(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Our story today is called "Pigs isPigs." It was written by Ellis Parker Butler. Here is Sheper Nille withthe story. Mike Flannery, the agent of the Interurban Express Company, leanedover the desk in the company's office in Westcote and shook his fist. Mr.Morehouse, angry and red, stood on the other side of the desk shaking withfury. The argument had been long and hot. At last Mr. Morehouse had becomespeechless. The cause of the trouble lay on the desk between the two men. Itwas a box with two guinea pigs inside. "Do as you like, then!"shouted Flannery. "Pay for them and take them. Or don't pay for them andleave them here. Rules are rules, Mr. Morehouse. And Mike Flannery is not goingto break them." "But you stupid idiot!" shouted Mr. Morehouse,madly shaking a thin book beneath the agent's nose. "Can't you read ithere – in your own book of transportation rates? 'Pets, domestic, Franklin toWestcote, if correctly boxed, twenty-five cents each.'" He threw the bookon the desk. "What more do you want? Aren't they pets? Aren't they domestic?Aren't they correctly boxed? What?"
He turned and walked back and forthrapidly, with a furious look on his face. "Pets," he said."P-E-T-S! Twenty-five cents each. Two times twenty-five is fifty! Can youunderstand that? I offer you fifty cents." Flannery reached for the book.He ran his hand through the pages and stopped at page sixty-four. "I don'ttake fifty cents," he whispered in an unpleasant voice. "Here's therule for it: 'When the agent be in any doubt about which two rates should becharged on a shipment, he shall charge the larger. The person receiving theshipment may put in a claim for the overcharge.' In this case, Mr. Morehouse, Ibe in doubt. Pets them animals may be. And domestic they may be, but pigs I'msure they do be. And my rule says plain as the nose on your face, 'Pigs,Franklin to Westcote, thirty cents each.'" Mr. Morehouse shook his headsavagely. "Nonsense!" he shouted. "Confounded nonsense, I tellyou! That rule means common pigs, not guinea pigs!" "Pigs ispigs," Flannery said firmly. Mr. Morehouse bit his lip and then flung hisarms out wildly. "Very well!" he shouted. "You shall hear ofthis! Your president shall hear of this! It is an outrage! I have offered youfifty cents. You refuse it. Keep the pigs until you are ready to take the fiftycents. But, by George, sir, if one hair of those pigs' heads is harmed, I willhave the law on you!" He turned andwalked out, slamming the door. Flannery carefully lifted the box from the deskand put it in a corner.
Mr.Morehouse quickly wrote a letter to the president of the transportation expresscompany. The president answered, informing Mr. Morehouse that all claims forovercharge should be sent to the Claims Department. Mr. Morehouse wrote to theClaims Department. One week later he received an answer. The Claims Departmentsaid it had discussed the matter with the agent at Westcote. The agent said Mr.Morehouse had refused to accept the two guinea pigs shipped to him. Therefore,the department said, Mr. Morehouse had no claim against the company and should writeto its Tariff Department. Mr. Morehouse wrote to the Tariff Department. Hestated his case clearly. The head of the Tariff Department read Mr. Morehouse'sletter. "Huh! Guinea pigs," he said. "Probably starved to deathby this time." He wrote to the agent asking why the shipment was held up.He also wanted to know if the guinea pigs were still in good health. Beforeanswering, agent Flannery wanted to make sure his report was up to date. So hewent to the back of the office and looked into the cage. Good Lord! There werenow eight of them! All well and eating like hippopotamuses. He went back to theoffice and explained to the head of the Tariff Department what the rules saidabout pigs. And as for the condition of the guinea pigs, said Flannery, theywere all well. But there were eight of them now, all good eaters.
The head of the Tariff Department laughedwhen he read Flannery's letter. He read it again and became serious. "ByGeorge!" he said. "Flannery is right. Pigs is pigs. I'll have to getsomething official on this." He spoke to the president of the company. Thepresident treated the matter lightly. "What is the rate on pigs and onpets?" he asked. "Pigs thirty cents, pets twenty-five," the headof the Tariff Department answered. "Then of course guinea pigs arepigs," the president said. "Yes," the head of the TariffDepartment agreed. "I look at it that way too. A thing that can come undertwo rates is naturally to be charged at the higher one. But are guinea pigs,pigs? Aren't they rabbits?" "Come to think of it," the presidentsaid, "I believe they are more like rabbits. Sort of half-way between pigand rabbit. I think the question is this – are guinea pigs of the domestic pigfamily? I'll ask Professor Gordon. He is an expert about such things." Thepresident wrote to Professor Gordon. Unfortunately, the professor was in SouthAmerica collecting zoological samples. His wife forwarded the letter to him. Theprofessor was in the High Andes Mountains. The letter took many months to reachhim. In time, the president forgot the guinea pigs. The head of the TariffDepartment forgot them. Mr. Morehouse forgot them. But agent Flannery did not.The guinea pigs had increased to thirty-two.
