喬治與惡龍

from British Council

翻譯：Crazier

喬治與惡龍

from British Council

翻譯：Crazier

George and the Dragon

很久很久以前，巨龍突然出現(xiàn)，王國(guó)非常危險(xiǎn)，公主命懸一線。這時(shí)，勇敢的騎士趕來，殺死了巨龍，解救了公主。相信大家對(duì)這類故事都不會(huì)感到陌生吧！那你們有沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)，在西方文化中，龍是邪惡的形象，它無(wú)惡不作，和我們中國(guó)文化中龍的形象很不一樣呢？

Once upon a time, there was a brave1)knight called George. George travelled by horse across many lands.

One day, he came to a small village and met a man who lived in a cave. The man told the knight about the awful things about the village. A terrible dragon had come to live in the lake and attacked the village every day.

The villagers didn’t know what to do. At first, they gave the dragon all their food, but the dragon just took the food and still attacked the village.

So then the villagers gave the dragon all their animals. The dragon took all the animals, but continued to attack the villagers.

So then they gave the dragon all their money. The dragon took all their money, but still was not satisfed.

The king sent his army to2)capture the dragon, but the dragon was too strong and the knights of the army were too scared and they ran away.

With nothing left to give, the king could only think of one thing to help3)protect his people. He sent his only daughter, the princess, to the lake.

When George heard this, he rode as fast as he could to the lake. Just then the dragon jumped out from the lake and was going to eat the princess.

George fought very bravely. He won the fight and killed the dragon. George and the princess returned to the village and everyone was very pleased.

Today, the story of George’s bravery is remembered and George is known as the4)patron saint of many countries.

從前，有位勇敢的騎士名叫喬治。他騎馬穿行于各個(gè)城邦間。

一天，他來到一個(gè)小村莊，遇到了一個(gè)住在山洞里的人。這個(gè)人向騎士講述了村莊悲慘的境遇：有一條惡龍住進(jìn)村子附近的湖里，每天都會(huì)襲擊他們的村莊。

村民們走投無(wú)路。起初，村民們把所有的食物都給了惡龍，但惡龍拿走了食物后仍繼續(xù)襲擊村莊。

后來村民們只得把他們所有的牲畜交給惡龍。惡龍拿走了牲畜，但還是在不停地攻擊他們。

于是村民們又把所有的錢都給了惡龍。惡龍拿走了錢，卻依然不滿足。

國(guó)王曾派出軍隊(duì)去捉拿惡龍，但這條惡龍實(shí)在是太兇猛，軍隊(duì)的騎士們都被嚇得落荒而逃。

最后實(shí)在是沒有什么東西可以獻(xiàn)給惡龍了，為了保護(hù)他的子民，國(guó)王只得把他唯一的公主送去湖里。

喬治聽說這一消息后，立即騎馬趕到了湖邊。這時(shí)惡龍正好竄出水面，準(zhǔn)備把公主給吃了。

喬治英勇地同惡龍展開了殊死搏斗，最后成功擊殺了惡龍。喬治和公主平安歸來，大家都?xì)g欣鼓舞。

至今，喬治的英勇事跡仍廣為流傳。許多國(guó)家都將他奉為守護(hù)神。

1) knight [na?t] n. 騎士

2) capture ['k?pt??] v. 俘獲，捕獲

3) protect [pr?'tekt] v. 保護(hù)

4) patron saint ['pe?tr?n se?nt] n. 守護(hù)神