請求給個膽子

曲永華

Once there was a dog and he used to be timid. He did not dare to bite any other animals;he did not dare to hear a beast howling，either.

The dog worried about his own cowardice. One day，he went to the Animal God for help and asked him for courage.

“That’s easy！” said the Animal God. “But first you must kill a vicious tiger，and then I’ll give you courage.”

Kill a tiger？ That was too difficult. But was there any other way to get courage？ Finally，the dog had to fight against the tiger.

When a hunter was searching the hill for a tiger，the dog rushed over and bit the tiger’s hind leg. What a wonder！ The hunter shot the tiger with the dog’s help.

The hunter carried away the dead tiger. The dog hurried to the Animal God for his courage. “Haven’t I given it to you already？” said the God.

“What？” cried the dog，and he felt puzzled. “If you don’t have your courage，how could you help the hunter kill that tiger？”

The dog went home happily. He told his master that he had his courage now and that he would be afraid of nothing. He asked his master to give him a name. His master thought for a while and then said，“Since you are afraid of nothing，you can be named Danda，OK？” The dog nodded，wagged his nail and rolled over on the ground happily. However，“Danda” was often pronounced “dangda” by some children. Later，people all called him Dangda.

精彩譯文

從前，有一只狗，他曾經很膽小。他不敢咬別的動物，也不敢聽到野獸的嚎叫。

這只狗為他的膽小而發愁。有一天，他到動物神那里求助，請求給他一個膽子。

“那很容易！”動物神說，“但是，首先你必須殺死一只兇猛的老虎，然后我就給你一個膽子。”

殺死一只老虎？ 那太難了。但有別的辦法得到膽子嗎？最后，這只狗不得不與老虎對抗。

當一位獵人搜山打老虎的時候，這只狗沖過去咬住老虎的后腿。真是個奇跡！獵人在狗的幫助下一槍打中了那只老虎。

獵人帶走了那只死老虎。狗為了得到膽子而趕往動物神那里。“我不是已經把它給你了嗎？”動物神說。

“什么？”狗叫喊起來，他感到迷惑不解。“如果你沒有膽子，你怎能夠幫助獵人殺死了那只老虎？”

狗高興地回到家里。他告訴主人他現在有了膽子，他將什么也不怕。他要求主人給他取個名字。主人想了一會兒后，說：“既然你什么都不怕，你就名叫‘膽大’，好嗎？”狗點點頭，搖搖尾巴，高興地在地上打了個滾兒。但是，“膽大”常常被一些孩子們念成“襠瘩”，后來，人們都叫他“襠瘩”了。

【新鮮詞】

courage /'k?r?d?/ n. 勇氣，膽量

timid /'t?m?d/ adj. 膽小的

beast /bi?st/ n. 野獸

howl /ha?l/ v. 嚎叫，吼叫

cowardice /'ka??d?s/ n. 膽怯，懦弱

God /ɡ?d/ n. 神，上帝

vicious /'v???s/ adj. 兇殘的

wonder /'w?nd?/ n. 奇跡，驚奇

puzzled /'p?zld/ adj. 困惑的，搞糊涂的

nod /n?d/ v. 點頭

wag /w?ɡ/ v. 擺動，搖擺

句型解讀

1. used to do /be：過去曾經做/是……

例如：

He used to work in the White House.

他過去曾經在白宮工作。

2. 情態動詞的被動語態由“情態動詞+be+過去分詞”構成。例如：

Water can be changed into ice.

水能夠被轉變成冰。

The work must be finished today.

這項工作必須在今天完成。

練習 （EXERCISE）

一、選擇題

1. The dog was once when he heard a beast howling.

A. frightened B. excited

C. surprised D. sad

2. What did the dog asked the God for？

A. A tiger’s help

B. His courage

C. His cowardice

D. A hunter’s help

3. The dog had to fight against the tiger ? ? .

A. because the tiger was vicious

B. to make the God happy

C. to get his courage

D. to make his master happy

二、判斷題（正確的寫T，錯誤的寫F）

4. The dog killed the tiger by himself.

5. The dog told his master that he would be afraid of nothing.

6. The dog didn’t like his name at all.