(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES.
Our story is called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." It was written by Mark Twain. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.
STORYTELLER:
A friend of mine in the East asked me to visit old Simon Wheeler, to ask about my friend's friend, Leonidas W. Smiley. I did as my friend asked me to do and this story is the result.
I found Simon Wheeler sleeping by the stove in the ruined mining camp of Angel's.
I saw that he was fat and had no hair, and had a gentle and simple look upon his peaceful face. He woke up, and gave me "good-day." I told him a friend had asked me to find out about a friend named Leonidas W. Smiley, who he heard was at one time living in Angel's Camp. I added that if Mister Wheeler could tell me anything about this Leonidas W. Smiley, I would feel a great responsibility to him.
Simon Wheeler forced me into a corner with his chair and began telling me this long story. He never smiled, he never frowned, he never changed his voice. But all through the endless story there was a feeling of great seriousness and honesty. This showed me plainly that he thought the heroes of the story were men of great intelligence.
I let him go on in his own way, and never stopped him once. This is the story Simon Wheeler told.
Leonidas W. .... h'm... Le... well, there was a man here once by the name of Jim Smiley, in the winter of eighteen forty-nine--or may be it was the spring of eighteen-fifty. Anyway, he was the strangest man. He was always making money on anything that turned up if he could get anybody to try to make money on the other side. And if he could not do that, he would change sides.
And he was lucky, uncommon lucky. He most always was a winner. If there was a dog-fight, he would try to win money on it. If there was a cat-fight, he would take the risk. If there was a chicken-fight, he would try to win money on it. Why, if there was two birds setting on a fence, he would want you to decide which one would fly first so he could win money.
Lots of the boys here have seen that Smiley and can tell you about him. Why, it did not matter to him. He would try to make money on anything. He was the most unusual man. Parson Walker's wife was very sick once, for a long time, and it seemed as if they were not going to save her.
But one morning he come in, and Smiley asked him how was his wife, and he said she was better, thank God. And Smiley, before he thought, says, "Well, I'll risk my money she will not get well.'"
And Smiley had a little small dog. To look at the dog, you would think he was not worth anything but to sit around and look mean and look for a chance to steal something. But as soon as there was money, he was a different dog. Another dog might attack and throw him around two or three times. Then all of a sudden Smiley's dog would grab that other dog by his back leg and hang on till the men said it was over.
Smiley always come out the winner on that dog, at least until he found a dog once that did not have any back legs. The dog's legs had been cut off in a machine. Well, the fighting continued long enough, and the money was gone. Then when Smiley's dog come to make a grab the other dog's back legs, he saw in a minute how there was a problem.
The other dog was going to win and Smiley's dog looked surprised and did not try to win the fight anymore. He gave Smiley a look that said he was sorry for fighting a dog that did not have any back legs for him to hold, which he needed to win a fight. Then Smiley's dog walked away, laid down and died. He was a good dog, and would have made a name for himself if he had lived, for he had intelligence. It always makes me feel sorry when I think of that last fight of his and the way it turned out.
Well, this Smiley had rats, and chickens, and cats and all of them kind of things. You could not get anything for him to risk money on but he would match you. He caught a frog one day, and took him home, and said he was going to educate the frog. And so he never done nothing for three months but sit in his back yard and teach that frog to jump. And you bet you he did teach him, too.
He would give him a little hit from behind. And the next minute you would see that frog dancing in the air and then come down all on his feet and all right, like a cat. Smiley got him so the frog was catching flies, and he would catch one of those insects every time.
Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do almost anything. And I believe him. Why, I have seen him set Dan'l Webster down here on this floor--Dan'l Webster was the name of the frog -- and sing out, "Flies, Dan'l, flies!" And quicker than you could shut your eyes that frog would jump straight up and catch a fly off the table. Then he would fall down on the floor again like a ball of dirt and start rubbing the side of his head with his back foot as if he had no idea he had been doing any more than any frog might do.
You never seen a frog so honest and simple as he was, for all he was so skilled. And when it come to jumping, he could get over more ground in one jump than any animal of his kind that you ever saw.
Smiley was very proud of his frog, and people who had traveled and been everywhere all said he was better than any frog they had ever seen.
