新概念美音版第三冊 Lesson 16 Mary had a little lamb 瑪麗有一頭羔羊

 
Lesson 16 Mary had a little lamb 瑪麗有一頭羔羊
         
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。
 
Was Dimitri right to apologize to his neighbour? Why not?

    Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece. One of Mary's prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her. She kept it tied to a tree in a field during the day and went to fetch it every evening. One evening, however, the lamb was missing. The rope had been cut, so it was obvious that the lamb had been stolen.
 
    When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife told him what had happened. Dimitri at once set out to find the thief. He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small village. After telling several of his friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb. Dimitri immediately went to Aleko's house and angrily accused him of stealing the lamb. He told him he had better return it or he would call the police. Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his backyard. It was true that he had just bought a lamb, he explained, but his lamb was black. Ashamed of having acted so rashly, Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him. While they were talking it began to rain and Dimitri stayed in Aleko's house until the rain stopped. When he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find the little black lamb was almost white. Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain!

New words and expressions 生詞和短語

     prize
adj. 珍貴的，寶貴的

     tie
v.   拴，係

     theft
n.   偷盜行為，偷盜案

     accuse
v.   指控

     deny
v.   否認

     ashamed
adj. 感到羞恥，慚愧

     apologize
v.   道歉

     dye
v.   染

參考譯文

    瑪麗與丈夫迪米特裏住在希臘南部一個叫波拉考拉的小村莊裏。瑪麗最珍貴的財產之一就是丈夫送給她的一隻白色小羔羊。白天，瑪麗把羔羊拴在地裏的一顆樹上，每天晚上把它牽回家。可是，一天晚上，那隻小羔羊失蹤了。繩子被人割斷，很明顯小羔羊是被人偷走了。
 
    迪米特裏從地裏回來，妻子把情況跟他一說，他馬上出去找偷羔羊的人。他知道在這樣一個小村莊裏抓住小偷並不困難。把失竊的事告訴幾個朋友後，迪米特裏發出他的鄰居阿列科家突然多了一隻小羔羊。迪米特裏立刻去了阿列科家，氣呼呼地指責他偷了羔羊，告訴他最好把羊交還，否則就去叫警察。阿列科不承認，並把迪米特裏領進院子。不錯，他的確剛買了一隻羔羊，阿列科解釋說，但他的羔羊是黑色的。迪米特裏為自己的魯莽而感到不好意思，向阿列科道了歉，說是錯怪了他。就在他倆說話的時候，天下起了雨，迪米特裏便呆在阿列科家裏避雨，一直等到雨停為止。半小時後，當他從屋裏出來時，他驚奇地發現小黑羔羊全身幾乎都變成白色。原來羊毛上染的黑色被雨水衝掉了！