作文是英语考试的重中之重,要想写出好的作文,就需要多看多背,把好的句子记下来。这次为您整理了英国文化双语故事(最新9篇),希望能够给予您一些参考与帮助。
A Woodman came into a forest to ask the Trees to give him a handle for Ax. It seemed so modest a request that the principal tree at once agreed to it, and it was settled among them that the plain, homely1 Ash should furnish what was wanted. No sooner had the Woodman fitted the staff to his purpose, than he began laying about him on all side. Felling the whole matter too late, whispered to the Cedar2: "The first concession3 has lost all. If we has not a sacrificed our humble4 neighbor, we might have yet stood for ages ourselves."
有一个樵夫来到森林里,要求树给他一跟斧柄,看来他的请求非常谦虚,立刻得到了树的首领的同意。他们决定由平凡而朴素的白杨树来提供所需要的东西。樵夫刚安好斧柄,就开始到处乱砍,森林里最高的树都砍倒了,树林现在察觉大势已去,就小声对衫树说:“第一次的让步已失去了一切。如果我们不牺牲我们的小小的邻居,我们自己还可以活无数年呢。”
A crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a pitcher which he saw at a distance. But when he came up to it, he found the water so low that with all his stooping and straining he was unable to reach it. Thereupon he tried to bread the pitcher, then to overturn it, seeing some small pebbles at hand, he dropped a great many of them, one by one, into the pitcher, and so raised the water to the brim, and quenched his thirst.
一只快渴死的乌鸦,远远地看见一只水壶,就高兴地飞了过去,但是当他飞到的时候发现壶里的水浅得怎么用力弯腰伸颈也够不着,于是他试着把水壶打破,又试着把他推倒。但是力量不足,都做不到,最后看见近边有许多小石子,他一个个地把很多石子丢进了水壶,这样使水上升到壶口,就解了渴。
One morning a countryman went to his goose's nest, and saw a yellow and glittering egg there.
He took the egg home. To his delight, he found that it was an egg of pure gold.
Every morning the same thing occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs.
The countryman became more and more greedy. He wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose, when he looked inside, he found nothing in its body.
一天早晨,一位农夫发现自家的鹅窝中有一只金灿灿的蛋。
他将蛋带回家,惊喜地发现这是一个金蛋。
此后,农夫每天都能得到一个金蛋。从此,他靠卖他的金蛋变得富有起来。
农夫变得越来越贪婪,他想一下子得到鹅肚子中所有的金蛋。于是他杀死了鹅,但是,鹅肚子中什么也没有。
The Clever King Solomon
Long, long ago, there was a king. Solomon was his name. He was very clever.
In his country, there were two women. They lived in the same house and each had a child.
One night, one of the babies died. The dead baby’s mother took the other woman’s baby, and put it in her own bed.
The next morning , they had a quarrel.
“No, this is my baby!” The dead is yours!”
Each one wanted the living baby. So they went to see King Solomon.
“Bring me a knife, cut the child into two and five each woman one half.” said the King.
“Oh. Your Majesty! Give her my baby. Please don’t kill my baby!”
Then King Solomon pointed to the woman in teas and said, “Give the baby to her. She is the mother.”
聪明的国王所罗门
很久很久之前,有一位国王,他的名字叫所罗门,他非常聪明。
在他的国家里,有两位妇女,她们住在同一间房子里。各有一个婴儿。
一天夜里,其中一个婴儿死了。他的妈妈抱另一位妇女的小孩,把他放在自己的床上。
第二天早上,他们发生了争吵。
“不,这是我的孩子!这个死的是你的!”
他们都想要这个活着的孩子,于是她们去见所罗门国王。
“给我拿把刀来,把这个孩子切成两半,没人一半。”国王判决道。
“哦,陛下,把我的孩子给她吧。请不要杀了我的孩子!”一位母亲哭喊道。
于是所罗门指着流泪的妇女说:“把孩子给她,她是真正的母亲。”
Long ago, only the cats had the ability to trace their prey by its odour, while the other animals used their vision to discover their prey.
上古时期,只有猫有根据气味来追寻猎物的本领,而别的动物只能靠眼睛去发现猎物。
The dog knew that was the best way to hunt a prey so he decided to visit the cat.
狗知道这是一种极好的狩猎方法。于是,狗决定去找猫。
“Mr. Cat, can you teach me the skill to trace the prey by its odour? It is very efficient and convenient.”
“猫先生,根据气味来追寻猎物这种方法既灵验又方便,你能传授我这门本领吗?”
The cat agreed to teach the dog and to let him stay in his house during the lessons. After a few days, the dog thought that he could use the skill and he wanted to go home.
猫答应了狗的请求,并让狗在学习时间住在自己的家里。过了几天,狗认为自己已经掌握了这门本领,便想回家。
“You have not learnt the skill yet,”said the cat.“You have to stay longer.”
猫说:“你还没有学会全部的本事呢!你还得再待些日子!”
“But I have to go home now,”the dog insisted.
“但是我现在必须回家呀。”狗坚持说。
“All right,”the cat said,“you may go back tomorrow but not today.”
“那好吧!”猫说,“但你今天别回,明天再回吧!”
The next morning, the cat said to his wife,“When the dog comes to bid farewell, tell him that I have gone out. When he asks where, tell him that you don't know.”
第二天一早,猫对妻子说:“狗来告别时,你就告诉它我出去了。它问我到哪儿去了,你就说不知道。”
After a while, the dog came.“Where is the teacher?”he asked.
不一会儿,狗来了。“老师呢?”狗问道。
“He went out early in the morning and I don't know where he went,”the cat's wife answered.
“它一早就出门了,我不知道它上哪儿去啦。”猫的妻子回答道。
Actually, the cat intended to test whether the dog had learnt how to trace any prey by its odour.