Well, one day a stranger came in and says to Smiley, "What might be that you have got in the box?"
And Smiley says, "It's only just a frog." And the man took it, and looked at it careful, and turned it round this way and that, and says, "H'm, so it is. Well, what is he good for?"
"Well," Smiley says, easy and careless, "he can out jump any frog in Calaveras County."
The man took the box again, and took another long look, and gave it back to Smiley, and says, "Well, I don't see anything about that frog that is any better than any other frog."
"Maybe you don't," Smiley says. "Maybe you understand frogs and maybe you don't. Anyways, I will risk forty dollars and bet you that he can jump farther than any frog in Calaveras County."
And the man studied a minute. "Well, I'm only a stranger here, and I do not have a frog. But if I had a frog, I would risk my money on it.
And then Smiley says, "That's all right. If you will hold my box a minute, I will go and get you a frog." And so the man took the box, and put up his forty dollars and sat down to wait.
He sat there a long time thinking and thinking. Then he got the frog out of the box. He filled its mouth full of bullets used to kill small birds. Then he put the frog on the floor.
Now Smiley had caught another frog and gave it to the man and said, "Now sit him next to Dan'l and I will give the word."
Then Smiley says, "One-two-three-go!" and Smiley and the other man touched the frogs.
The new frog jumped. Dan'l just lifted up his body but could not move at all. He was planted like a building. Smiley was very surprised and angry too. But he did not know what the problem was.
The other man took the money and started away. And when he was going out the door, he looked back and said "Well, I do not see anything about that frog that is any better than any other frog."
Smiley stood looking down at Dan'l a long time, and at last says, "I wonder what in the nation happened to that frog. I wonder if there is something wrong with him."
And he picked up Dan'l and turned him upside down and out came a whole lot of bullets. And Smiley was the angriest man. He set the frog down and took out after that man but he never caught him.
Now Simon Wheeler heard his name called and got up to see what was wanted. He told me to wait but I did not think that more stories about Jim Smiley would give me any more information about Leonidas W. Smiley, and so I started to walk away.
At the door I met Mister Wheeler returning, and he started talking again. "Well, this here Smiley had a yellow cow with one eye and no tail..."
However, lacking both time and interest, I did not wait to hear about the cow. I just left.
ANNOUNCER:
You have heard the American Story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. This story was written by Mark Twain and adapted into Special English by Karen Leggett. Listen again next week at this time for another American Story in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.
重点解析
1.look upon 看待
I don't know how you look upon this matter.
我不知道你对这事怎么看。
2.turn up 露面
Richard had turned up on Christmas Eve with Tony
理查德和托尼在圣诞夜一道露面了。
3.walk away 走开
The most appropriate strategy may simply be to walk away from the problem
最好的对策可能就是回避这个问题。
4.He was a good dog, and would have made a name for himself if he had lived, for he had intelligence.
那可是条好狗，他要是活着，准出了名了，胚子好，又聪明。
make a name 出名
She was beginning to make a name for herself as a portrait photographer.
她开始成为一个小有名气的人像摄影师。
5.You never seen a frog so honest and simple as he was, for all he was so skilled.
别看它有能耐，你还真找不着比它更朴实，更爽快的蛤蟆了。
for all 尽管
For all my experience, I blew a fuse in the quarter-final and could have been sent off.
尽管已经是老经验了，我还是在四分之一决赛的时候按捺不住发了脾气，差点就被罚出场。
6.And he picked up Dan'l and turned him upside down and out came a whole lot of bullets.
他把蛤蟆掂起来头朝下，结果那蛤蟆吣出满满两大把铁砂子来。
upside down 颠倒
The painting was hung upside down.
