一个聪明人的发现：一个给英语学习者的寓言故事

(A Wise Man's Discovery:  A Fable for English Learners)

¹  很久以前，有一个聪明人住在低国。 他和他的邻居们已经建好他们的新家园和开始了新的生活。

¹ A long time ago, there was a wise man living in the Low Country. He and his neighbors had built new homes and started a new life.

²  他们在低国渡过的第一个冬季很困苦因为很多人在冬季之前还没完成他们的屋子或是收割他们的农作物。 当春天最终来临的时候，他们知道他们不能只是种他们的农作物，而且也要建造一个谷仓来存放他们接下来收割的农作物。

² Their first winter in the Low Country was difficult because many had not finished their houses or harvested their corps before winter. When spring finally came, they knew that they must not only plant their crops, but they must also build a granary to store the coming harvest.

³  他们谈起很多关于谷仓的事情。 当他们住在高国时，他们只需要把它建造得坚固以便防卫羊进来。 在低国，他们知道他们也需要留意熊，鹿和麋鹿。 因为熊力气很大，所以仓库一定要非常坚固。

³ They talked much about the granary. When they lived in the High Country, they only needed to build it strong enough to keep Goat out. In the Low Country, they knew they also needed to consider Bear, Deer, and Elk. Because Bear was powerful, the granary must be very strong.

⁴  有一条旧铁路经过他们的乡村。 那个巨大使用蒸汽推动的机器，曾经使用这条路但是现在不再需要它了。 那边有一个有轮的庞大铁箱子，大概半小时从乡村顺着铁路走的行程。 全部人赞同如果那个箱子可以被推去乡村，它可当成一个安全的谷仓。 就连熊也不能打开那些坚固的铁门。

⁴ There was an old steel road that passed by their village. The large steam-breathing machines that once used this road no longer needed it. There was a huge iron box on wheels about a half hour's walk up the steel road from the village. All agreed that if the box could be pushed to the village, it could serve as a safe granary. Even Bear could not open the strong iron doors.

⁵  因此男士们尝试推那铁箱子到乡村去。 但是它太重了，他们只能勉强的移动它。 所有的男士们很用力。 在不断的奋斗之下，在他们需要休息之前他们只是把那箱子推动到只有一个人的手那么长的距离而已。 他们推和休息共两天了。 推和休息。 然后他们再推和休息。 他们全都精疲力尽了。 「那将会比较省工，」 他们说，「在乡村建造谷仓比较起搬动那铁箱子。」

⁵ So the men tried to push the iron box to the village. But it was so heavy that they could barely make it move. All the men worked very hard. After much effort, they had pushed the box only as far as the length of a man's hand before they needed to rest. For two days they pushed and rested. Pushed and rested. Then they pushed and rested some more. They were all exhausted. "It would take less work," they said, "to build a granary in the village than to move the iron box."

⁶  一个新谷仓在乡村建造起来。 它存放食物于两个冬季。 之后旱季来临了。 田地只生产很少的谷类。 在秋季时，森林里很少浆果实可以被找到因为熊为它自己拿了几乎大部分。 鹿和麋鹿吃所有剩下的那些。 不间断的，由于人们已经很小心和辛勤的工作，谷仓存有的粮食足以令他们持续的度过冬季。

⁶ A new granary was built in the village. It held food during two winters. And then the drought came. The fields produced little grain. In the fall, few berries were found in the forest because Bear was taking almost everything for himself. Deer and Elk were eating all that was left. Still, because the people had been careful and worked hard, the granary held enough food to last them for the winter.

⁷  然而有一晚，就在熊准备为冬天睡觉之前，它撞碎了谷仓的门。 它吃了很多食物。 熊离开之后，鹿和麋鹿也来填饱他们的肚子。

⁷ Then one night, just before Bear was ready to go to sleep for the winter, he smashed the granary door. He ate much of the food. After Bear left, Deer and Elk also filled their bellies.

