(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Our story today is, "The Devil and Tom Walker. " It was written by Washington Irving. Here is Shep O'Neal with our story. Before we begin our story, let us go back 300 years to the late 1600s. In those years, one of the most famous men in the world was Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd was a pirate. He sailed the seas, capturing any ships he found. He and his men took money from these ships. Captain Kidd hid this money in different places. Captain Kidd was captured by the English in Boston, Massachusetts and executed in the year 1701.From that time on, people all over the world searched in many places for Captain Kidd's stolen money. The people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundreds believed Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston. Not far from Boston was a small river which ran into the Atlantic Ocean. An old story said that Captain Kidd had come up this river from the ocean. Then he buried his gold and silver and jewels under a big tree. The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself, who was a good friend of Captain Kidd. In the year seventeen twenty-seven, a man named Tom Walker lived near this place. Tom Walker was not a pleasant man. He loved only one thing -- money. There was only one person worse than Tom.
That was his wife. She also loved money. These two were so hungry for money that they even stole things from each other. One day, Tom Walker was returning home through a dark forest. He walked slowly and carefully, so that he would not fall into a pool of mud. At last, he reached a piece of dry ground. Tom sat down on a tree that had fallen. As he rested, he dug into the earth with a stick. He knew the story that Indians had killed prisoners here as sacrifices to the Devil. But this did not trouble him. The only devil Tom was afraid of was his wife. Tom's stick hit something hard. He dug it out of the earth. It was a human skull. In the skull was an Indian ax. Suddenly, Tom Walker heard an angry voice: "Don't touch that skull!"Tom looked up. He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. Tom had never seen such a man. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almost black and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. His black hair stood up from his head. He carried a large ax. The giant asked, "What are you doing on my land?" But Tom Walker was not afraid. He answered, "What do you mean? This land belongs to Mister Peabody."The strange man laughed and pointed to the tall trees.
Tom saw that one of the trees had been cut by an ax. He looked more closely and saw that the name Peabody had been cut into the tree. Mr. Peabody was a man who got rich by stealing from Indians. Tom looked at the other trees. Everyone had the name of some rich, important man from Massachusetts. Tom looked at the tree on which he was sitting. It also had a name cut into it -- the name of Absalom Crowninshield. Tom remembered that Mister Crowninshield was a very rich man. People said he got his money as Captain Kidd did -- by stealing ships. Suddenly, the giant shouted: "Crowninshield is ready to be burned! I'm going to burn many trees this winter!"Tom told the man that he had no right to cut Mister Peabody's trees. The stranger laughed and said, "I have every right to cut these trees. This land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen came to Massachusetts. The Indians were here. Then you Englishmen killed the Indians. Now I show Englishmen how to buy and sell slaves. And I teach their women how to be witches."Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself. But Tom Walker was still not afraid. The giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under the trees, but nobody could have them unless the giant permitted it. He said Tom could have these treasures. But Tom had to agree to give the giant what he demanded.
Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life. But he asked for time to think. Tom went home. He told his wife what had happened. She wanted Captain Kidd's treasure. She urged him to give the Devil what he wanted. Tom said no. At last, Misses Walker decided to do what Tom refused to do. She put all her silver in a large piece of cloth and went to see the dark giant. Two days passed. She did not return home. She was never seen again. People said later that Tom went to the place where he had met the giant. He saw his wife's cloth hanging in a tree. He was happy, because he wanted to get her silver. But when he opened the cloth, there was no silver in it -- only a human heart. Tom was sorry he lost the silver, but not sorry he lost his wife. He wanted to thank the giant for this. And so, every day he looked for the giant. Tom finally decided that he would give the giant what he wanted in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure. One night, Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure.
The Devil now wanted more than that. He said that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devil's work. He wanted Tom to buy a ship and bring slaves to America. As we have said, Tom Walker was a hard man who loved nothing but money. But even he could not agree to buy and sell human beings as slaves. He refused to do this. The Devil then said that his second most important work was lending money. The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor people who borrowed money to pay back much more than they had received. Tom said he would like this kind of work. So the Devil gave him Captain Kidd's treasure. A few days later, Tom Walker was a lender of money in Boston. Everyone who needed help -- and there were many who did -- came to him. Tom Walker became the richest man in Boston. When people were not able to pay him, he took away their farms, their horses, and their houses. As he got older and richer, Tom began to worry. What would happen when he died? He had promised his soul to the Devil. Maybe. . .maybe. . . he could break that promise. Tom then became very religious. He went to church every week. He thought that if he prayed enough, he could escape from the Devil. One day, Tom took the land of a man who had borrowed money.
