Tales From The Thousand And One Nights

词汇提示

1.gallants 勇士

2.butcher 屠夫

3.bonnet 帽子

4.ridiculous 荒谬的

5.infatuated 迷恋

原文

Story 11: The Goodwife of Cairo and Her Four Gallants

There once a beautiful woman in Cairo.

She was married to an Emir.

She had problems with a Kazi(or Judge) who was alway swatching her.

Once a month she went to the Hammam.

The road to the Hammam passed by the Kazi's courthouse.

One day, the Kazi saw her and she saw him.

He asked,"Is there a possibility that something could happen between us?" and she said yes, and invited him to come to her home after dinner.

After the Hammam she met a man named Shahbandar.

He asked the same of her, "Is union possible between us?" and she agreed.

She invited him to come to her at a specific time.

The same happened with a man who was a butcher, and again with a trader.

She promised herself to four men.

At the appointed time, each man arrived, one after the other.

She had them change into a light robe and bonnet.

The Butcher came after the Kazi.

When the Butcher knocked on the door, the Kazi feared it might be her husband.

She told him to hide in the closet.

She repeated this until there were four men in the closet.

She said loudly so they could hear, "Oh, yesterday my husband killed four men!"

Her husband the Emir came home.

He sat in a chair and they talked.

He asked her about her day.

She told him she came across four silly men all dressed in light robes and funny fluffy bonnets.

She asked her husband, "If I brought them here，would you have killed them?"

He said no, he could not kill those ridiculous men.

"We could have made them dance and be silly for us."

The wife said, "Actually, don't get upset with me but they are here!"

He promised he wouldn't be upset.

She brought out the Judge (the Kazi) and they made him dance like a monkey.

He fell to the floor, exhausted.

The husband said, "Get up and entertain us with a story!"

The Judge told the story of The Tailor and the Lady and the Captain.

Story 12: The Tailor and the Lady and the Captain.

There was Captain who had a beautiful wife.

Their home faced a tailor shop.

The tailor saw the wife and was infatuated with her.

His staring and looking offended her.

She thought to herself, "I'll play a trick on him and he'll never bother me again."

She put on her best clothes and made herself extra beautiful.

She sent one of her servant girls to the tailor, sending a message saying, "My lady wishes to have coffee with you..."

He immediately closed his shop and crossed the street.

They talked and had coffee and she had dinner prepared for them.

Her husband knocked on the door.

She told the tailor to hide in the closet.

She locked the closets door and broke a piece of the key and put it in her pocket.

The husband saw the food and questioned her.

She said openly that she was with her lover, and that he was in the closet.

She gave her husband the key but the door would not open.

The Captain was very upset and threatened to kill the lover when he found him.

Finally,the wife laughed and said, "Do you really think I would tell you if I had a lover here? That's ridiculous. I was just playing a trick on you."

The husband calmed down and believed her.

They sat and ate the meal, while the tailor was nearby in the closet.

When the husband left to go to the Hammam, she opened the closet.

She said to the tailor, "I hope you learned your lesson. If you ever look at me or talk to me again you will die. This time I'm letting you go free."

The servant girl took him across the street to his shop.

The tailor was disgraced, walking back to his shop full of embarrassment.

翻译

故事十一:开罗的女主人和她的四个侍臣

从前在开罗有一个美丽的女人。
她嫁给了一位埃米尔。
她和一个总是盯着她的酋长(或法官)有矛盾。
她每个月去一次浴室。
通往浴室的路经过酋长的法院。
一天，酋长看到了她，她也看到了他。
他问:“我们之间有没有可能发生什么?”她说有可能，并邀请他晚饭后去她家。
从澡堂出来后，她遇到了一个叫沙班达的人。
他又问她:“我们能在一起吗?”她答应了。
她邀请他在一个特定的时间到她那里去。
同样的事情也发生在一个屠夫身上，又发生在一个商人身上。
她许诺给了四个男人。
到了日期，他们一个接一个地到了。
她让他们换上浅色长袍和帽子。
屠夫在酋长之后来。
当屠夫敲门时，酋长担心可能是她的丈夫。
她让他躲在壁橱里。
她这样重复着，直到衣橱里出现了四个男人。
她大声说:“哦，昨天我丈夫杀了四个人!”
她的丈夫埃米尔回来了。
他坐在椅子上，他们交谈起来。
他问她今天过得怎么样。
她告诉他，她遇到了四个傻乎乎的男人，他们都穿着浅色的长袍，戴着有趣的毛茸茸的帽子。
她问丈夫:“如果我把他们带到这里来，你会杀了他们吗?”
他说不，他不能杀那些可笑的人。
“我们本可以让他们跳舞，为我们犯傻。”
妻子说:“其实，别生我的气，他们就在这里!”
他保证他不会生气。
她把法官(酋长)带了出来，他们让他像猴子一样跳舞。
他倒在地板上，筋疲力尽。
丈夫说:“起来，给我们讲个故事吧!”
法官讲了裁缝、夫人和船长的故事。

故事十二:裁缝、夫人和船长。

有一个船长，他有一个美丽的妻子。
他们家对面是一家裁缝店。
裁缝看到妻子，就被她迷住了。
他的凝视和眼神冒犯了她。
她心想:“我要捉弄他一下，他就再也不会来烦我了。”
她穿上最好的衣服，把自己打扮得格外漂亮。
她派了一个女仆去找裁缝，捎话说:“夫人想和您喝杯咖啡……”
他立即关了店，过了马路。
他们聊天，喝咖啡，她为他们准备了晚餐。
她丈夫敲了敲门。
她叫裁缝躲到壁橱里去。
她锁上壁橱的门，打碎了一把钥匙，放进口袋里。
丈夫看到食物，问她。
她坦率地说她和她的情人在一起，而他在壁橱里。
她把钥匙给了丈夫，但门就是打不开。
船长非常沮丧，并威胁说如果他找到这个情人，要杀了他。
最后，妻子笑着说:“你真的认为我会告诉你，如果我在这里有个情人吗?那太荒唐了。我只是跟你开个玩笑。”
丈夫平静下来，相信了她。
他们坐下来吃饭，裁缝就在旁边的壁橱里。
当丈夫离开去浴室时，她打开了壁橱。
她对裁缝说:“我希望你吸取了教训。如果你再看我一眼或者跟我说话你就死定了。这次我要放你自由。”
女仆把他带到街对面他的商店。
裁缝觉得很丢脸，尴尬地走回自己的店铺。

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英文名著分集阅读《一千零一夜》 part7（story11-12）