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VOA慢速英语--卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙 by 马克吐温

时间:2016-02-27 16:14来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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'The Celebrated1 Jumping Frog of Calaveras County2,' by Mark Twain 卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙 by 马克吐温

Editor's note: This story includes some of the informal dialect3 that Mark Twain liked to include in his writing. We have provided4 explanations of some of the expressions after the story.

Our story is called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."  It was written by Mark Twain. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.

A friend of mine in the East asked me to visit old Simon Wheeler, to ask about my friends friend, Leonidas W. Smiley. I did as my friend asked me to do and this story is the result.

I found Simon Wheeler sleeping by the stove in the ruined mining camp of Angels.

I saw that he was fat and had no hair, and had a gentle and simple look upon his peaceful face. He woke up, and gave me "good-day." 

I told him a friend had asked me to find out about a friend named Leonidas W. Smiley, who he heard was at one time living in Angels Camp. I added that if Mr. Wheeler could tell me anything about this Leonidas W. Smiley, I would feel a great responsibility to him.

Simon Wheeler forced me into a corner with his chair and began telling me this long story. He never smiled, he never frowned5. But all through the endless story there was a feeling of great seriousness and honesty.  This showed me plainly that he thought the heroes of the story were men of great intelligence.

I let him go on in his own way, and never stopped him once. This is the story Simon Wheeler told.

Leonidas W. …. hm… Le… well, there was a man here once by the name of Jim Smiley, in the winter of 1849 -- or may be it was the spring of 1850.  Anyway, he was the strangest man. He was always making money on anything that turned up if he could get anybody to try to make money on the other side.  And if he could not do that, he would change sides.

And he was lucky, uncommon6 lucky. He most always was a winner. If there was a dog-fight, he would try to win money on it.  If there was a cat-fight, he would take the risk. If there was a chicken-fight, he would try to win money on it.  Why, if there was two birds setting7 on a fence, he would want you to decide which one would fly first so he could win money.

Lots of the boys here have seen that Smiley and can tell you about him. Why, it did not matter to him.  He would try to make money on anything.  He was the most unusual man. Parson Walker's wife was very sick once, for a long time, and it seemed as if they were not going to save her.

But one morning he come in, and Smiley asked him how was his wife, and he said she was better, thank God. And Smiley, before he thought, says, "Well, I'll risk my money she will not get well."

And Smiley had a little small dog.  To look at the dog, you would think he was not worth anything but to sit around and look mean and look for a chance to steal something. But as soon as there was money, he was a different dog. Another dog might attack and throw him around two or three times.  Then all of a sudden Smiley's dog would grab9 that other dog by his back leg and hang on till the men said it was over.

Smiley always come out the winner on that dog, at least until he found a dog once that did not have any back legs. The dog's legs had been cut off in a machine. Well, the fighting continued long enough, and the money was gone.  Then when Smiley's dog come to make a grab (at) the other dog's back legs, he saw in a minute how there was a problem.

The other dog was going to win and Smiley's dog looked surprised and did not try to win the fight anymore. He gave Smiley a look that said he was sorry for fighting a dog that did not have any back legs for him to hold, which he needed to win a fight.  Then Smiley's dog walked away, laid down and died. He was a good dog, and would have made a name for himself if he had lived, for he had intelligence. It always makes me feel sorry when I think of that last fight of his and the way it turned out.

Well, this Smiley had rats, and chickens, and cats and all of them kind of things. You could not get anything for him to risk money on but he would match you.  He caught a frog one day, and took him home, and said he was going to educate the frog. And so he never done nothing for three months but sit in his back yard and teach that frog to jump.  And you bet8 you he did teach him, too.

He would give him a little hit from behind. And the next minute you would see that frog dancing in the air and then come down all on his feet and all right, like a cat. Smiley got him so the frog was catching10 flies, and he would catch one of those insects every time.

Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do almost anything. And I believe him. Why, I have seen him set Dan’l Webster down here on this floor—Dan’l Webster was the name of the frog -- and sing out, "Flies, Dan’l, flies!" And quicker than you could shut your eyes that frog would jump straight up and catch a fly off the table.  Then he would fall down on the floor again like a ball of dirt and start rubbing11 the side of his head with his back foot as if he had no idea he had been doing any more than any frog might do.

You never seen a frog so honest and simple as he was, for all he was so skilled12. And when it come to jumping, he could get over more ground in one jump than any animal of his kind that you ever saw.

Smiley was very proud of his frog, and people who had traveled and been everywhere all said he was better than any frog they had ever seen.

Well, one day a stranger came in and says to Smiley, "What might be that you have got in the box?"

And Smiley says, "It's only just a frog." And the man took it, and looked at it careful, and turned it round this way and that, and says, "Hm, so it is. Well, what is he good for?"

"Well," Smiley says, easy and careless, "he can out jump any frog in Calaveras county."