The poor man asked for more time to pay. "Please do not destroy me!" he said. "You have already taken all my money!"Tom got angry and started to shout, "Let the Devil take me if I have taken any money from you!"That was the end of Tom Walker. For just then, he heard a noise. He opened the door. There was the black giant, holding a black horse. The giant said, "Tom, I have come for you." He picked up Tom and put him on the horse. Then he hit the horse, which ran off, carrying Tom. Nobody ever saw Tom Walker again. A farmer said that he saw the black horse, with a man on it, running wildly into the forest. After Tom Walker disappeared, the government decided to take Tom's property. But there was nothing to take. All the papers which showed that Tom owned land and houses were burned to ashes. His boxes of gold and silver had nothing in them but small pieces of wood. The wood came from newly cut trees. Tom's horses died, and his house suddenly burned to ashes. You have heard the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker." It was written by Washington Irving. Our storyteller was Shep O'Neal.
重点解析
1.burned to ashes 烧为灰烬
If you are not burned to ashes, you will then be able to philosophize lyrically.
如果你未被烧为灰烬，你将能够激情澎湃的阐明哲理。
2.looked up 查出
She looked up a little, thought about my question for a second or two.
她稍稍抬头向上看看，考虑了一两秒钟我的问题。
3.belongs to属于
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.
但最重要的是，我永远不会忘记这场胜利真正的归属--它属于你们。
4.stood up 站起来
He stood up when the coach counted eight.
当裁判计数数到8时，他站立了起来。
5.protected by 被……所保护
These keysets provide read and write access to the data protected by their keys.
这些键集通过它们的键，提供了对保护数据的读写权限。
参考译文
我们今天的故事是《汤姆·沃克与魔鬼》，作者华盛顿·欧文，谢普·奥尼尔为您讲述。在故事开始之前，让我们先回到三百年前的十七世纪末。当时最赫赫有名的人物是威廉·凯特船长。凯特船长是个海盗头儿，他带领海盗在海上捕猎船只，劫掠财物，然后把不义之财藏匿到世界各处。1701年，英国政府在马塞诸塞州的波士顿将凯特船长擒获，并处以极刑。从此以后，世界各地的人都在为寻找凯特船长的这笔不义之财而忙得不亦乐乎。在十八世纪，一个传说在马萨诸塞州颇为流传：凯特船长的一部分财宝埋在波士顿附近的什么地方。离波士顿不远，有一条通向大西洋的河汊。这个古老传说的版本之一是凯特船长曾由海上到过这条小河把自己的金银珠宝埋在一棵大树下，然后交由自己的朋友——一个魔鬼看管。1727年，一个叫做汤姆沃克的年轻人在此居住。他整日愁眉不展，因为这世上他只爱一样东西－—钱，可他偏偏缺少钱。如果说世上还有什么人比他更爱钱的话，那就是他的老婆。这两个人对钱财是如此之贪婪，以至于他们甚至相互偷窃。一天，汤姆·沃克穿过一片黑森林回家，他小心谨慎地落脚，以免踩进泥潭中。终于，他到了一片干地上。他坐在一棵倒在地上的大树上休息一边休息，一边拿根树棍无意识地在地上乱挫。