⁸  就在寒冷的寒冬里，当每个人都饥饿时，那个聪明人再次想起在铁路上的那个铁箱子。 当然的，他决定了，一定有一个办法可以把它搬到乡村来的。 问题是有可能在他们每次只搬动那铁箱子一段很短的距离就停下来休息而造成吗？

⁸ During the cold, hard winter, when everyone was hungry, the wise man thought again about the iron box on the steel road. Certainly, he decided, there must be a way to move it to the village. Was it possible that the problem had been that they had stopped to rest each time after moving the iron box only a short distance?

⁹  春天的伊始，那个聪明人有了一个计划。 他带了四位年轻的男士跟他去到那个有轮的铁箱子。 每个男士带领着他的驴子。

⁹ Early the next spring, the wise man had a plan. He took four young men with him to the iron box on wheels. Each man led his donkey.

¹⁰  那些男士们首先把一条长的绳子绑在铁箱子的前面。 接着他们砍一棵高树作为撑杆再把它直立的站着。 他们把绳子从撑杆的上面抛过去。 最后，他们在绳子的尾端绑紧了一些沉重的石头。 那个聪明人知道绳子在拉着那个铁箱子虽然它还没有移动。 那个聪明人使用马具把那些驴子拖着那个铁箱子以便让它们也可以拉动。 最后，那个聪明人和那四个年轻男士尽他们的全力推。 那个铁箱子开始慢慢地移动了。

¹⁰ The men first tied a long rope to the front of the iron box. Then they cut a tall tree for a pole and stood it upright. They threw the rope over the top of the pole. Finally, they fastened heavy rocks to the end of the rope. The wise man knew that the rope was pulling on the iron box even though it was not yet moving. Next, the wise man harnessed the donkeys to the iron box so that they could also pull. Finally, the wise man and the four young men pushed as hard as they could. The iron box slowly began to move.

¹¹  但是那个聪明人的计划和之前村民们的计划不同。 他和那些年轻男士没有停下休息。 相反的，就算那些沉重的石头已到地上，那些男士们还是继续推那个铁箱子。

¹¹ But the wise man's plan was different from the villagers' plan before. He and the young men did not stop to rest. Instead, even after the heavy rocks had reached the ground, the men kept pushing the iron box.

¹²  那个有轮的铁箱子就如那个聪明人所想象的。 他们推越久，那个铁箱子就移动得越快。 当它一开始移动，他们不需要再用许多力气来使它保持滚动。

¹² The iron box on wheels did just what the wise man thought it would. The longer they pushed, the faster the iron box moved. They did not need to work as hard to keep it rolling once it began to move.

¹³  那个聪明人知道如果所有的村民共同来做，他们可以把那个铁箱子搬回乡村去。 他知道他们需要很用大的力的以便使那个铁箱子开始移动。 接着当它一开始移动时有些人可以休息而有些人可以推。 如果他们没有停下来，他们可以慢慢地把那个铁箱子搬回他们的乡村去。

¹³ The wise man knew that if all of the village men would work together, they could move the iron box to the village. He knew that they would all need to work very hard to get the iron box to start moving. Then once it was moving some could rest and others could push. If they did not stop, they could slowly move the iron box to their village.

¹⁴  接着的那年，他们的粮食将会安全不被熊吃了。

¹⁴ The next year, their food would be safe from Bear.

¹⁵  如果你刚开始使用《快速学习说英语》学习英语，你会知道学习任何语言都是很难的。 可能你已经很用功两个或三个星期而看起来好像没什么似的。 无论如何，学习讲英语就好像在铁道上推动着一辆重型汽车一样。 在开始时将会要付出很多的努力。 但如果你继续用功，你将会看到越来越多的进展。

¹⁵ If you are beginning to study English with Spoken English Learned Quickly, you know that learning any language is difficult. You may work hard for two or three weeks and it will seem like nothing is happening. However, learning to speak English is much like pushing a heavy car on a railroad track. It will take much effort at first. But if you keep working, you will see more and more progress.