路上的石頭

王秀鳳

Once upon a time， a wise king dressed up and went to a local village. He placed a large stone in the middle of the main road and hid gold under the stone. Then he hid behind a huge tree and watched.

The first person down the street was a milkman with his car. He crashed into the stone and the milk spread all over the ground. “What fool put this stone here？ ” he shouted. He picked himself up and angrily went away.

After a while， a group of women came along， each balancing（平衡） a pot of water on her head. One woman tripped over（絆倒）the stone and her water pot went crashing to the ground. She picked herself up and walked away in tears. ①Neither she nor her friends thought about moving the stone out of the road.

The king watched all day as many people complained about the stone， but he found nobody was willing to move it. The king wondered， ②“Is there no one in this village who feels any responsibility（責任）to keep their neighbors from harm？”

Just then， the king saw a young girl coming along. She was the daughter of a local farmer. She had been working all day and was very tired. But when she saw the stone， she said to herself. “This stone is a danger to anyone who comes down the road after dark. I’ll move it out of the way.”

After a great deal of effort（努力）， the girl finally succeeded in moving the stone to the side of the road. Imagine her surprise when she saw the gold where the stone had been！

Just then， the king stepped out from behind the tree. “Oh sir，” the girl said， “Is this gold yours？ If not， we surely must find the owner， for he will certainly miss it.”

The king said， “My dear， the gold is mine， but now the gold is yours， ③because you are the only person who has learnt the lesson I want to teach my people.④Nothing good can come to a nation whose people only complain and expect others to solve their problems.”

[精彩譯文]

從前，一個睿智的國王盛裝打扮去了當地的一個村莊。他在路中間放了一塊大石頭，把金子藏在石頭下面， 然后他躲在一棵大樹后面看著。

路過的第一個人是開著車的送奶工。他撞到石頭上，牛奶撒了一地。“哪個傻瓜把這塊石頭放在這里？”他喊道。他站起來生氣地走了。

過了一會兒，一群婦女走了過來，她們每人頭上頂著一壺水。一個婦女被石頭絆倒了，她的水壺摔在地上。她站起來哭著走開了。她和她的朋友們都沒想過要把石頭搬走。

國王一整天看著許多人抱怨這塊石頭，卻沒有人愿意搬走它。國王想：“這個村子里沒有人覺得有責任保護他們的鄰居不受傷害嗎？”

就在這時，國王看見一個小女孩走過來。她是當地一個農民的女兒。她工作了一整天，感覺很累。但是當她看到石頭時，她自言自語：“這石頭對天黑后走路的人非常危險。我得把它移開。”

經過一番努力，女孩終于成功地把石頭移到路邊。想象一下，當她看到金子放在石頭下面時，她是多么驚訝。

就在這時，國王從樹后走了出來。“哦，先生，”女孩說，“這是你的金子嗎？如果不是，我們一定要找到它的主人，因為他一定會非常著急地找它。”

國王說：“親愛的，金子是我的，但現在它是你的了，因為你是唯一一個懂得了我要教給我的子民的道理的人。如果一個國家的人民只會抱怨，指望別人來解決他們的問題，那就沒有什么希望了。好事情是不會降臨到一個人民只會抱怨和坐等好處的國家的。”

[難點解讀]

①本句中neither...nor...為并列連詞，意為“（兩者中）既不……也不……”。

如：She likes neither butter nor cheese. 她既不喜歡黃油也不喜歡乳酪。

當neither...nor...連接兩個并列主語時，謂語動詞應遵循“就近原則”。 如：

Neither dad nor mum is at home today. 今天父母都不在家。

②本句是個含有定語從句的復合句。在從句中，不定式to keep their neighbors from harm作目的狀語，其中keep...from...是固定搭配，意為“阻止……遠離……/阻止某人做某事” 如：

We’ve got to do something to keep people from killing this forest.

我們得做點兒什么來阻止人們毀掉這片森林。

③本句是在原因狀語從句中又包含定語從句who has learnt the lesson I want to teach my people。而在定語從句中，又含有一個定語從句I want to teach my people，省略了引導詞that或which。

④本句是個含有定語從句的復合句。主句中的nothing good意為“沒有什么好的事情”， 形容詞修飾復合不定代詞通常要后置。如：

I have something interesting to tell you. 我要告訴你一些有趣的事情。

expect...to...是個固定搭配，意為“希望/期待某人做某事”。如：

I expect you to learn a lot from your students. 我希望你能從你的學生那里學到很多東西。