Onions and Garlic 洋葱与大蒜

Onions and Garlic 洋葱与大蒜

作者：张恒

来源：《中学生英语·阅读与写作》2018年第04期

Onions and Garlic

洋葱和大蒜

Long ago there lived two brothers， Joshua and Eli. They lived on a farm and were very poor. Joshua worked hard every day. Eli was lazy and didn’t like t o work.

很久以前，有两个兄弟，约书亚和伊莱。他们住在农场里，家里很穷。约书亚每天都努力工作；伊莱很懒，不喜欢工作。

One day，Joshua heard of a kingdom far away. This kingdom didn’t have onions！Hmmmm，thought Joshua. If I could sell them onions，they’d pay a lot of money！He asked to see the king and was granted an audience1. Joshua told the king about the onions and the king was curious2. He invited Joshua to make a big feast3 with many dishes prepared with onions.

有一天，约书亚听说远方有一个王国，这个王国里没有洋葱！“嗯，”约书亚想，“如果我能把洋葱卖给他们，他们会付很多钱！”他请求觐见国王，之后获得接见。约书亚和国王谈到了洋葱，国王很好奇。他邀请约书亚用洋葱为一场盛大宴会准备了很多菜。

That evening， the king and his guests tasted the dishes. Everyone agreed， the onion made everything taste so much better！The king smiled from ear to ear. He said to Joshua，“These onions are the most precious4 thing in my kingdom. In return for them， I will give you their equal weight in the most precious thing I have—diamonds.” Joshua was rich at once and returned to his village with a wagon full of diamonds.

那天晚上，国王和他的客人品尝了这些菜肴。每个人都赞同，加了洋葱的菜美味多了！国王不由地满面笑容，他对约书亚说：“这些洋葱是我国最宝贵的东西。作为回报，我会给你重量相等的我所拥有的最珍贵的东西——钻石。”约书亚立刻变得很富有，他带着装满钻石的马车回到了村庄。

Joshua shared his wealth but his brother Eli was still very jealous5. He asked Joshua if this kingdom has garlic. Joshua thought and said，“In fact，they don’t have any garlic.” Hmmmm，thought Eli. If I could sell them garlic，I’d be very rich. Garlic is much tastier than onions.

约书亚分享了他的财富，但他的兄弟伊莱仍然非常嫉妒。他问约书亚那个王国有没有大蒜。约书亚想了想，说：“老实说，他们没有蒜。”“嗯，”伊莱想，“如果我把大蒜卖给他们，我就会变得富有。大蒜可比洋葱美味多了。”

Eli traveled to the kingdom as his brother had done. Just like Joshua， he got an audience with the king and made a feast. And just like Joshua， the king announced garlic the most precious thing in his kingdom. The king said，“I will give you their equal weight in the most precious thing in my kingdom. Onions！”

伊莱和他的兄弟一样去了那个王国。就像约书亚一样，他得到了国王的接见并准备了一场盛宴。又像约书亚那样，国王宣称大蒜是王国里最宝贵的东西。国王说：“我会给你同等重量的我国最宝贵的东西——洋葱！”

Notes：

1. grant an audience接见，召见

2. curious adj. 好奇的，有求知欲的

3. feast n. 筵席，宴会

4. precious adj. 宝贵的；珍贵的

5. jealous adj. 妒忌的；猜疑的