油画挂倒了。
参考译文
现在为您演播，美国之音慢速英语节目，美国故事。
我们的故事叫做《卡城名蛙》，作者马克·吐温，演播谢普·奥尼尔。
我的一位朋友从东部来了信，让我去拜访老西蒙·威勒，打听我朋友的朋友列昂尼达斯·W·斯迈雷的下落。
我遵他的命去了，而这件受人之托的事究竟结果如何，我来做个交代。
我见到西蒙·威勒的时候，他正在破破烂烂的矿山屯子安吉尔里，靠着炉子舒舒服服地打盹。
我注意到他是个胖子，秃脑袋，一脸安详，透着和气、朴实。
他站起身来问了声好。
我告诉他，朋友托我来打听一位密友，这人叫列昂尼达斯·W·斯迈雷，听说这位年轻的福音传教士曾在安吉尔屯子里住过。
我又加了一句：要是威勒先生能告诉我这位列昂尼达斯·W·斯迈雷神父的些许消息，我将感激不尽。
西蒙·威勒把我逼到墙角，拿自己的椅子封住我的去路，然后讲了一通下面那些枯燥无味的事情。
他脸上不露一丝笑意，眉头一皱不皱。
但从头到尾都透着特别的严肃与诚实。
这是明明白白地告诉我，他认为故事里的两位主人公智谋超群。
我听凭他按照自己的路子讲下去，一直没有打断。这就是西蒙·威勒讲的故事。
列昂尼达斯神父，嗯，列神父——嗯，这里从前倒是有过一个叫吉姆·斯迈雷的，那是1849年冬天——也许是1850年春天。
不管怎么讲，要比谁最古怪，他算得上天下第一。
只要能找到一个人愿打赌，他就赔，碰上什么就赌什么，还总能赢钱。
别人要是不愿赌黑，他就赌黑；别人不愿赌白，他就赌白。
虽说这样，他照样有好运气，那可不是一般的好，每每总是他赢。
如果斗的是狗，他赌。斗的是猫，他赌。
斗的是鸡，他还赌。
嘿，就算有两只鸟落在篱笆上，他也要跟你赌哪一只先飞，这样他好赢钱。
这儿的小伙子好多都见过斯迈雷，都能给你讲讲这个人。
他不在乎这个，什么赚钱赌什么。
那家伙特不一样。
有一回，沃尔克牧师的太太病得不轻，好几天了，眼看着她就没救了。
可一天早晨牧师进来了，斯迈雷站起来问他太太怎么样，他说，她好多了——全凭主的大恩大德。
而没等他想，斯迈雷就来了一句：“这样吧，我押两块五，赌她缓不过来。”
斯迈雷有一只小狗。
光看外表你准以为它一钱不值，就配在那儿拴着，一副贼溜溜的样子，老想偷点什么。
可是，一旦在它身上下了注，它转眼就变了一条狗。
别的狗可能接二连三地咬它，甩它。
然后突然，它就一口咬住别的狗的后腿，咬得死死的，直到对手服软。
斯迈雷老是靠这条狗赢钱，直到在一条没后腿的狗身上碰了钉子。
因为那狗的后腿让机器给锯掉了。
那一次，两条狗斗了好一阵子，两边的钱都押完了。
斯迈雷的狗上去照着咬惯了的地方下嘴时，当时他就看出自个儿上当了。
另一条狗马上就要赢了，斯迈雷的狗当时好像是吃了一惊，跟着就有点儿没精打采，再也没有试着把那一场赢下来。
它朝斯迈雷瞧了一眼，好像是说它伤透了心，这都是斯迈雷的错，怎么弄了一条没有后腿的狗来让它咬呢，它斗狗本来靠的就是咬后腿嘛。
后来，他一瘸一拐地溜达到旁边，倒在地上就死了。
那可是条好狗，他要是活着，准出了名了，胚子好，又聪明。
一想起它最后斗的那一场，想起它走下场来，我鼻子就发酸。
唉，这个斯迈雷呀，他还养过耗子、小鸡、猫，都是这一类的玩艺儿。
不论你拿什么去找他赌，他都能跟你兵对兵，将对将，让你赌个没完没了。
有一天，他逮着一只蛤蟆带回家去，说是要好好训一训。
足足有三个月，他什么事都不干，光呆在后院里头教那只蛤蟆蹦高。
果不其然，他把蛤蟆训出来了。
只要他从后头点蛤蟆一下，
你就看吧，那蛤蟆像翻煎饼一样在空中打个转，然后稳稳当当地脚朝下落地，就像一只猫。
他还训那蛤蟆逮苍蝇，勤学苦练，练得那蛤蟆回回都能逮得着。
斯迈雷说蛤蟆特爱学习，学什么会什么——这话我信。
嘿，我就瞧见过他把丹尼尔·韦伯斯特放在这快地板上——那蛤蟆叫丹尼尔·韦伯斯特——大喊一声:“苍蝇，丹尼尔，苍蝇!”
