五十三. Frogs Longing for a King
There once lived many frogs in a great pond under a bridge.They had an excellent home and all the food they wished, but they were not satisfied. They made speeches in the pond. They said they should have a king.
Then they asked the God to give them a king. The God gave them a big piece of wood. The wood did not move at all, so the frogs went to ask the God to give them a king which could take action. The God sent them an eel(鳗鱼), but the frogs thought the eel was too small and did not look like a king, so the eel was not welcome in the pond. Then the frogs went to the God again for the last time. The frogs were given a stork(白鹤)as their king. They believed the stork was great, which could rule over them, so they showed honor to the stork. But the stork ate all the frogs one by one until there was hardly any frog left in the whole pond.?
How much better it would have been for the frogs if they had been satisfied with their life!
【汉语翻译】
渴望国王的青蛙
从前有许多青蛙(frog)住在桥(bridge)下的一个大池塘(pond)里。他们有极好的(excellent)家，还有很多喜欢的食物，但它们并不满意(satisfied)。他们在池塘里发表演讲(speech)。它们说它们应该有个国王。
然后它们请求上帝(the God)给它们一个国王。上帝给了它们一大截木头(wood)。木头根本不(not...at all)动，于是这些青蛙去找上帝，要求给它们一个能够采取行动(take action)的国王。上帝给它们送来一条鳗鱼，但青蛙们认为鳗鱼太小了，看起来不像(look like)个国王，因此这条鳗鱼在池塘里不受欢迎(not welcome)。然后它们又去找上帝了，最后一次，上帝给了它们一只白鹤当它们的国王。它们认为这只白鹳很伟大，可以统治它们，于是它们对白鹳表示尊敬(honor)。但这只白鹳却把所有的青蛙一个接着一个吃掉了，整个池塘几乎没有(hardly any)青蛙了。
如果这些青蛙对它们的生活满意的话那该多好啊！?
在下面的这篇文章中，你可以学习几个常见中国菜名的英文说法，比如鱼香肉丝、辣子鸡丁等！
五十四. Dialogue: Chinese Food
W: Waitress, G: Guest
W: Good afternoon, sir. We have both Chinese food and western food. Which do you like better, Chinese or Western?
G: Ill have Chinese food for a change today. I like Chinese food very much, you know.
W: Im glad to hear that. This way, please. Here is the menu for today.
G: Thanks. This is my first visit to China. Could you tell me what different kinds of Chinese food you serve here?
W: As you can see from the menu, we serve Shanghai food, Guangdong food and Sichuan food?.
G: Could you tell me more about them?
W: With pleasure. Generally, Guangdong food is a bit light. Sichuan food has a strong and hot taste. Shanghai food is rather oily.
G: Very interesting. There are so many kinds of dishes of different tastes. Its hard to decide which to take. But I think Ill have Sichuan food this time as I like hot food. Id like to have some standard Sichuan dishes.
W: Would you like pork shreds with fish seasoning(鱼香肉丝) , chicken cubes with chilipeppers(辣子鸡丁) and sour pungent soup(酸辣汤)?
G: Very nice. Let me try them.
W: We usually serve the food first and then the soup, but well bring you the soup first if you like.
G: Im used to having soup first.
W: All right, sir. Ill get it for you right now.
【汉语翻译】
对话：中餐
W: 女服务员，G: 客人(guest)
W: 下午好，先生。我们这里有中餐也有西餐(western food)．您要点中餐还是西餐？
G: 今天我想吃中餐换个口味。你知道我很喜欢中餐的。
W: 很高兴听您这么说。这边请这是今天的菜单(menu)。
G: 谢谢，这是我第一次来中国。请给我讲讲这里都供应哪些中国菜！
W: 正如您在菜单上所看到的，我们供应四川菜、广东菜和上海菜
G:能给我详细介绍一下吗？
W: 非常乐意(with pleasure)。一般来说(generally)，广东菜口味清淡些(a bit light)，四川菜味道重、辣，上海菜相当油腻(rather oily)。
G: 非常有趣。这么多不同口味的不同菜肴(dish)，很难决定吃哪种了。但这次我想吃四川菜，因为我喜欢辣的。我想要些标准的(standard)四川菜。
W: 那您看鱼香肉丝、辣子鸡丁和酸(sour)辣汤怎么样？
G: 非常好，让我尝尝吧。
W: 我们通常是先上菜后上汤，但我们可以根据您的要求给您先上汤。
G: 我习惯先喝汤(Im used to having soup first)。
W: 好的，先生。我马上给您端上。