Tales From The Thousand And One Nights

词汇提示

1.confronted 质问

2.banished 流放

3.cobbler 鞋匠

4.whipped 鞭打

5.bruises 伤痕

6.guilty 犯罪

7.lashes 抽打

原文

Story 17: The Barber's Tale of His Fourth Brother

There once was a barber with many brothers.

He shared his brothers' stories with the Caliph.

The Barber told the Caliph the tale of his fourth brother Al-Kuz al-aswanie.

His nickname was the long-necked Gugglet.

He was blind in one eye.

He became rich as a butcher selling meat in Baghdad.

An old man with a grey beard bought meat from the butcher with bright silver coins.

The butcher put these coins in a separate box because they were very white and different.

After five months he noticed they were just paper cut into the shape of coins.

When the old man came again to buy sheep meat, the butcher confronted him.

The old man said, "Which is better for you, to accuse me or for everyone to find out that you are selling human flesh?"

The people of the city believed the hanging meat to be a man and not a ram.

The Chief sentenced the butcher to 500 beatings with a stick and took his property.

He was banished from Baghdad.

The brother travelled to a new city and started a new life as a cobbler.

One day the King of the city rode by the brother's store on his horse.

The brother was standing outside and looked at the King with his one good eye.

The King feared bad luck from being looked at by a person with one blind eye so he had the brother beat and whipped.

He decided to leave the city and find somewhere else to live.

The people in the new city thought he was a thief, because of his scars and bruises.

They took him to the Governor who also said, "How can we listen to the words of someone with scars on his back and bruises? You must be guilty of a great crime."

The Governor sentenced him to 100 lashes.

The brother left the city, wandering, not knowing where to go.

The barber told the Caliph that when he heard of his brother's bad luck he found him and secretly took care of him, giving him food and drink.

翻译

故事十七:理发师关于他第四个哥哥的故事

从前有一个理发师，他有许多兄弟。
他把他兄弟的故事告诉了哈里发。
理发师给哈里发讲了他的四兄弟库兹·阿斯瓦尼的故事。
他的绰号是长脖子的咯咯笑。
他一只眼睛瞎了。
他在巴格达当屠夫卖肉发家致富。
一位胡子灰白的老人用亮闪闪的银币从屠夫那里买了肉。
屠夫把这些硬币放在一个单独的盒子里，因为它们很白，很不一样。
五个月后，他发现它们只是剪纸成硬币的形状。
当老人再次来买羊肉时，屠夫拦住了他。
老人说:“你告发我好，还是让大家知道你卖人肉好?”
城里的人相信挂着的肉是人而不是羊。
酋长用棍子打了屠夫五百下，并没收了他的财产。
他被驱逐出巴格达。
他哥哥去了一个新的城市，开始了做皮匠的新生活。
一天，城里的国王骑着马经过哥哥的仓库。
哥哥站在外面，用他那只完好的眼睛看着国王。
国王害怕被一个独眼的人看到会带来厄运，所以他让人鞭打他的哥哥。
他决定离开这个城市，另找地方住。
新城里的人都以为他是个小偷，因为他身上的伤疤和瘀伤。
他们把他带到总督那里，总督还说:“我们怎么能听一个背上有伤疤和瘀伤的人的话呢?你一定犯了大罪。”
总督判他鞭刑一百下。
哥哥离开了城市，四处漂泊，不知该去哪里。
理发师告诉哈里发，当他听说他的兄弟运气不好时，他找到了他哥哥，并秘密地照顾他，给他食物和饮料。