頭戴百角的奧拉夫
The Viking with a Hundred Horns
自己的過去不論有多輝煌,都不用急著說與整個(gè)世界聽。如果你真的有本事,即使穿著“布衣”,也能光芒萬丈!
Olav was the most terrible of all the1)Vikings. With just his bare hands, he could defeat a bull in seconds. To let people know who he was, he adorned his2)helmet with a hundred3)horns, and on his4)cloak were a thousand5)precious stones, one stone for each enemy he had defeated.
In his city, everyone would make way for him. But one day, a young man bumped into Olav. Olav was angry. He criticized the young man and challenged him to a fight to the death. The6)skinny young man had no choice but to accept on one condition: “I can’t see very well, and I don’t know you, so I’ll need you to keep your helmet and cloak on during the fight, so I can make you out.”
Olav laughed and accepted the stupid condition. The boy was7)agile, and he8)evaded each time Olav attacked. Though people all expected the young man to fall down dead, that never happened. And after ten minutes, Olav fell to the ground, as if dead.
People thought the young man must be a9)wizard, but he was a medical student. He knew Olav would fall under the weight of his helmet and cloak. When Olav came to, he accepted his failure.
From that day, he returned to simple clothing. Now people10)recognized him not for his horns or stones, but for his strength.
奧拉夫是北歐海盜,在所有海盜中,他最為兇殘。他能在幾秒鐘內(nèi)赤手空拳擊倒一頭公牛。為了標(biāo)榜自己的顯赫地位,他在自己的頭盔上裝了一百只角,還在披風(fēng)上鑲了上千顆寶石。一顆寶石就代表著他打敗的一個(gè)敵人。
在當(dāng)?shù)?,人人都得為奧拉夫讓路。但有一天,一個(gè)年輕人撞到了奧拉夫。奧拉夫勃然大怒,對(duì)他破口大罵,并向他下了挑戰(zhàn)書,誓要與他一決死戰(zhàn)。這個(gè)年輕人一副弱不禁風(fēng)的樣子,但他沒有退路,只能接受他的挑戰(zhàn),并提出了一個(gè)條件:“我眼睛不好,看不清你,而且我也不認(rèn)識(shí)你。所以在決斗時(shí),你得戴上你的頭盔和斗篷,這樣我才能認(rèn)出你。”
奧拉夫聽后一聲冷笑,但還是接受了這個(gè)愚蠢的條件。年輕人相當(dāng)敏捷,每當(dāng)奧拉夫進(jìn)行攻擊時(shí)他都躲開了。即使所有人都以為年輕人會(huì)被打死,但這一幕卻遲遲沒有發(fā)生。十分鐘后,奧拉夫倒在了地上,死了一般。
人們認(rèn)為這個(gè)年輕人肯定是個(gè)巫師,然而他是一名醫(yī)學(xué)生。他知道奧拉夫會(huì)被他頭盔和斗篷的重量壓倒。奧拉夫蘇醒后,接受了他失敗的事實(shí)。
自那天起,他又穿回了簡單的服飾。如今人們不再以角或?qū)毷瘉肀嬲J(rèn)奧拉夫了,人們只看他的實(shí)力。
詞組加油站
with one’s bare hands 徒手,赤手空拳地adorn…with… 用……裝飾……
make way for 給……讓路
bump into 撞到……上
on one condition 有一個(gè)條件
make…out 看清楚,辨認(rèn)出
come to 蘇醒,恢復(fù)知覺
1) Viking ['va?k??] n. 維京人,8至11世紀(jì)的北歐海盜
2) helmet ['helm?t] n. 頭盔
3) horn [h??n] n. 角,號(hào)角
4) cloak [kl??k] n. 披風(fēng),斗篷
5) precious ['pre??s] adj. 寶貴的,珍貴的
6) skinny ['sk?n?] adj. 皮包骨的
7) agile ['?d?a?l] adj. 靈活的,機(jī)敏的
8) evade [?'ve?d] v. 躲開,避開
9) wizard ['w?z?d] n. 男巫
10) recognize ['rek?gna?z] v. 認(rèn)出,識(shí)別