The Buffoon and the Countryman_寓言故事

The Buffoon and the Countryman

文章来源：文章作者：发布时间：2006-08-31 06:59 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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A RICH NOBLEMAN once opened the theaters without charge to the
people, and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward
any person who invented a new amusement for the occasion.
Various public performers contended for the prize. Among them
came a Buffoon¹ well known among the populace for his jokes, and
said that he had a kind of entertainment which had never been
brought out on any stage before. This report being spread about
made a great stir, and the theater was crowded in every part.
The Buffoon appeared alone upon the platform, without any
apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of expectation
caused an intense silence. He suddenly bent² his head towards his
bosom and imitated the squeaking³ of a little pig so admirably
with his voice that the audience declared he had a porker under
his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that
was done and nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and
loaded him with the loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd,
observing all that has passed, said, "So help me, Hercules, he
shall not beat me at that trick!" and at once proclaimed that he
would do the same thing on the next day, though in a much more
natural way. On the morrow a still larger crowd assembled in the
theater, but now partiality for their favorite actor very
generally prevailed, and the audience came rather to ridicule⁴ the
Countryman than to see the spectacle. Both of the performers
appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted⁵ and squeaked⁶ away
first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the applause and
cheers of the spectators. Next the Countryman commenced, and
pretending that he concealed⁷ a little pig beneath his clothes
(which in truth he did, but not suspected by the audience )
contrived to take hold of and to pull his ear causing the pig to
squeak. The Crowd, however, cried out with one consent that the
Buffoon had given a far more exact imitation, and clamored for
the Countryman to be kicked out of the theater. On this the
rustic produced the little pig from his cloak and showed by the
most positive proof the greatness of their mistake. "Look here,"
he said, "this shows what sort of judges you are."

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1 buffoon
n.演出时的丑角
参考例句：
They pictured their manager as a buffoon.他们把经理描绘成一个小丑。 That politician acted like a buffoon during that debate.这个政客在那场辩论中真是丑态百出。

2 bent
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。 We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 squeaking
v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者
参考例句：
Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。来自《简明英汉词典》 Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ridicule
v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄
参考例句：
You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。 Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

5 grunted
（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )；（指人）发出类似的哼声；咕哝着说
参考例句：
She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。 She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

6 squeaked
v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者
参考例句：
The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。来自辞典例句

7 concealed
a.隐藏的，隐蔽的
参考例句：
The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。 I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

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