He asked the head of the Tariff Departmentwhat he should do with them. "Don't sell the pigs," agent Flannerywas told. "They are not your property. Take care of them until the case issettled." The guinea pigs needed more room. Flannery made a large and airyroom for them in the back of his office. Some months later he discovered he nowhad one hundred sixty of them. He was going out of his mind. Not long afterthis, the president of the express company heard from Professor Gordon. It wasa long and scholarly letter. It pointed out that the guinea pig was the caviaaparoea, while the common pig was the genus sus of the family suidae. Thepresident then told the head of the Tariff Department that guinea pigs are notpigs and must be charged only twenty-five cents as domestic pets. The TariffDepartment informed agent Flannery that he should take the one hundred sixtyguinea pigs to Mr. Morehouse and collect twenty-five cents for each of them. AgentFlannery wired back. "I've got eight hundred now. Shall I collect foreight hundred or what? How about the sixty-four dollars I paid for cabbages tofeed them?" Many letters went back and forth. Flannery was crowded into afew feet at the extreme front of the office. The guinea pigs had all the restof the room. Time kept moving on as the letters continued to go back and forth.
Flannerynow had four thousand sixty-four guinea pigs. He was beginning to lose controlof himself. Then, he got a telegram from the company that said: "Error inguinea pig bill. Collect for two guinea pigs -- fifty cents." Flannery ranall the way to Mr. Morehouse's home. But Mr. Morehouse had moved. Flannerysearched for him in town but without success. He returned to the express officeand found that two hundred six guinea pigs had entered the world since he leftthe office. At last, he got an urgent telegram from the main office: "Sendthe pigs to the main office of the company at Franklin." Flannery did so.Soon, came another telegram. "Stop sending pigs. Warehouse full."But he kept sending them. Agent Flannery finally got free of the guinea pigs. "Rulesmay be rules," he said, "but so long as Flannery runs this expressoffice, pigs is pets and cows is pets and horses is pets and lions and tigersand Rocky Mountain goats is pets. And the rate on them is twenty-fivecents." Then he looked around and said cheerfully, "Well, anyhow, itis not as bad as it might have been. What if them guinea pigs had beenelephants?"重点解析
1.lean over 伏在…上面；倾身
Sometimes Laura and I lean over the taffrail, and that is happiness.
有时，劳拉和我一起倚在船尾栏杆上，这对我是一种幸福。
2.in doubt 拿不准；感到疑心
I'm rather in doubt about his explanation of this question.
