The Stories ofthe“Bag” “袋子”的故事

何苗

There are many expressions about the word “bag” or using the word “bag” in English. So today， lets start with the word “bag”.

英語中有很多表達與“袋子”一詞相關(guān)或者使用了“袋子”這個詞。今天我們就從“袋子”這個詞說起吧。

The bag is one of the most simple and useful things in the world. It is a container （容器） made of paper or cloth. It has given the world many strange expressions that are not very simple. Some of them are used in the United States today.

袋子是世界上最簡單而實用的物品之一，它是由紙或布料制成的容器。但是隨之而來的也有很多奇異的、并不簡單的表達。其中某些表達現(xiàn)在在美國還在使用。

One is “bagman”. It describes a go-between （媒介者；中間人）. The go-between sees to it that money is passed —often illegally—from one person to another.

其中之一是“口袋人”。 這個短語形容的是一種中間人，這種中間人確保資金得以轉(zhuǎn)手——從一個人到另一個人手上——通常是非法的。

Another widely-used （被廣泛使用的） expression is “to let the cat out of the bag”. It is used when someone tells something that was supposed to be secret. No one can explain how the cat got into the bag. But there is an old story about it.

另一個廣泛使用的表達是“讓貓從袋子里出來”。當(dāng)某些人公布了一些本應(yīng)是秘密的事情時，就可以用這個短語表達。沒有人知道貓是如何進入袋子的，但是關(guān)于這一點有個古老的故事。

Long ago tradesmen （商人） sold things in large cloth bags. One day a woman asked for a pig. The tradesman held up a cloth bag with something moving inside it. He said it was a live pig. The woman asked to see it. When the dishonest tradesman opened the bag， out jumped a cat—not a pig. The tradesmans secret was out. He was trying to trick her. And now everybody knew it.

很久以前，商人們做生意的時候把貨物放在大的布袋子里。有一天一個女人想買一頭豬，商人抓起一只布袋子，里面有什么東西在動的樣子。他說那是頭活豬。但是女人要求看看。當(dāng)那不誠實的商人打開口袋時，蹦出來的是一只貓，而不是一頭豬。于是那個商人的秘密曝光了。他想欺騙那個女人，但是現(xiàn)在所有人都知道是怎么回事了。

The phrase “to be left holding the bag” is as widely used as the expression “to let the cat out of the bag”.

習(xí)語“被留下來背口袋”和 “讓貓從袋子里出來”的表達皆被大家廣泛使用。

This expression means making the person left and responsible for an action， often a crime （犯罪） or misdeed （違法行為）. That person is the one who is punished. The others involve in （涉及） the act escape.

這個習(xí)語表示讓某人留下來為某個行為負責(zé)，通常為某種罪行或違法行為。這個被留下來的人接受了懲罰，而其他涉及此行為的人可以逃脫懲罰。

Where the expression came from is not clear. Some say that General （將軍） George Washington used it during the American Revolutionary War （美國獨立戰(zhàn)爭）.

這個習(xí)語的起源并不明了。有些人說喬治·華盛頓將軍在美國獨立戰(zhàn)爭中用過它。

One of Washingtons officers， Royall Taylor， used the expression in a play about Daniel Shays rebellion （叛亂）. The play was in seventeen eighty-seven， after Taylor helped to put down （平定） Shays rebellion.

華盛頓的一名官員，諾伊爾·泰勒在一部描述丹尼爾·謝伊的叛變的戲劇中用過這個習(xí)語。這部戲劇誕生于1787年，在泰勒幫助鎮(zhèn)壓謝伊的叛變之后。

Shays led a thousand war veterans （老兵） in an attack on a federal （聯(lián)邦的） building in Springfield， Massachusetts. Guns were in the building. Some of the protesters （抗議者；示威者） were farmers who had no money to buy seed. Some had been put in prison for not paying their debts （債務(wù)）. They were men who fought one war against the king of England， and were now prepared to fight against their own government. Most of the rebels （叛亂者） were captured. Shays and some of the officers escaped.

謝伊在馬薩諸塞州的斯普林菲爾德率領(lǐng)千名老兵襲擊了一幢聯(lián)邦建筑。槍支都在這幢建筑中。有一些起義者是買不起種子的農(nóng)民。有一些是沒錢還債而鋃鐺入獄的人。他們是一群曾參加過反抗英國國王的戰(zhàn)爭，現(xiàn)在卻準備反抗自己的政府的人。大部分叛亂者都被抓獲，只有謝伊和一些軍官逃脫了。

In his play， Taylor describes Shays as disappearing， giving others “the bag to hold”.

泰勒在他的戲劇中描述說謝伊自己消失了，而讓他人“背口袋”。

A bag is useful in many ways. Just be careful not to let the cat out of the bag， or someone may leave you holding the bag.

“bag”這個詞的用法很多。你一定小心不要“讓貓從袋子里跑出來”，否則別人可能會“讓你背口袋”。endprint