Tales From The Thousand And One Nights

词汇提示

1.wiles 诡计

2.inscription 题词

3.pockmarked 长麻子的

4.stingy 小气的

5.veiled 戴面纱的

6.furious 狂怒的

7.predicament 困境

8.gypsies 吉普赛人

9.blacksmith 铁匠

原文

Story 9: Women's Wiles

There once was a young and handsome, son of a merchant in Baghdad.

He had a shop in the city where he bought, and sold goods.

One day, a charming young woman passed by his shop.

She looked up an saw the inscription written above the shop door and it made her upset 'Men's wits exceed women's wiles.'

She was determined to do something about it.

The next day, she went back to the store dressed in her most expensive clothes.

She went into the store pretending to shop and while talking with the merchant she said, "Look at the shape of my body, how could anyone say that I have a hunchback." She leaned forward so that he could see part of her breasts.

Then she said, "And how can they say my arms are pockmarked, and that I'm one-eyed."

She showed him her smooth white forearms, and let him see her face.

The merchant said that of course, she was none of these things and asked why she had these ideas.

The young lady told the merchant that her father said all of these horrible things.

She said her father was the Chief Kazi of the city and turned away all her suitors, he telling them that she was deformed and she would never marry.

She said, "My father is stingy and doesn't want to spend money. He says, I am like the slave girls and shouldn't wear elegant clothing and that I will be single forever."

The merchant was so charmed by her beauty and suffering that he begged for her to stop crying and vowed to marry her himself.

The woman warned him that her father would try to discourage the match.

The merchant assured her that he wouldn't believe the Kazi's lies.

He went to the Kazi's palace to ask to marry the Kazi's daughter.

The Kazi said that they were not a good match.

Insisting that he didn't care, the contracts were signed and a grand wedding was made.

The daughter was heavily veiled and was brought to the merchant's house.

He discovered to his horror that she was indeed hunchbacked,covered in pockmarks, and had only one eye, just as the Kazi said.

He realized the beautiful young woman who came to his store had tricked him.

The next morning, she dressed herself with even more expensive clothes that showed her perfect shape.

The furious merchant to know why she played such a tricks on him, saying,"What did I do to harm you? I don't understand."

The girl pointed to his sign and said that the sign over his door made her angry and displeased.

She said to him, "If you change your sign to say the opposite I will get you out of your predicament."

He agreed to change the sign.

She told him to hire all the gypsies, dancers and beggars in the city to come and sing the next morning, exactly at the time when he will be having coffee with his new father-in-law.

The next day, the crowd came to the merchant and the Kazi.

The Kazi was shocked and demanded to know what was going on.

The merchant said what the young woman had told him to say, "These are my relatives,I am the son of their uncle. They have come to wish me congratulations on my new marriage."

The Kazi was sad that he had married his daughter into such a low-class family and divorced from the wanted his daughter merchant.

After the divorce was processed, the merchant ordered a new sign for his shop.

The sign said, "Women's wiles exceed men's wits."

In the end, he persuaded a young lady, who was a blacksmith's daughter, to marry him and they lived happily through the rest of their days.

翻译

故事九:女人的诡计

从前，巴格达有一个年轻英俊的商人的儿子。
他在城里开了一家商店，在那里买卖货物。
一天，一位迷人的年轻女子经过他的商店。
她抬头一看，看到店门上写着这样一句话，她很不高兴:“男人的智慧胜过女人的诡计。”
她决心要做点什么。
第二天，她穿着她最昂贵的衣服回到了商店。
她假装购物走进商店，一边和店主说话一边说:“看看我的身材，怎么会有人说我是驼背呢?”她身体前倾，好让他看到她的部分乳房。
然后她说:“他们怎么能说我的胳膊上有麻子，说我是独眼呢?”
她给他看她光滑洁白的前臂，让他看她的脸。
商人说，她当然不是这样人，并问她为什么有这些想法。
这位年轻的女士告诉商人，她的父亲说了所有这些可怕的话。
她说她的父亲是这个城市的酋长，拒绝了所有的追求者，他告诉他们她是畸形的，她永远不会结婚。
她说:“我爸爸很小气，不想花钱。他说，我就像女奴一样，不应该穿高雅的衣服，我将永远单身。”
商人被她的美丽和痛苦所吸引，他恳求她停止哭泣，并发誓要娶她为妻。
那女人警告他说，她父亲会设法阻止这门亲事。
商人向她保证，他不会相信酋长的谎言。
他来到酋长的宫殿，要求娶酋长的女儿为妻。
酋长说他们不般配。
他坚持说他不在乎，于是签了契约，举行了盛大的婚礼。
女儿蒙着厚厚的面纱，被带到商人家里。
他惊恐地发现她确实是驼背，满脸麻子，只有一只眼睛，正如酋长所说的那样。
他意识到来店里的那个年轻漂亮的女人骗了他。
第二天早上，她穿上了更加昂贵的衣服，展现了她完美的身材。
愤怒的商人想知道她为什么要捉弄他，说:“我做了什么伤害你的事?我不明白。”
女孩指着他的牌子说，他门上的牌子让她又生气又不高兴。
她对他说:“如果你把你的牌子换成相反的，我会帮你摆脱困境。”
他同意更改标志。
她让他雇城里所有的吉普赛人、舞者和乞丐来唱歌，就在第二天早上他和他的新岳父喝咖啡的时候。
第二天，人们来到商人和酋长面前。
酋长很震惊，要求知道发生了什么事。
商人照着年轻女子的话说:“他们是我的亲戚，我是他们叔叔的儿子。他们是来祝贺我新婚的。”
酋长很伤心，他把自己的女儿嫁到这样一个低下的家庭，和想迎娶女儿的商人离婚了。
离婚手续办完后，商人为他的商店订了一个新招牌。
牌子上写着:“女人的诡计胜过男人的智慧。”
最后，他说服了一位年轻的女士，她是一个铁匠的女儿，嫁给了他，他们幸福地度过了余生。

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英文名著分集阅读《一千零一夜》 part5（story9）