其实猫是要考验一下狗是否已学会了根据气味来寻找猎物的本领。
The dog started by following the footprints of the cat. However, after a short distance, the cat had jump from one rock to another and then gone into a cave.
于是,狗开始顺着猫的脚印去追踪猫的去向。可是,猫离开家走了一段路后,就没有在地上行走了。它从一块石头跳到另一块石头上,然后跳进一个山洞,又从另一个洞口爬出来
Then he came out from the other side and leapt onto a tree.
最后跳到了一棵大树上。
The dog followed the seemingly vanishing footprints of the cat and he came to the two rocks.
于是,狗开始顺着猫的脚印去追踪猫的去向。
He entered the cave and managed to come out from the other side of it.
它也进了山洞,并竭力从另一个洞口出来。
At last, he came to the tree but he could not find any footprint. The dog could not trace the cat though he kept going round and round the tree.
最后,当狗走到树下时,猫的脚印没有了。狗找不到猫的痕迹,就绕着树走来走去。
The cat stayed on top of the tree watching every move of the dog. Finally, he said,“Look up! You have not completely learnt the skill and yet you are ready to leave. You can see now that you are still ignorant.”
猫在树上,把这一切情形看得清清楚楚。最后,猫说:“往上看!你还没有学好本事,就打算匆匆离去,结果还不是一只没学问的狗!”
Since then, the dog only knows how to trail its prey on the ground.
直到今天,狗都只会在地面上追寻猎物。
公鸡和宝玉
A COCK, scratching for food for himself and his hens, found a precious stone and exclaimed: "If your owner had found thee, and not I, he would have taken thee up, and have set thee in thy first estate; but I have found thee for no purpose. I would rather have one barleycorn than all the jewels in the world."
一只公鸡在田野里为自己和母鸡们寻找食物。他发现了一块宝玉,便对宝玉说:“若不是我,而是你的主人找到了你,他会非常珍惜地把你捡起来;但我发现了你却毫无用处。我 与其得到世界上一切宝玉,倒不如得到一颗麦子好。”
这是说自己需要的东西才是真正珍贵的。
One day, a king was travelling in his own land. He saw a farmer so absorbed in his work that he did not even notice a snake coiling round his leg.
一天,国王在他的国家巡游,看见一个农夫正专心地锄地,以至连一条蛇缠住他的腿都没有发觉。
The king shouted,“Dear man, there is a snake on your leg!”
国王大声惊叫起来:“汉子,你的腿被一条蛇缠住了呀!”
The farmer just shook the snake off and continued his work.
农夫抖了抖腿把蛇甩开,然后继续锄地。
The king was very curious and asked,“Dear man, don't you know that the snake can harm you? You ignored it and kept working. Is the work more important than your life?”
国王感到很奇怪,问:“汉子,你不知道那蛇会咬伤你吗?你却满不在乎地干活,难道干活比你的命还重要吗?”
The farmer said,“Your Majesty, the only thing that is threatening me is not the snake but the food. If I don't work hard, when the next spring comes, my family members will starve to death!”
农夫说:“陛下,真正威胁我生命的不是蛇,而是食物。如果我不拼命耕作,明年春天一到,我一家老小就全饿死了!”
The king sympathized with the farmer and he instructed his prime minister to give the farmer a big sum of money.
国王听了,很同情这个农夫的处境,他命令首相给了农夫一大笔救济金。
A year later, the king met the farmer again. He was well dressed and looked rather plump. He was not farming now but there was a bandage on his right arm.
一年后,国王又遇见了那个农夫。【】他衣着华丽,脑满肠肥,甚为富裕。他没有锄地,右臂缠着绷带。
The king asked him,“Dear man, what happened to your arm?”
国王上前问他:“汉子,你的胳膊怎么啦?”
“Your Majesty,”the farmer replied,“my finger was pricked by a thorn on the pumpkin. Now I need a rest to take care of my arm.”
“陛下!”农夫答道,“我的手指被南瓜刺扎了一下。现在我需要休息来养养胳膊。”
The king was astonished.“When you were such a poor man, you were not afraid of a snake bite. You only kept working hard. But now you need a rest after being pricked by a little thorn on the pumpkin!”
国王惊叹道:“啊!想当年你穷的时候,蛇都不怕,拼命地干活。现在让南瓜刺扎了一下就想歇息了!”
The farmer said,“Your Majesty, you have forgotten what people usually say: that was before, now it is different!”
农夫说:“尊敬的国王,您忘了人们常说:此一时,彼一时嘛!”
The Kingdom of the Lion狮子国王
THE BEASTS of the field and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be. During his reign he made a royal proclamation for a general
assembly of all the birds and beasts, and drew up conditions for a universal league, in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live together in
perfect peace and amity. The Hare said, "Oh, how I have longed to see this day, in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong." And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.
有只狮子做了国王,他善良、温和,与人一样和平、公正。在他的统治下,惩恶扬善, 裁决动物之间的纠纷,使所有的动物和睦相处。胆小的兔子说:“我祈祷能得到这样的日 子,那时弱者就不怕被强者伤害了。” 然后赶紧逃命去了。
Once a man planned to build a terrace1.
He worked very hard and spent a lot of time digging and carrying earth.
When the mound2 was almost completed and only one more basket of earth was needed, the man gave up.
The terrace was never completed.
This idiom means to fail to succeed for lack of final effort.
古时,有一个人要筑一座九仞(八尺=一仞)高的山。
他十分努力的建造这座山,并且花了很多时间挖土、搬运泥土。
终于当山快要建成的时候,几乎只差最后一篮子的泥土就行了的时候,他放弃了。
这座山便永远无法完工。
这个典故用以形容“离成功只有一步之遥,但最终失败告终”的意思。