蛤蟆就噌地照直跳起来，把那边桌上的一只苍蝇吞下去了，快得让你来不及眨眼。
然后像一摊泥“扑嗒”落在地上，用后腿抓耳挠腮，没事人似的，好像觉得自个儿比别的蛤蟆也强不到哪儿去。
别看它有能耐，你还真找不着比它更朴实，更爽快的蛤蟆了。
只要往上跳，它比你见过的所有蛤蟆跳得都高。
斯迈雷为他的蛤蟆骄傲；要说也是，那些见多识广的老江湖都说，从来也没见过这么棒的蛤蟆。
有一天，一个外乡人来到屯子里，正碰上斯迈雷，就问：“你那笼子里头装的是什么呀？”
斯迈雷说:“不过是一只蛤蟆。”
那外乡人拿过笼子，转过来转过去，细细地瞅，说:“嗯——原来是个蛤蟆，它有什么特别的呀?”
“噢，”斯迈雷不紧不慢地说，“它比这卡城地界里的哪一只蛤蟆蹦得都高。”
那外乡人又拿过笼子，仔仔细细地看了好半天，才还给斯迈雷，慢慢吞吞地说，“是嘛，”他说，“我也没瞧出来这蛤蟆比别的蛤蟆能好到哪儿去。”
“你也许瞧不出来，”斯迈雷说，“对蛤蟆，你兴许是内行，也兴许是外行。不管怎样，我赌四十块钱，敢说这蛤蟆比卡城随便哪一只蛤蟆都蹦得高。”
那汉子琢磨了一会儿，有点儿作难:“呃，这儿我人生地不熟的，也没带着蛤蟆；要是我有一只蛤蟆，准跟你赌。”
这时候斯迈雷说话了:“好办，好办，只要你替我把这笼子拿一小会儿，我就去给你逮一只来。”
就这样，那外乡人拿着笼子，也押上四十块钱，坐下等着了。
这外乡人坐在那儿想来想去，想了好一会儿，然后从笼子里头把蛤蟆拿出来。
他扒开它的嘴，给蛤蟆灌了一肚子火枪的铁砂子，然后把蛤蟆放到地上。
斯迈雷呢，他到底逮住个蛤蟆，交给那外乡人说: “行了，把它跟丹尼尔并排摆着，我喊个号。”
然后他就喊:“一--二--三--蹦!”他和那外乡人点那两只蛤蟆。
新捉到的蛤蟆蹦了起来。而丹尼尔呢，它动不了，跟生了根一样。
斯迈雷又惊又气。但说什么他也想不通这到底是怎么一档子事。
那外乡人拿起钱就走。
临出门了，他还回过头说:“我也没瞧出来这蛤蟆比别的蛤蟆好到哪儿去嘛。”
斯迈雷呢，他站在那儿抓耳挠腮，低着头把丹尼尔端详了好一会儿，最后说:“真闹不明白这蛤蟆怎么栽了——闹不明白它犯了什么毛病。”
他把蛤蟆掂起来头朝下，结果那蛤蟆吣出满满两大把铁砂子来。
这时候斯迈雷才明白过来，他气得发疯。放下蛤蟆就去追那外乡人，可再也追不上了。
这时候，西蒙·威勒听见前院有人喊他的名字，就站起来去看找他有什么事。
他让我等一下，但我觉得吉姆·斯迈雷的故事不会再给我提供更多关于列昂尼达斯·W·斯迈雷神父的信息了，于是我起身要走。
在门口，我刚巧碰上威勒往回走，他拽着我又打开了话匣子:“哎，这个斯迈雷有一头独眼龙母黄牛，尾巴没了...”
可我既没功夫，也没这个兴趣，还没等他开讲那头母牛，我就走了。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
