The Farmer and the Cats

農(nóng)夫與貓

Arthur was a responsible farmer, and Maria was a nice lady. But they were poor. They owed the town lord money for their land. One summer, their farm burned. One structure caught fire, and most of the animals ran away. Only the cats stayed. So Arthur and Maria had to bring in their crops without an animal’s help.

亞瑟和瑪利亞，一個是誠信踏實的農(nóng)民，一個是心地善良的婦女。但他們卻窮困潦倒，還欠著地主的地租。有一個夏天，他們的農(nóng)場失火了。有一所房子燒著了，大部分動物都四散奔逃，只有貓沒有跟著逃跑。沒有了這些動物，亞瑟和瑪利亞只能自己收割農(nóng)作物。

On a fall day, the lord demanded his money. Arthur asked if the lord could wait until he brought in his crops.

秋天來了，地主來收租。亞瑟請求等他們把莊稼收割完再交租。

The lord was angry. He raised his hands high and yelled, “Pay me by the end of the week. If you don’t, I will increase the money you have to pay. I might put you in a jail cell.”

地主聽了很生氣，揚起手咆哮道：“這個周末就把租金給我，不然我就提高租金，還有可能讓你坐牢。”

So Arthur and Maria worked until there was blood on their hands. They finished four lines of corn and went to bed.

為此，亞瑟和瑪利亞不得不持續(xù)勞作，直到手上沾滿了血。他們收割完了四排玉米后就上床休息了。

But the next morning, eight lines were finished! “Maria, didn’t we stop in this spot here?” Arthur asked.

但第二天一早，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)收割了八排！“瑪利亞，我們昨天不是只收割到這個地方嗎？”亞瑟問道。

Yes, that is correct. And the tools were in a different position, too, Maria said. They were surprised and happy. That day, they worked hard and finished five lines.

“沒錯，就是這。連工具的擺放位置都變了。”瑪利亞答道。他們驚訝之余也很開心。那一天他們努力勞作了一整天，收割了五排玉米。

But in the morning, ten lines were done! Each day they did a lot of work. Each night, someone else did an equal amount of work. In a week, the whole field was finished. “Tomorrow I will sell the crops and pay the lord,”Arthur said. But that morning, the crops were gone. A bag was in the middle of the field. It contained money.

但第二天早上他們發(fā)現(xiàn)竟然收割了十排！他們每天都很努力地勞作，到了晚上，就有人幫他們完成同樣多的工作。一個星期下來，整田的玉米都已經(jīng)收割完成。“明天我就去賣掉這些玉米，這樣就有錢交房租了。”亞瑟說道。但到了第二天早上，所有作物都消失了。田野中間擺著一個袋子，里面裝著錢。

Maria, let’s see who has helped us work. Through a hole in the wall, they saw a funny sight. The cats were dancing in the field and eating corn! Now Arthur knew what had happened. The cats had worked at night! After that, Arthur was very nice to his cats and fed them lots of corn.
“瑪利亞，我們來看看到底是誰在幫咱們。”他們透過墻上的洞往外看，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個有趣的事情。他家的貓正在田里翩翩起舞，邊跳邊咬玉米！亞瑟終于知道怎么回事了，原來晚上是這些貓在幫他們干活！從那以后，亞瑟就對這些貓非常好，并且用很多玉米去喂養(yǎng)它們。

單詞

blood n.血液

burn v.燃燒

cell n.牢房

contain v.包含，包括

correct adj.正確的

crop n.農(nóng)作物

demand v.要求

equal adj.相等的

feed v.喂養(yǎng)

hole n.洞

increase v.增加

lord n.領(lǐng)主

owe v.欠

position n.位置

raise v.提高

responsible adj.負責(zé)的，可靠的

sight n.景象

spot n.地點

structure n.建筑物

whole adj.整個的