7、晨读夜诵，英语小故事（中英对照）“换句话说”

正文

Mr. William was a gardener and a very good one too.

威廉先生是一名园丁，手艺还很棒。

Last year he came to work for Mrs. Stone, who was old, fat and rich.

去年起，他开始为斯通太太家工作，这位太太上了年纪，体态臃肿，但很有钱。

She knew nothing about gardens but thought that she knew a lot, and was always interfering(指手画脚).

斯通太太对园艺一窍不通，却自以为是，所以总是指手画脚的。

One day, Mr. William got angry with Mrs. Stone and called her an elephant.

有一天，威廉先生和斯通太太起了口角，一怒之下把她叫作大象。

She did not like that at all, so she went to a lawyer, and a few months later, Mr. William was in court, accused of calling Mrs. Stone an elephant.

她不能接受，于是去找律师。几个月以后，威廉先生被告上了法庭，因为有人指控他把斯通太太称作大象。

The magistrate found Mr. William guilty, so Mr. William said to him, “Does thatmean that I am not allowed to call this lady an elephant any more?”

法官判威廉先生有罪，于是威廉先生说：“那是不是意味着以后不允许我管这位女士叫大象？”

“That's quite correct,” the magistrate answered.

法官判威廉先生有罪，于是威廉先生说：“那是不是意味着以后不允许我管这位女士叫大象？”

And am I allowed to call an elephant a lady?” the gardener asked. “Yes, certainly,”the magistrate answered.

“那我可不可以管一头大象叫作女士？”园丁问道。 “当然可以。”法官回答。

Mr. William looked at Mrs. Stone and said, “Goodbye, lady.”

威廉先生看了看斯通太太，说道：“告辞了，女士。”

生词

interfere /'ɪntɚ'fɪrɪŋ/ v. 妨碍（interfere的ing形式）

magistrate /'mædʒɪs'tret/ n. 地方法官

看似在玩偷换概念的文字游戏，实则呈现严丝合缝的推理逻辑。这也是法庭上的常胜之道。