虽然，他听说过当地的印地安人杀死囚犯，祭奠魔鬼的传说，可根本不在乎，因为让汤姆害怕的魔鬼只有一个——他自己的老婆。突然，汤姆的棍子挫到了一个硬东西上，他把它挖出来一看，原来是个人的头骨，在头骨中间有一把印地安人用的斧子。接下来，汤姆听到一个咆哮的声音：“别碰它！”汤姆循声向上看，看到一个巨人坐在一颗断树上。他从没见过这样的人。穿着印地安人的衣服，皮肤黢黑，全身灰土，眼睛又大又红，头发竖立着，手里拿着一把大斧子。“你在我的领地上干什么？”巨人喝问道。汤姆·沃克并不害怕，他回答道：“你说什么呢，这可是皮博先生的领地。”巨人大笑起来，指了指周围的大树。汤姆这才注意到有一棵树被斧子削平了一块，他走到近前才看清，原来皮博的名字被刻到了树上。皮博先生是因为剥削印地安人才致富的。汤姆又往其他树上看，每棵树上都有一个马萨诸塞州富人的名字。汤姆又看了看自己正坐着的树上，发现也有一个人的名字。汤姆记得克劳宁希尔德先生是个很有钱的人。人们说他挣钱的方式和基德船长一样——通过偷船。突然，巨人咆哮道：“今年冬天，我要把这些名字统统烧掉。”汤姆对他说，他没有权利毁掉皮博先生的树。巨人大笑，说：“我当然有了。在很久之前，在英国人没到卡萨诸塞州之前，这片地都是我的。当时印地安人在这儿居住，后来英国人来了，杀光了印地安人。如今，我教英国人如何买卖奴隶，教他们如何堕落。”
沃克现在明白了：原来这个巨人就是魔鬼本人，可汤姆.沃克还是不害怕。巨人说，凯特船长在这棵树下埋藏了大量的财宝，可除非得到巨人的许可，任何人都不得动这财宝。他说若是汤姆答应魔鬼的要求，他就可以拿走这批财宝。虽然，汤姆.沃克嗜钱如命，可他还是请魔鬼给他时间来考虑。汤姆回到家里，把刚才的经过讲给妻子听，为了要得到凯特船长的财宝，他的妻子心急如焚，她催促汤姆赶快答应魔鬼的要求，可汤姆说“要想一想”。于是，汤姆夫人决定亲自去做汤姆不愿意做的事情。她把自己所有的银子包在一个大包袱皮中就去找黑魔鬼去了。可两天过去了，她还是没有回来，并且从此杳无音讯。人们说，后来汤姆又去了他当初遇到魔鬼的地方，他看到妻子的衣服挂在一棵树上。他很高兴，因为他以为这回他可以拥有老婆的银子了。可当他把包袱打开以后才发现：里面根本没有什么银子，只有一颗人心。汤姆感到很难过，倒不是因为失去了妻子，而是因为损失了银子。但他还是因此而感谢魔鬼，所以，日夜盼望再见到魔鬼。汤姆.沃克最终决定，要答应魔鬼的要求以得到凯特船长的财宝。一天夜里，汤姆终于见到了魔鬼，便把自己的灵魂交给了他，用来交换凯特船长的财宝。可是，现在魔鬼的胃口更大了。他说，汤姆必须用这笔钱作魔鬼交待他干的事情买一艘船，把奴隶贩卖到美国。正如我们先前所说：汤姆是一个爱财如命的人。但即便如此，汤姆也不愿意做这种把人买下来，然后作为奴隶变卖到异地的龌龊勾当，所以他拒绝了。然后魔鬼给了他第二个选择：放高利贷强迫借钱的人到期后加倍偿还。
汤姆说这个工作他喜欢。于是魔鬼把凯特船长的钱给了他。几天之后，汤姆.沃克开始在波士顿放贷。每个需要帮助的人——确实有许多这样的人——都来找他。汤姆.沃克成了波士顿最富有的人。一旦借钱的人到期却无力偿还，汤姆就霸占他们的田地，房产和马匹等。当汤姆一天天富有，也一天天衰老的时候，他开始忧虑起来：自己死了之后会怎样？他已经把灵魂给了魔鬼，或许......或许......我可以毁约。从此之后，汤姆变得虔诚无比，他每周都去教堂。他心想：若是我祷告忏悔足够多，兴许就可以从魔鬼的掌控中逃脱。一天，汤姆从一个借了钱，到期却没办法偿还的人的手里夺地，这个人请求他宽限几天。“请不要毁了我。”他哀求道：“你已经把我所有的钱都拿走了。”汤姆勃然大怒，他怒吼道：“如果我从你儿那拿走过一分钱，就让魔鬼抓走我。”那就是汤姆.沃克的末日，因为，就在此时，汤姆听到一个声音，他出门一看，黑巨人站在那里，牵着一匹黑马。巨人说：“汤姆，我来带你了。”说完，抓起汤姆，把他放在马背上，打马绝尘而去。此没人再见到过汤姆。一个农夫说，他曾看到一匹黑马，驮着一个人，钻进了森林里。汤姆.沃克失踪以后，当地政府决定收回汤姆的财产，却发现已经没什么可收回的了：所有可以表明汤姆拥有土地，房产的文契都烧成了灰烬。他用来装金银的箱子空无一物，只有一些碎木片，这些木片来自附近新近砍伐的树木。汤姆的马也死了，而他的房子——突然之间就烧成了灰。