The man took the box again, and took another long look,  and gave it back to Smiley, and says, "Well, I don’t see anything about that frog that is any better than any other frog."

"Maybe you don’t," Smiley says. "Maybe you understand frogs and maybe you don’t. Anyways, I will risk forty dollars and bet you that he can jump farther13 than any frog in Calaveras County."

And the man studied a minute.  "Well, I’m only a stranger here, and I do not have a frog.  But if I had a frog, I would risk my money on it.

And then Smiley says, "That’s all right.  If you will hold my box a minute, I will go and get you a frog." And so the man took the box, and put up his forty dollars and sat down to wait.

He sat there a long time thinking and thinking.  Then he got the frog out of the box. He filled its mouth full of bullets14 used to kill small birds. Then he put the frog on the floor.

Now Smiley had caught another frog and gave it to the man and said, "Now sit him next to Dan'l and I will give the word."

Then Smiley says, "One-two-three-go!" and Smiley and the other man touched the frogs.

The new frog jumped.  Dan'l just lifted up his body but could not move at all. He was planted like a building.  Smiley was very surprised and angry too.  But he did not know what the problem was.

The other man took the money and started away. And when he was going out the door, he looked back and said "Well, I don't see anything about that frog that is any better than any other frog."

Smiley stood looking down at Dan’l a long time, and at last says, "I wonder what in the nation happened to that frog. I wonder if there is something wrong with him."

And he picked up Dan'l and turned him upside down and out came a whole lot of bullets. And Smiley was the angriest man. He set the frog down and took out after that man but he never caught him.

Now Simon Wheeler heard his name called and got up to see what was wanted. He told me to wait but I did not think that more stories about Jim Smiley would give me any more information about Leonidas W. Smiley, and so I started to walk away.

At the door I met Mr. Wheeler returning, and he started talking again. "Well, this here Smiley had a yellow cow with one eye and no tail…"

However, lacking both time and interest, I did not wait to hear about the cow. I just left.

Words in This Story

most always - adv. US, informal; almost always

Dan’l - n. abbreviation15 of a given name, Daniel

anyways - adv. US, informal; anyway

studied a minute - v. US, informal; thought a minute

get you a frog - v. US, informal; get a frog for you

plant - v.  to put or place (something or yourself) firmly or forcefully on a surface or in a particular position


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
2 county kO0zE     
n.县,郡
参考例句:
  • When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时,全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
  • In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。
3 dialect emNyf     
n.方言,土语,地方话
参考例句:
  • He wrote a play in a local dialect.他用当地方言写了一个剧本。
  • They began to speak rapidly in dialect.他们开始叽里呱啦地说起地方话来。
4 provided PkNzng     
conj.假如,若是;adj.预备好的,由...供给的
参考例句:
  • Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好,我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
  • I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨,我就来。
5 frowned fdfd04918425477a66e031069e013e79     
皱眉( frown的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She frowned in puzzlement. 她迷惑地蹙着眉。
  • The mother frowned when her son failed in his exam. 儿子考试不及格时,母亲皱着眉。
6 uncommon AlPwO     
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的
参考例句:
  • Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
  • Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
7 setting 7i5zmt     
n.背景
参考例句:
  • The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
  • Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。
8 bet ddZy8     
v.打赌,以(与)...打赌;n.赌注,赌金;打赌
参考例句:
  • I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说,你解决不了这个难题。
  • I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。
9 grab ef0xd     
vt./n.攫取,抓取;vi.攫取,抓住(at)
参考例句:
  • It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
  • The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包,但被我推开了。
10 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
11 rubbing c0ea05d88d62174bf5e65000367d38b5     
n. 摩擦, 研磨, 按磨
参考例句:
  • This insect makes its strange noise by rubbing its back legs together. 这只昆虫摩擦它的两条后腿发出一种奇怪的声音。
  • Jerry was already unhappy because he fumbled the ball,but his teammates kept rubbing it in. 本来杰瑞就很不高兴,因为他失了球,而他的队友们还一再提那件事。
12 skilled 7iTzD3     
adj.(in)熟练的,有技能的;需要技能的
参考例句:
  • Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
  • She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟,足以翻译小说。
13 farther olHxM     
adj.更远的,进一步的;adv.更远的,此外;far的比较级
参考例句:
  • I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
  • The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。
14 bullets lxFzBH     
n.弹药;军火
参考例句:
  • The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。
  • The bullets and cannon-balls were flying in all directions. 子弹和炮弹到处乱飞。
15 abbreviation LyCz9     
n.(用词首字母组成的)缩写
参考例句:
  • A.D.is the abbreviation for"advertisement".A.D.是advertisement的缩写。
  • The postal abbreviation for Kansas is KS.堪萨斯州的邮政缩写是KS。
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TAG标签:   VOA慢速英语
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