小故事

Gold in Heaven
金子在天堂
There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.
从前有个有钱人快要死了。他很伤心，因为他一生都在努力赚钱，就想能把这些钱都带到天堂去。于是他开始祈祷能带着自己的财富走。
An angel heard his plea and appeared to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you."
一个天使听到了他的祈祷，出现在他的面前：“我很抱歉，你不能带着你的钱。”
The man begged the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules. The man continued to pray that his wealth could follow him.
那人求天使帮忙，于是天使去找上帝，看他能否修改规定。那人继续祈祷自己能带着钱走。
The angel reappeared and informed the man that God had decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathered his largest suitcase and filled it with pure gold bars and placed it beside his bed.
天使又来了，告诉他上帝允许他随身带一只箱子。那人万分高兴，找到一只最大号的箱子，装满了金条，放在床边。
Soon afterward, he died and showed up at the gates of heaven to greet St. Peter.
不久以后，那人死了，来到了天堂门前，见到了圣彼得。
St. Peter seeing the suitcase, said, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"
圣彼得看到他的箱子，说：“等一下，你不能把这东西带进来。”
The man explained to St. Peter that he had permission and asked him to verify his story with the Lord.
那人告诉圣彼得自己是得到允许的，并请他去找上帝证实。
Sure enough, St. Peter checked it out, came back and said, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm suposed to check its contents before letting it through."
圣彼得得到了肯定的答复，出来对他说：“不错，你是可以带一件随身携带的行李，不过，让你进去之前，我要先检查一下你箱子里的东西。”
St. Peter opened the suitcase to inspect the worldly itmes that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaimed, "You brought pavement?"
圣彼得打开箱子检视里面装着的世俗人觉得珍贵得无法抛开的东西后，叫道：“你带了地砖来？”

重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. beg sb. to do sth.
请求；恳求；恳请某人做某事；
eg. I begged him to come back to England with me.
我恳求他和我一起回英格兰。
eg. She begs them not to punish her son severely.
她恳求他们不要给他儿子太重的处罚。
2. show up
如约赶到；出现；露面；
eg. He always shows up in a fancy car.
他总是乘坐一辆奢华轿车露面。
eg. If I don't show up for class this morning, I'll be kicked out.
如果我今天上午不去上课，我就要被开除了。
3. hold on
稍等；等一下；
eg. The manager asked him to hold on while he investigated.
经理让他稍等一会儿，他去调查一下。
eg. Hold on a minute.
稍等片刻。
4. sure enough
果真，果然（尤用在讲故事时）；
eg. We found the English treacle pudding too good to resist. Sure enough, it was delicious.
我们觉得英国糖蜜布丁太好吃了，令人无法抗拒。的确非常美味。
eg. I was in a shop when I saw a lady looking carefully at me. She'd recognised me, and sure enough, she came across.
我正在逛商店，突然看到一位女士在仔细地打量我。她认出了我，果不其然，她走了过来。
5. check out
经证实是对的；符合要求；
eg. She was in San Diego the weekend Jensen got killed. It checked out.
詹森遇害的那个周末她在圣迭戈，后经查证情况属实。
eg. Everything checks out.
查过了，一切正常。
6. leave behind
留下；余留；抛下；
eg. We hear of women who run away, leaving behind their homes and families.
我们听说有女人离家出走，扔下了家人不管。
eg. I don't want to leave anything behind.
我不想留下任何东西。