Fame，Love，Riches，Pleasure and Death

江南大学 陈晓宇

精彩导读

生命中的最大恩赐是什么？是名声、爱情、财富、快乐，还是死亡？马克·吐温把自己对生命、价值、选择的思考依托一个生动的寓言故事表述出来。没有过多铺叙，没有复杂的矛盾冲突，却使每一个故事的走向都出乎意料。故事中的主人公体验了许多昙花一现的美好，他的结局又怎样呢？让我们跟着作者的笔尖一起拨开物质生活的面纱，发掘生命的真谛吧。

全文词数417，难度适中，建议用时7分钟。

In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket,and said， “Here are gifts.Take one,leave the others．Choose wisely!For only one of them is valuable．” The gifts were five∶Fame,Love,Riches,Pleasure and Death．The youth,said eagerly,“There is no need to consider．” And he chose Pleasure．

He went out into the world andsought outthe pleasures．But each was short-lived and disappointing,vain and empty．In the end he said,“These years I have wasted．If I could but choose again， I would choose wisely．”

The fairy appeared,and said,“Four of the gifts remain．Choose once more．Only one of them isprecious．” The man considered long,then chose Love,and did notmarkthe tears that rose in the fairy’s eyes．After many years the man sat in an empty home,saying,“One by one they have gone away and left me．”

“Choose again,”said the fairy．“The years you already have wisdom．There gifts remain．Only one of them has any worth—remember it,and choose carefully．”

The manreflectedlong,and then chose Fame;and the fairy,sighing,went her way．Yearswent byand she came again．And she knew his thought∶“My name filled the world,and its praise was on every tongue,and it seemed well with me for a little while．Then came envy;then criticism;then hate;then persecution(迫害)．And last of all came pity,which is the funeral of Fame．”

“Choose yet again．” It was the fairy’s voice．“Two gifts remain．And do not despair．In the beginning there was but one that was precious,and it is still here．”

“Wealth—which is power! How blind I was! ”said the man．“Now,at last,life will be worth the living．I will feed my hungry heart with their envy;I will have all luxuries(奢侈品),all joys．I will buy,buy,buy!I have lost much time;I was ignorant then,and could but take for best what seemed so．”

Three short years went by,and a day came when the man sat shivering(发抖)in a mean room;and he was clothed in rags,mumbling（咕哝），“Curse all the world’s gifts!Pleasure,Love,Fame and Riches∶they are but temporary disguises(伪装)for lasting realities Pain,Grief,Shame and Poverty．

“Oh,miserable me!What is left for me?”

“What not even you have deserved∶the insult（侮辱） of Old Age．” The fairy left．

Reading check

Ⅰ.Read the text carefully and fill in each blank with only one word.

A good fairy offered five gifts for the man to 1．______（choice），including Fame, Love，Riches,Pleasure and Death．He chose Pleasure 2．____,but felt it short-lived and 3．_____(disappoint）．Then Love was chosen after long 4．___（consider）．However,he felt lost in an empty home．The third time,the Fame he chose only brought pity,which is the 5．___of Fame．In his opinion,wealth was 6．___（power）as he could buy anything he liked．The sad reality was that he got nothing at his old age,7．___（miss）the last gift—Death．

Ⅱ.Critical Reading

Why Death is the precious gift according to the text?

Language study

I.Words in the text

Ⅱ.Vocabulary

1．precious adj. 珍贵的

2．sigh v.叹息

3．funeral n.葬礼

4．curse v.咒骂；诅咒

5．temporary adj.短暂的；暂时的

6．grief n.（尤指某人之死引起的）悲痛；悲伤；悲哀

7．poverty n.贫困

8．miserable adj.痛苦的；极不愉快的

9．seek out寻求；找到

10．go by 时光流逝

11．feed one’s heart with 用……使心得到满足

12．in rags 衣衫褴褛

Ⅲ.Difficult sentences

1.完全倒装

在生命之初，一位仙女带着篮子走来，说道∶“这里有几份礼物。”

In the morning of life______________with her basket,and said,“Here are gifts．”

随后来的就是嫉妒，然后是批判，然后是憎恶，然后是迫害。

Then came envy;then criticism;then hate;then persecution．

【点石成金】这两句都是完全倒装。第1句为In the morning of life介词短语置于句首，此时若句子主语为名词，且动词为不及物动词或be动词，句子应使用完全倒装；第2句为then,here,there,away,down,off等副词置于句首，可使用完全倒装，此时主语不可以是代词。

湖四周有几个美丽的小村庄。

Around the lake are several beautiful small villages．2.when引导定语从句

三年过去了，到了这么一天，这个人蜷缩在一个破旧的房间里，颤抖个不停。

Three short years went by,and a day came__________the man sat shivering in a mean room．

【点石成金】本句中的先行词为表示时间的名词day，因为定语从句较长，所以放在came后面。另外，从句中shivering是现在分词作伴随状语。

步入理想大学的这一天终于到来了。

The day finally came when I walked into my ideal university．