Think Carefully About What To Say

王秀凤

Long long ago， there lived a couple who had seven sons. But the couple wanted a daughter very much， and finally， they had a girl. She was very pretty and her parents loved her very much. One day the father needed water for the child， so he sent the seven brothers to a well in the forest to get it. Once there， though， the boys began to fight and the water jug （壶） fell into the well. The boys looked into the well and thought of their father. They were afraid to go home.

Hours passed. “Where are those boys？” shouted the angry father. “They are probably playing a game and have forgotten about the water. I wish they were all turned into ravens （乌鸦）！”And when he looked up， he saw seven black birds flying away. The father was shocked. “What have I done？” he thought. But it was too late. He could not take back his words.

Later， the girl grew up and discovered she had brothers. The story of their bad luck influenced her deeply， and she decided to find them. For years， she searched and did not stop. She made up her mind to find them. Finally， she found their home. To enter， she needed a special key made from a bone， which she did not have. The girl thought for a moment， and then took a knife and cut off one of her fingers. With it， she opened the front door and went inside. On a table， there were seven plates and seven cups. She ate and drank a little from each of them. In the last cup， she accidentally dropped a ring that her parents had given her.

Later that day， the ravens returned for their meal. The girl hid behind the door and watched. When the seventh raven drank from his cup， something hit his mouth. The raven recognized it at once — it was his parents’ ring. “I wish our sister were here，” he said， “and then we could be free.” At that moment， their sister ran to them， and suddenly the ravens were human again. The brothers kissed their sister， and all eight of them went home together happily.

精彩译文

仔细想想该说什么

很久以前，有一对夫妻，他们有七个儿子。但是他们非常想要一个女儿。最后，他们生了一个女儿。女儿很漂亮，父母非常爱她。一天，父亲需要打水给孩子们喝，于是他让七个兄弟到森林里的一口井里去取水。然而，一到那里，男孩们就开始打架，水壶掉进了井里。孩子们望着井，想到了他们的父亲。他们害怕不敢回家。

几个小时过去了。“孩子们去哪了？”愤怒的父亲喊道。“他们可能在玩游戏，忘记了打水。我希望他们都变成乌鸦！”这时，他抬头一看，看见七只黑鸟飞走了。父亲很震惊。“我做了什么？”他想着，但为时已晚。他无法收回他的话。

后來，女孩长大了，发现自己有兄弟。兄弟们不幸的故事深深地影响了女孩，她决定找到他们。多年来，女孩一直在寻找，没有停止。女孩下定决心要找到他们。最后，她找到了他们的家。要进去，女孩需要一把用骨头做的特殊钥匙，但她没有。女孩想了一会儿，然后拿起一把刀砍掉了她的一个手指做成一把钥匙。用这把钥匙，女孩打开前门走了进去。在一张桌子上，有七个盘子和七个杯子。女孩吃了一点，喝了一点。在最后一个杯子里，女孩不小心把父母给她的戒指掉到了里面。

那天晚些时候，乌鸦们回来吃饭。女孩躲在门后看着。当第七只乌鸦从他的杯子里喝水时，有东西碰到了他的嘴。乌鸦立刻认出了那是他父母的戒指。“我希望我们的妹妹在这里，”他说，“然后我们就可以自由了。”就在那一刻，他们的妹妹跑了出来，突然乌鸦又变成了人。兄弟们亲了亲妹妹，八个人一起快乐地回家了。

难点解析

1. They were afraid to go home.

afraid是形容词，意为“担心的;害怕的”。如：

Robert was too afraid to move away from the bench. 罗伯特太害怕了不敢离开板凳。

常见搭配： be afraid of… 和be afraid to结构。

◆be afraid of sb. or sth. （doing sth.）“害怕某人、某物或某事”，只是陈述事实，不带感情色彩。如：That girl is afraid of dogs. 那位女孩害怕狗。

◆be afraid to do sth. 侧重表示“因为担心后果严重而不敢或不愿做某事”，也表示“由于缺少信心和勇气不敢去做”。如：

She is afraid to go out alone at night.

夜晚她不敢独自出门。

2. I wish our sister were here.

wish和hope辨析：

（1） hope與wish都可以跟动词不定式形式（hope/wish to do sth）。

（2） wish还有搭配：wish sb. to do sth.，而hope不行。如：

I wish my friends to be happy every day.

希望我的朋友们开心每一天。

（3） hope与wish都可以跟从句。hope之后的宾语从句谓语动词要使用陈述语气的一般将来时或一般现在时。hope所表达的希望是能够实现的。

wish之后的宾语从句谓语动词则只能使用虚拟语气，要用一般过去时或过去完成时，而所表达的愿望是无法实现的。如：

I wish I could go to the moon for vacation one day.我希望有朝一日能到月球上度假。

（4） wish可用在wish+间宾+直宾结构中，而hope却不能。如：

They wished him good luck.

他们祝他好运气。