他对这个问题的解释我总是半信半疑。
3.up to date 最新的；现代的
We'll keep you up to date with any news.
一有新消息我们就会告诉你。
4.lose control of 失去控制；失控
If I clashed with them, I would lose control of my emotions.
如果我和他们发生冲突的话，我就控制不住自己的情绪。
参考译文
我们今天要讲的故事是艾利斯·帕克·巴特勒的短篇小说《猪就是猪》，讲述人舍波·尼尔。位于韦斯特科特的城际快递公司办公室内，代理商迈克·弗兰纳里正俯在办公桌上，晃动着拳头，而莫豪斯先生则愤怒地站在桌子的另一边，浑身颤抖。激烈的争执已经持续了很久，莫豪斯先生终于无言以对。争执的起因源于两人之间的桌子上摆放的一件物品，那是一个纸盒，里面有两只荷兰猪。弗兰纳里喊道：“那就随你的便吧！付了钱，就把它们拿走。要么就别付钱，把它们留在这儿。规则就是规则，莫豪斯先生。迈克·弗兰纳里不会破规矩办事。”莫豪斯先生喊道：“但是你这个愚蠢的白痴！”他疯狂地在代理商的鼻子下面摇着一本薄薄的书。“你难道不能读一下吗？就写在你们自己的运价簿里？家养宠物，从富兰克林运到韦斯特科特，正确装箱的话，每只运费为25美分。”他把书扔到桌子上，“你还想要收多少钱？它们不是宠物吗？它们不是在家里养的吗？它们不是正确装箱的吗？怎么了？”
他转过身来，满脸怒容，快速地来回踱步。他说：“宠物，宠——物！每只25美分。2乘以25等于50美分！明白吗？我给你50美分。”弗兰纳里伸手去拿那本书，用手翻到第64页。他不客气地低声说道：“我不收50美分，规则是这样的，‘当代理商对一批货物的两种费率有任何疑问时，他将按较高的费率收费。收货人可以提出超额收费索赔。’莫豪斯先生，我现在有点拿不准。它们可能是宠物，属于家养类，但我确定它们的确是猪。规则里说的一清二白，‘猪，从富兰克林运到韦斯特科特，每只收取30美分’。”莫豪斯先生疯狂地地摇着头，“胡说！”他喊道。“我告诉你，胡说八道！这条规则指的是普通猪，而不是荷兰猪！”“猪就是猪，”弗兰纳里坚定地说。莫豪斯先生咬了咬嘴唇，然后疯狂地伸出双臂。他喊道：“很好！你真该听听这个！公司总裁该听听这个！这简直是暴行！我已经给了你50美分，你拒收。你要是不愿意收这50美分的话，就留着这两猪吧。但是，先生，如果两只猪有一丝毫发损伤，我就去告你！”他转身走出办公室，砰地一声关上门。弗兰纳里小心地把盒子从桌子上提起来，放到一个角落。
莫豪斯先生很快给快递公司的总裁写了封信。总统回信告知莫尔豪斯先生，所有超额收费索赔都应提交给索赔部门。莫豪斯先生给索赔部门写信。一周后，他收到答复。索赔部门说，他们已经和韦斯特科特的代理商讨论过此事。代理商说，莫豪斯先生拒绝接收运送给他的两只荷兰猪。因此，该部门说莫豪斯先生无权对公司提出索赔，应写信给定费部门。莫豪斯先生又给定费部门写信，他清晰地陈述了事情的经过。定费部门负责人读了莫尔豪斯先生的信后说：“呵呵！荷兰猪。”“这次可能要饿死了。”他写信给代理商，问为什么货物被耽搁了。他还想知道荷兰猪是否仍然健康。代理商弗兰纳里为了确保他回复的是最新近况，于是在答复前走到办公室后面，朝笼子里看了看。上帝啊！现在有8只啦！都健健康康的，像河马一样大口大口的吃着。他返回办公室，向定费部门负责人解释了有关猪的规定。至于荷兰猪的状况，弗兰纳里说它们都很健康。但现在变八只了，都很能吃。
定费部门的负责人读到弗兰纳里的信时，笑了。他又读了一遍，然后一脸严肃。他说：“弗兰纳里说得没错，猪就是猪，我得公事公办。”他和公司总裁谈论了此事。总裁对这件事轻描淡写，他问：“猪和宠物的运费是多少？”定费部门负责人回答道：“猪是30美分，宠物是25美分。”于是总裁说：“那荷兰猪当然是猪啦。”定费部门负责人表示同意，他说“我也这么认为，可以划分在两个费率下的物品，自然要按较高的费率收费。但是荷兰猪是猪吗？他们不算兔子吗？”总裁说：“我认为它们更像兔子，有点介于猪和兔子之间。我想问题应该是，荷兰猪属于家养猪吗？我要去问戈登教授。他是这方面的专家。”总统给戈登教授写信，但不巧，教授正在南美洲采集动物标本，他妻子把信转寄给他。教授当时正住在安第斯山脉，几个月后他才收到信。随着时间的流逝，总裁把荷兰猪的事忘得一干二净。定费部门负责人把它们忘了，莫豪斯先生也把它们忘了，但代理商弗兰纳里可没忘，荷兰猪的数量已经增至32只。
他询问定费部门负责人应该怎么处理这些荷兰猪。弗兰纳里收到的回复是，“别卖那些猪，它们不是你的财产。在此事解决前，要把它们照顾好。”荷兰猪需要更多的空间，弗兰纳里在办公室后面给它们留出一个宽敞通风的房间。几个月后，他发现自己有160只荷兰猪，他简直要发疯了。不久后，快递公司的总裁收到戈登教授的来信。这封信写得很长，充满学术味。信中指出荷兰猪属豚鼠科动物，而普通猪为猪科动物。随后，总裁告诉定费部门负责人，荷兰猪不是猪，必须按家养宠物收费，只收取25美分。定费部门通知代理商弗兰纳里，他要把160只荷兰猪送到莫豪斯先生手中，每只收取25美分。代理商弗兰纳里回信说：“我现在有800只荷兰猪，要按800只收费还是怎么个收法？我花了64美元买卷心菜喂它们，这又该怎么算？”信件来来回回，弗兰纳里挤在办公室最前面几英尺的地方，因为荷兰鼠占据了房间的其他地方。信件在不断往返着，时间也一天天过去了。
现在，弗兰纳里有4064只荷兰猪，他开始难以控制自己。后来，他收到公司发来的电报，电报上说：“荷兰猪账单有误，按两只荷兰猪计费，收取50美分。”弗兰纳里一路跑到莫豪斯先生的家，但是莫尔豪斯先生已经搬走了。弗兰纳里在城里四处找他，都没找到。他回到快递公司办公室，发现他离开办公室后，有206只荷兰猪跑出来了。最后，他接到总公司的紧急电报，电报上说：“把荷兰猪寄到位于富兰克林的总公司处。”弗兰纳里照做了。不久，又来了一封电报。“别再往过寄猪了，仓库全满了。”但他还是不停地寄。代理商弗兰纳里终于摆脱了所有的荷兰猪。他说：“规则或许是规则，但只要弗兰纳里经营这个快递室，猪就是宠物，牛是宠物，马是宠物，狮子、老虎、落基山山羊都是宠物。价格一律是25美分。”然后他环顾四周，兴高采烈地说：“好吧，不管怎么样，情况并没有那么糟，如果那些荷兰猪是大象该怎么办？”
