问玛丽。
“No one can see over the wall or travel around it.”
“没有人能看见或绕墙行走。 “
“I’ve got it!”
“我拿到了!”
shouted Frederic.
喊着弗雷德里克
“We’ll buy a parrot, the smartest one in the land,” explained Frederic.
「我们会买一只鹦鹉,
“We’ll teach it to speak and send it over the wall with a message for the people on the other side.”
我们会教它说话, “
“Let’s ask them why they have monsters coming to kill us,” suggested Mary.
「让我们问问他们为什么有怪物来杀我们,
“We can only ask them something if there’s someone to ask,” objected Richard.
“只有有人要问,我们才能问他们什么,”
“But what if the aliens demolished them?”
“但如果这些外国人拆除了它们,怎么办? “
“Yeah,” said Mary, “and if it’s a perfect paradise, they’ll only shoot the parrot for being from the poor, ugly side of the wall.”
“是的,”玛丽说,“如果这是个完美的天堂,他们只会从墙上贫穷而丑陋的一面射出鹦鹉来。 “
“Hold on a minute,” said Frederic.
Frederic说,“等一下”。
“The whole point of this is that we don’t know what’s over there.
我们不知道那里有什么。
We’re sending the parrot to find out.
我们要派鹦鹉去查清楚。
Perhaps we should send a simple message, something like ‘Who are you?’
也许我们应该发出一个简单的信息,比如:"你是谁? " ; "
Then we can’t really get into trouble.”
我们不会真的惹上麻烦。 “
So the three children purchased the most intelligent parrot they could find.
于是三个孩子购买了他们能找到的最聪明的鹦鹉.
In no time, it spoke fluently, and they sent it to see what had become of the kingdom behind the wall.
不久后,它就流利地说话了,他们送去看墙后王国的去向.
“Don’t let the other kingdom know that you come from our side,” Richard said.
“不要让另一个王国知道你来自我们一边,”理查德说。
“Yeah, I don’t want those people knowing who we are,” Mary said.
“是的,我不想让那些人知道我们是谁,”玛丽说:
“They’ll only come over and kill us,” said Richard.
理查德说,
Frederic just sighed.
弗雷德里克只是叹息。
But the bird was even wiser than the children supposed.
但是这只鸟比孩子们想象的还要聪明
It understood that the people feared and hated what was on the other side of the wall, even though they weren’t sure what it was.
民众对墙的另一面感到恐惧和憎恨,
Off it flew over the wall, and after three very long days, it returned.
它飞过墙,经过了三天,它又回来了。
“Tell us what you saw,” Frederic asked, anxiously.
弗雷德里克急切地问道,“告诉我们你所看到的。”
“I saw people,” said the parrot, “and they all looked very sad.
鹦鹉说,“我看到了人,”他们都看起来非常悲伤。
I flew down into a tree and listened to them.
我飞到一棵树上听他们说话
They said they regretted ever having the argument, and they wished they had never built this wall.
他们说,他们曾经后悔过争论,他们希望自己从未建造过这道墙.
They only hoped that they could be friends with your kingdom again.”
他们只希望他们能再次成为你的王国的朋友. “
The children were astonished and a little ashamed.
孩子们很惊讶,有点羞愧
They had never suspected that the people on the other side of the wall might want to be friends.
他们从未怀疑墙的另一边的人会想成为朋友。
“Send a message to the other kingdom,” Mary said, quickly.
Mary说,“迅速向另一个王国发出一个信息。”
“Tell them that we want to be friends, and that we’re also really sorry about the argument, whatever it was.”
告诉他们我们想成为朋友, “
Glossary despise (v.)
词汇鄙视(五.
to dislike very much; to hate (p.
仇恨(p.
8) fluently (adv.)
8) 流利 (adv.
speaking or writing a language easily, smoothly, and correctly (p.
说或写语言容易、平稳和正确(p.
11) hideous (adj.)
11) 丑恶(adj.
horribly ugly and revolting (p.
骇人听闻的丑陋和令人发指(p.
5) intelligent (adj.)
5) 智能 (adj.
smart or clever (p.
聪明或聪明(p.
11) invade (v.)
11) 入侵(五.
to enter aggressively to conquer, weaken, or injure (p.
积极进入以征服、削弱或伤害(p.
5) kingdoms (n.)
5) 王国 (n.
countries, states, or other communities that are governed by a king or queen (p.
由国王或女王统治的国家、州或其他社区(p.
3) paradise (n.)
3)天堂 (n.
a perfect, beautiful place where people are believed to be happy forever (p.
一个完美而美丽的地方,人们相信在那里永远快乐(p.
7) regretted (v.)
7) 遗憾(五.
felt sadness or guilt (p.
感到悲伤或内疚(p.
13) ruffians (n.)
13) 鲁uff (n.
violent, lawless people (p.
暴力而无法之人(p.
8) The parrot seemed to wink to itself.
8) 鹦鹉似自相闪烁.
You see, it had already told the other kingdom that the children were sending a message asking for peace.
你看,它已经告诉另一个王国,孩子们正在发出一个要求和平的信息。
The people there were just like the people in this kingdom—they did not know what lay beyond the wall, but they hated it anyway.
那里的人民就像这个王国的人民一样,他们不知道墙外有什么,但他们讨厌墙外的东西。
The other kingdom had been as shocked and ashamed of their hatred as the children had been.
另一个王国象孩子们一样,对自己的仇恨感到震惊和羞愧。
In no time, the wall was gone, and the two kingdoms were friends again.
不久后,城墙一去不复返,两地再相好.
They forgot all about their argument, whatever it was.
他们都忘了他们的论点 不管是什么