Three Last Wishes

by Vpaulose 翻译：Crazier

Three Last Wishes

三个遗愿

by Vpaulose 翻译：Crazier

尽管位列欧洲历史上最伟大的四大军事统帅之首，统领着当时世界上领土面积最大的国家，亚历山大大帝（Alexander the Great）却同样不敌生老病死的自然规律，因病英年早逝。亚历山大曾师从古希腊著名学者亚里士多德（Aristotle），不仅拥有雄才大略，对人生的本质也看得清楚透彻。让我们从亚历山大临死前的这个小故事里学点真理吧！

After1)conqueringmany kingdoms,Alexander the Great wanted to return home. On the way back to his country,he fell ill. He knew that he wouldn’t have enough time to reach his homeland. At this point, Alexander realized something.He called his2)generals.

He said to them, “l have three wishes.Please carry them out after I die. My first desire is that my3)coffinmust be carried by my doctors alone. Secondly,the path leading to the4)graveyardmust be paved with all my jewels. My last wish is that my two empty hands must be kept5)danglingout of the cof fi n.”

Alexander felt6)exhaustedafter saying this. The generals didn’t understand those strange wishes, but no one dared to question. One of the generals kissed Alexander’s hand and said, “We7)assure you that your wishes will be realized,but please tell us why did you make such wishes?”

Alexander took a deep breath and said, “I would like the world to know three lessons. With my fi rst wish,I want people to know that no doctor can really8)cureanyone from death.My second wish is to tell people that I spent all my life earning riches, but I cannot take anything with me. And with my last wish, I want people to know that I came into this world with empty hands, and will also go out of this world with empty hands.”

参考译文

在征服了许多王国后，亚历山大大帝准备荣归故里，但他在归途中病倒了。他知道他没有足够的时间走完回家的路了。就在这时，他意识到了一些事情，于是他把将军们传召到身边。

亚历山大对他们说：“我有三个愿望，在我死后请帮我实现它们。我的第一个愿望是，我的棺材只能由我的几位医师负责抬送。第二个愿望，在通往我墓地的路上必须铺满我所有的金银珠宝。我的最后一个愿望是，我空空如也的双手要垂放在棺材外面。”

词组加油站

carry out 实行，实现……

be paved with 以……铺成，遍布，铺满

take a deep breath 深呼吸

说完这些话后，亚历山大感到筋疲力尽。将军们都无法理解这三个奇怪的愿望，但是没人敢问为什么。一位将军吻了吻亚历山大的手，然后说：“我们保证完成您的遗愿，但您能告诉我们为什么要这样做吗？”

亚历山大深吸了一口气说：“我想让世人明白三个道理。我的第一个遗愿是想让人们知道，没有任何医生可以真正让人起死回生。我的第二个遗愿是想告诉人们，我花费了一生去追求财富，但是我死后却什么都带不走。而我的最后一个遗愿是想让人们知道，我空手来到了这个世界，离开的时候也同样是两手空空。”

1) conquer ['kɒŋkə] v. 征服

2) general ['dʒenərəl] n. 上将，将军

3) cof fi n ['kɒfΙn] n. 棺材

4) graveyard ['ɡreΙvjαːd] n. 墓地

5) dangle ['dæŋgl] v. 悬垂着

6) exhausted [Ιɡ'zɔːstΙd] adj. 筋疲力尽的

7) assure [ə'ʃʊə] v. 向……保证

8) cure [kjʊə] v. 治愈