王秀鳳

Long long ago， there lived a couple who had seven sons. But the couple wanted a daughter very much， and finally， they had a girl. She was very pretty and her parents loved her very much. One day the father needed water for the child， so he sent the seven brothers to a well in the forest to get it. Once there， though， the boys began to fight and the water jug （壺） fell into the well. The boys looked into the well and thought of their father. They were afraid to go home.

Hours passed. “Where are those boys？” shouted the angry father. “They are probably playing a game and have forgotten about the water. I wish they were all turned into ravens （烏鴉）！”And when he looked up， he saw seven black birds flying away. The father was shocked. “What have I done？” he thought. But it was too late. He could not take back his words.

Later， the girl grew up and discovered she had brothers. The story of their bad luck influenced her deeply， and she decided to find them. For years， she searched and did not stop. She made up her mind to find them. Finally， she found their home. To enter， she needed a special key made from a bone， which she did not have. The girl thought for a moment， and then took a knife and cut off one of her fingers. With it， she opened the front door and went inside. On a table， there were seven plates and seven cups. She ate and drank a little from each of them. In the last cup， she accidentally dropped a ring that her parents had given her.

Later that day， the ravens returned for their meal. The girl hid behind the door and watched. When the seventh raven drank from his cup， something hit his mouth. The raven recognized it at once — it was his parents’ ring. “I wish our sister were here，” he said， “and then we could be free.” At that moment， their sister ran to them， and suddenly the ravens were human again. The brothers kissed their sister， and all eight of them went home together happily.

精彩譯文

仔細(xì)想想該說什么

很久以前，有一對夫妻，他們有七個兒子。但是他們非常想要一個女兒。最后，他們生了一個女兒。女兒很漂亮，父母非常愛她。一天，父親需要打水給孩子們喝，于是他讓七個兄弟到森林里的一口井里去取水。然而，一到那里，男孩們就開始打架，水壺掉進(jìn)了井里。孩子們望著井，想到了他們的父親。他們害怕不敢回家。

幾個小時過去了?！昂⒆觽?nèi)ツ牧耍俊睉嵟母赣H喊道?！八麄兛赡茉谕嬗螒?，忘記了打水。我希望他們都變成烏鴉！”這時，他抬頭一看，看見七只黑鳥飛走了。父親很震驚?！拔易隽耸裁?？”他想著，但為時已晚。他無法收回他的話。

后來，女孩長大了，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有兄弟。兄弟們不幸的故事深深地影響了女孩，她決定找到他們。多年來，女孩一直在尋找，沒有停止。女孩下定決心要找到他們。最后，她找到了他們的家。要進(jìn)去，女孩需要一把用骨頭做的特殊鑰匙，但她沒有。女孩想了一會兒，然后拿起一把刀砍掉了她的一個手指做成一把鑰匙。用這把鑰匙，女孩打開前門走了進(jìn)去。在一張桌子上，有七個盤子和七個杯子。女孩吃了一點(diǎn)，喝了一點(diǎn)。在最后一個杯子里，女孩不小心把父母給她的戒指掉到了里面。

那天晚些時候，烏鴉們回來吃飯。女孩躲在門后看著。當(dāng)?shù)谄咧粸貘f從他的杯子里喝水時，有東西碰到了他的嘴。烏鴉立刻認(rèn)出了那是他父母的戒指。“我希望我們的妹妹在這里，”他說，“然后我們就可以自由了?！本驮谀且豢?，他們的妹妹跑了出來，突然烏鴉又變成了人。兄弟們親了親妹妹，八個人一起快樂地回家了。

難點(diǎn)解析

1. They were afraid to go home.

afraid是形容詞，意為“擔(dān)心的;害怕的”。如：

Robert was too afraid to move away from the bench. 羅伯特太害怕了不敢離開板凳。

常見搭配： be afraid of… 和be afraid to結(jié)構(gòu)。

◆be afraid of sb. or sth. （doing sth.）“害怕某人、某物或某事”，只是陳述事實(shí)，不帶感情色彩。如：That girl is afraid of dogs. 那位女孩害怕狗。

◆be afraid to do sth. 側(cè)重表示“因?yàn)閾?dān)心后果嚴(yán)重而不敢或不愿做某事”，也表示“由于缺少信心和勇氣不敢去做”。如：

She is afraid to go out alone at night.

夜晚她不敢獨(dú)自出門。

2. I wish our sister were here.

wish和hope辨析：

（1） hope與wish都可以跟動詞不定式形式（hope/wish to do sth）。

（2） wish還有搭配：wish sb. to do sth.，而hope不行。如：

I wish my friends to be happy every day.

希望我的朋友們開心每一天。

（3） hope與wish都可以跟從句。hope之后的賓語從句謂語動詞要使用陳述語氣的一般將來時或一般現(xiàn)在時。hope所表達(dá)的希望是能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)的。

wish之后的賓語從句謂語動詞則只能使用虛擬語氣，要用一般過去時或過去完成時，而所表達(dá)的愿望是無法實(shí)現(xiàn)的。如：

I wish I could go to the moon for vacation one day.我希望有朝一日能到月球上度假。

（4） wish可用在wish+間賓+直賓結(jié)構(gòu)中，而hope卻不能。如：

They wished him good luck.

他們祝他好運(yùn)氣。