一个聪明人的旅程:   一个给英语学习者的寓言故事

(The Journey of a Wise Man:  A Fable for English Learners)

¹  很久以前，有一个聪明人住在山区国家。 那个国家很美丽。 但是却很难找到充足的食物。

    ¹ A long time ago, there was a wise man living in a mountain country. The country was beautiful. But it was always difficult to find enough food.

² 高国的人民决定一起到底国去。 当雪开始融化时，他们整装好他们所有的装备在他们的运货车。 怀着期望加上伤感，那个聪明人和他的邻居们就离开了他们高国的家园。

    ² The people of the High Country decided that they would travel together to the Low Country. When the snow began to melt, they packed all they owned into their wagons. With anticipation mixed with sadness, the wise man and his neighbors left their High Country homes.

 ³ 那个聪明人在他们开始行程后发现到一些奇怪的事情即将发生。 当他们一天一天的行走，他感觉到他的右手臂开始僵硬。 他们行走离高国越远，他的手就变得越无力。 有三件事情使他感到迷惑不解。 第一，每当他们停留在某个村子时，他常常感到他的手最无力。 第二，他发现到当从高山来的行者晚上围聚在火堆互相谈话时，他的手臂就会变回强而有力。

    ³ The wise man noticed something strange taking place soon after they began their journey. As they traveled day after day, his right arm began to feel stiff. The further they traveled from the High Country, the weaker it became. Three things puzzled him. First, his arm always felt the weakest whenever they stopped in a village. Secondly, he noticed that when the travelers from the High Country gathered around a fire at night to talk among themselves, his arm became strong again.

⁴ 他的第三个发现最令他感到迷惑。 当他把他的手臂放在背后时，就不会感到僵硬和没有用处。

    ⁴ His third discovery puzzled him the most. When he put his arm behind his back, it no longer felt stiff and useless.

⁵ 一天，那个聪明人感到很震惊。 当他的运货车在绕着高山路的转弯处时，他往下看那些跟着他后面的邻居的运货车。 他发现到很多其他的人也是在他们的背后把持着一只手臂。 当他更靠近地看时，他看到一些较年长的人甚至将他们的手臂用绳子绑起来。

    ⁵ One day the wise man was startled. As his wagon rounded a bend in a high mountain road, he looked down on his neighbors' wagons ahead of him. He realized that many others were also holding an arm behind their back. As he looked more closely, he saw that some older people had even tied their arm in place with a rope.

⁶ 为什么？他感到惊讶为何会这样。

    ⁶ Why, he wondered, was this happening?

⁷ 最后他们抵达低国了。 当时天气温暖。 许多的田地将产生谷类和森林将供应木材给他们建屋子。 生活看来似乎有了保障。 是有保障，除了他们微弱无力的手臂。 有传言说是低国的空气造成这种奇怪的缺陷。 有些人更说，如果他们要住在低国就必须学习以这种缺陷过生活。

    ⁷ At last they reached the Low Country. The weather was warm. The fields would produce grain and the forests would supply lumber for their houses. Life looked promising. Promising, that is, except for their weak arms. It was rumored that the Low Country's air caused this strange weakness. Some of the people even said they must learn to live with this weakness if they wanted to stay in the Low Country.

⁸  成人和小孩们正式工作了。 他们把地清除，种农作物和准备木材以建立他们的新家园。 一个高国的裁缝师缝制了一种新式外套可以把那无用的手支撑着。 他也放一块皮革在外套上以让肩膀可以负荷重担。 就算有了新外套，无论如何，工作却进行得很慢，因为每个人只用一只手做工。

    ⁸ The adults and children set to work. They cleared the land, planted crops, and prepared lumber to build their new homes. A High Country tailor sewed a new kind of coat that would hold the useless arm in place. He also put leather on the coat so the shoulder could push heavy loads. Even with the new coat, however, work was slow because everyone used only one arm.

