新概念早讀英語初中版 第38期:約翰遜和湯的味道

Johnson and the Smell of Soup

約翰遜和湯的味道

One day,a poor man who had only one piece of breadto eat

一天，一個窮人手里拿著一塊蛋糕，

was walking past a restaurant.

經(jīng)過飯店。

There was a large pot soup on the table.

飯店的桌子上有一大鍋湯，

The poor man held his bread over the soup,

于是他拿起蛋糕懸在湯的上面，

so the steam from the soup went into the bread,and gave it a good smell.

讓湯的蒸汽進入面包，從而得到一個香饃。

Then he ate the bread.

然后他吃得津津有味。

The restaurant owner was very angry at this,

飯店老板看到這很憤怒要這個窮人為湯的蒸汽付錢，

and he asked the man for money,in exchange for the steam from the soup.

要這個窮人為湯的蒸汽付錢。

The poor man had no money,

因為這個窮人身無分，

so the restaurant owner took him to Johnson,who was a judge at that time.

所以老板將帶到法官約翰遜面前。

Johnson thought about the case for a little while.

約翰遜想了一會兒，

Then he took some money from his pocket.

然后他從口袋里拿出一些錢。

He held the coins next to the restaurant owner's ear,and shook them,

他把銅板放在飯店老板的耳旁，然后搖動它們，

so that they made a jingling noise."What was that?"asked the restaurant owner.

使它們發(fā)出丁丁當當?shù)穆曇簟?quot;那是什么?"飯店老板問。

"That was payment for you,"answered Johnson.

那是付給你的錢。"約翰遜回答道。

"What do you mean? That was just the sound of coins!"

"你是什么意思?那只不過是銅板的聲音!"

protested the restaurant owner.

飯店老板抗議道。

"The sound of the coins is payment for the smell of the soup,"

"銅板的聲音用來支付湯的味道，"

answered Johnson."Now go back to your restaurant."

約翰遜回答道，"現(xiàn)在你可以回飯店了。"