Fame，Love，Riches，Pleasure and Death

江南大學 陳曉宇

精彩導讀

生命中的最大恩賜是什么？是名聲、愛情、財富、快樂，還是死亡？馬克·吐溫把自己對生命、價值、選擇的思考依托一個生動的寓言故事表述出來。沒有過多鋪敘，沒有復雜的矛盾沖突，卻使每一個故事的走向都出乎意料。故事中的主人公體驗了許多曇花一現的美好，他的結局又怎樣呢？讓我們跟著作者的筆尖一起撥開物質生活的面紗，發掘生命的真諦吧。

全文詞數417，難度適中，建議用時7分鐘。

In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket,and said， “Here are gifts.Take one,leave the others．Choose wisely!For only one of them is valuable．” The gifts were five∶Fame,Love,Riches,Pleasure and Death．The youth,said eagerly,“There is no need to consider．” And he chose Pleasure．

He went out into the world andsought outthe pleasures．But each was short-lived and disappointing,vain and empty．In the end he said,“These years I have wasted．If I could but choose again， I would choose wisely．”

The fairy appeared,and said,“Four of the gifts remain．Choose once more．Only one of them isprecious．” The man considered long,then chose Love,and did notmarkthe tears that rose in the fairy’s eyes．After many years the man sat in an empty home,saying,“One by one they have gone away and left me．”

“Choose again,”said the fairy．“The years you already have wisdom．There gifts remain．Only one of them has any worth—remember it,and choose carefully．”

The manreflectedlong,and then chose Fame;and the fairy,sighing,went her way．Yearswent byand she came again．And she knew his thought∶“My name filled the world,and its praise was on every tongue,and it seemed well with me for a little while．Then came envy;then criticism;then hate;then persecution(迫害)．And last of all came pity,which is the funeral of Fame．”

“Choose yet again．” It was the fairy’s voice．“Two gifts remain．And do not despair．In the beginning there was but one that was precious,and it is still here．”

“Wealth—which is power! How blind I was! ”said the man．“Now,at last,life will be worth the living．I will feed my hungry heart with their envy;I will have all luxuries(奢侈品),all joys．I will buy,buy,buy!I have lost much time;I was ignorant then,and could but take for best what seemed so．”

Three short years went by,and a day came when the man sat shivering(發抖)in a mean room;and he was clothed in rags,mumbling（咕噥），“Curse all the world’s gifts!Pleasure,Love,Fame and Riches∶they are but temporary disguises(偽裝)for lasting realities Pain,Grief,Shame and Poverty．

“Oh,miserable me!What is left for me?”

“What not even you have deserved∶the insult（侮辱） of Old Age．” The fairy left．

Reading check

Ⅰ.Read the text carefully and fill in each blank with only one word.

A good fairy offered five gifts for the man to 1．______（choice），including Fame, Love，Riches,Pleasure and Death．He chose Pleasure 2．____,but felt it short-lived and 3．_____(disappoint）．Then Love was chosen after long 4．___（consider）．However,he felt lost in an empty home．The third time,the Fame he chose only brought pity,which is the 5．___of Fame．In his opinion,wealth was 6．___（power）as he could buy anything he liked．The sad reality was that he got nothing at his old age,7．___（miss）the last gift—Death．

Ⅱ.Critical Reading

Why Death is the precious gift according to the text?

Language study

I.Words in the text

Ⅱ.Vocabulary

1．precious adj. 珍貴的

2．sigh v.嘆息

3．funeral n.葬禮

4．curse v.咒罵；詛咒

5．temporary adj.短暫的；暫時的

6．grief n.（尤指某人之死引起的）悲痛；悲傷；悲哀

7．poverty n.貧困

8．miserable adj.痛苦的；極不愉快的

9．seek out尋求；找到

10．go by 時光流逝

11．feed one’s heart with 用……使心得到滿足

12．in rags 衣衫襤褸

Ⅲ.Difficult sentences

1.完全倒裝

在生命之初，一位仙女帶著籃子走來，說道∶“這里有幾份禮物。”

In the morning of life______________with her basket,and said,“Here are gifts．”

隨后來的就是嫉妒，然后是批判，然后是憎惡，然后是迫害。

Then came envy;then criticism;then hate;then persecution．

【點石成金】這兩句都是完全倒裝。第1句為In the morning of life介詞短語置于句首，此時若句子主語為名詞，且動詞為不及物動詞或be動詞，句子應使用完全倒裝；第2句為then,here,there,away,down,off等副詞置于句首，可使用完全倒裝，此時主語不可以是代詞。

湖四周有幾個美麗的小村莊。

Around the lake are several beautiful small villages．2.when引導定語從句

三年過去了，到了這么一天，這個人蜷縮在一個破舊的房間里，顫抖個不停。

Three short years went by,and a day came__________the man sat shivering in a mean room．

【點石成金】本句中的先行詞為表示時間的名詞day，因為定語從句較長，所以放在came后面。另外，從句中shivering是現在分詞作伴隨狀語。

步入理想大學的這一天終于到來了。

The day finally came when I walked into my ideal university．