⁹ 再次的，那个聪明人发现到一件奇怪的事。 首先，他发现到虽然会造成他们感到痛，但是那些小孩很快的就再次就用回他们微弱无力的手。 接着，那个聪明人发现到每当高国的人在他们的第一个建筑物里相聚在一起时，如果他们把所有的门窗都关上，连年老的男女的手臂都会变回有力量。 「确实的」，很多人说，「这证明了低国的空气是有问题的。」 大部分人赞同唯一的解决方法就是把屋子建得牢固以便可以把低国的全部空气保留在外面。 但是那个聪明人最感到迷惑的是当小孩们在户外接触低国的空气游玩和工作时，他们看起来变得比较强壮。

    ⁹ Again, the wise man noticed a strange thing. First, he noticed that—even though it caused them pain—the children soon began using their weak arm again. Secondly, the wise man noticed that whenever the High Country people met together in their first buildings, if they shut all the doors and windows, strength returned to the arms of even the oldest men and women. "Surely," most said, "this proves that the Low Country air is at fault." Most agreed that the only solution was to build houses so strong that all Low Country air could be kept outside. But the wise man was puzzled most because the children seemed to become stronger while playing and working outside in the Low Country air.

¹⁰ 那个聪明的人看着他高国的邻居们尝试以一只手建造他们的屋子。 他为那些人们的幸福感到担忧。 那新式外套帮助他们以一只手工作得更快。 但是冬季就快来临，如果每个人还是继续以一只手放在背后来工作的话，不管是屋子或是农作物都将赶不及准备好。

    ¹⁰ The wise man watched his High Country neighbors trying to build their houses while using only one arm. He became fearful for his people's welfare. The new coat helped them work faster with one arm. But winter was coming and neither the houses nor the crops would be ready if everyone continued to work with one arm behind their back.

¹¹ 那个聪明的人从小孩身上得到了启示。 他知道虽然会痛，但是以他微弱无力的手努力工作是唯一能让它再次强壮有力的办法。 由于冬季即将来临，为了使用所有的时间来尝试使他的手臂变得强壮有力，他知道他不能停止建造他的屋子。 然而他也知道他是无法在冬季之前完成建造他的屋子除非他使用双手。 那个聪明的人决定如果要在冬季之前完成他的屋子，他一定要每天利用一些时间来增强他的手臂以便他可以更快地完成建造他的屋子。

    ¹¹ The wise man learned a lesson from the children. He realized that—even though it was painful—using his weak arm for hard work was the only way to make it strong again. Because winter was coming, he knew that he could not stop working on his house in order to spend all his time trying to make his arm strong. But he also knew that he could not finish his house before winter unless he used both arms. The wise man decided that if he was to finish his house before winter, he must spend some time each day strengthening his arm so that he could finish his house more quickly.

¹² 那个聪明的人每天都利用时间来增强他的手臂以及建造他的屋子。 他在冬季前把屋子建造好。

    ¹² The wise man spent time each day both strengthening his arm and working on his house. He finished his house before winter.

¹³ 有些高国的人民在那个冬季死亡了因为在他们的农作物被收割和屋子建造完成之前就下雪了。 他们过去每天都工作得很慢因为他们害怕长时间建造他们的屋子会停止增强他们微弱无力的手臂。

    ¹³ Some High Country people perished that winter because the snow came before their crops were harvested and their houses finished. They had worked slowly every day because they were afraid to stop working on their houses long enough to strengthen their weak arm.

¹⁴ 如果你住在美国而不能把英语说得好，你就像生活在把一只手臂绑在你的背后一样。 你必须工作以支撑你的家庭生活。 但是如果你不每天利用一些时间来学习英语，你接下来的人生将有所限制。 快速学习说英语的编写是要让你可以在家学习的同时还能工作。 如果你能定期在六个月至一年的时间内每天学习英语，你的英语将会进步很多。 你将能够赚取更高的薪水，更有效地在你社区里生活，以及当你的孩子们在学校学习英语时你能和他们交谈。

    ¹⁴ If you live in the United States and cannot speak English well, you are living as though one arm was tied behind your back. You must work to support your family. But if you do not spend time each day learning English, you will be limited for the rest of your life. Spoken English Learned Quickly was written so that you can study at home and still hold a job. If you will regularly study English each day for six months to a year, your English will greatly improve. You will be more able to earn higher wages, live more effectively in your community, and talk with your children as they learn English in school.