Archie and His Donkey

阿奇和他的驢

Old Archie needed some money. He decided to sell his donkey. So he and his son Tom went to town. It was situated many miles away.

年邁的阿奇需要些錢。他決定賣掉自己的驢。所以他和兒子湯姆一起去了許多英里外的鎮(zhèn)子。

Soon, they met a woman. “Where are you going?” she asked.

不久，他們遇到了一個女人，她問他們：“你們這是上哪去呀？”

“To town,” said Archie.

“去鎮(zhèn)上。”阿奇回答。

Any smart person would ride the donkey, she said.

“但凡聰明的人都會騎著驢走。”女人說。

“What are you implying?” Archie asked. “I’m very smart!” Archie wanted to look smart. So he climbed onto the donkey. Then they continued in the direction of the town.
阿奇問道：“你這話什么意思？我很聰明的！”阿奇想要表現(xiàn)得看起來聰明一點。所以他騎上驢繼續(xù)往鎮(zhèn)子的方向走去。

Further along the road, they met a farmer.

走了一會他們在路上又遇到了一個農夫。

Hello, said Archie. “We want to sell this donkey. Do you want to buy it?”

“你好，”阿奇說。“我們想要賣驢，你要買嗎？”

I don’t need a donkey, said the farmer. “But if you want my advice, don’t ride it. The donkey needs to be in good physical condition.”

“我不需要驢，”農夫說。“但如果你愿意聽我的，那我建議你不要騎著它。驢要保持體力。”

“Good idea,” said Archie. “Tom, I want you to ride it. You’re lighter?”

“有道理，”阿奇說。“湯姆，你來騎吧。你體重比我輕。”

Neither you nor your son should ride it. It looks very tired. You should carry the donkey, suggested the farmer.

“你們兩個都不該騎著它。它看起來很累了。你們應該抬著它走。”農夫建議說。

You’re right, said Archie. “Come on, Tom! We’ll carry it for the final few miles!” 

“你說得對，”阿奇說。“來吧，湯姆，我們抬著它走完最后這點路！”

The donkey was very heavy, and they couldn’t maintain a good speed. They didn’t arrive until late in the evening. At last, they walked into the town. But there they attracted the attention of some teenage boys. They laughed at Tom and Archie. They started to throw stones at them. The donkey reacted by kicking. Tom and Archie dropped the donkey. It fell on the ground and then ran away. Archie lost his donkey. He went home with no money. 

驢很重，他們抬著它根本走不快。他們直到天黑才感到鎮(zhèn)子。最后，他們走進城里。但他們吸引了一幫孩子，孩子們嘲笑他和湯姆并朝他們扔石頭。驢開始踢腿反擊，阿奇父子倆把驢扔在了地上，驢趁機逃走了。阿奇丟了驢，兩手空空地回家了。

What does this story teach us? We cannot please everyone in our society. Don’t take everyone’s advice, but set your own standards. Prove to everyone that you can make decisions by yourself. Otherwise, you may end up with nothing at all. 

這則故事告訴了我們什么道理？我們無法取悅生活中的每一個人，不要聽從每個人的建議，要有自己的立場。向所有人證明你可以自己做決定。否則，最后你將一事無成。

單詞

advice n.建議

along prep.沿著

attention n.注意力

attract v.吸引

climb v.爬

drop v.落下

final adj.最終的

further adj.更遠的

imply v.暗示

maintain v.保持

neither adv.兩個都不

otherwise adv.否則

physical adj.物理的，身體的

prove n.證明

react v.反應

ride v.騎馬，乘車

situated adj.位于…的

society n.社會

standard n.標準

suggest v.建議