有声书 | 格列佛游记 03

英语有声书

走近有声世界
共听英文原著

 

 今日书目 

书名： 

Gulliver's.Travel

《格列佛游记》

作者：

Swift 

往期回听 | 格列佛游记

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Gulliver's Travel

Part Three: The War of the Eggs

I now asked the Emperor for permission to visit the capital city of Lilliput, which is called Mildendo. The Emperor allowed me to go, but he told me to be careful when I was there. He did not want me to frighten the people. I was very happy to see the city, and particularly① to see the Emperor's palace②. I could not enter the palace, of course, because J was too big. I could look in through the windows, however, and I was delighted③ by what I saw.

I stayed in Mildendo about two weeks. One of the Emperor's ministers came to see me one day. He looked very worried, and he said he needed my help. Then he told me that there was going to be a war with the country of Blefuscu. He explained the reasons for the war. 

They seemed very strange reasons to me, because they concerned④ the correct way to eat eggs. In the past, the people of Lilliput and the people of Blefuscu had agreed about this. They had both believed that eggs should be broken at the bigger end.

One day, however, the Emperor's grandfather had an accident while he was opening an egg. He cut his finger. He ordered all Lilliputians to open eggs from the smaller end in the future. The people did not like this order, and many of them refused to obey the Emperor. There was a civil war in Lilliput, and many people were killed. The Emperor's minister explained to me that Blefuscu supported the rebels in the civil war—many rebels went to live in Blefuscu.

The situation was now very serious because Lilliput and Blefuscu were at war. Thousands of people had been killed in the war of the eggs. The government minister told me that Blefuscu was planning to attack Lilliput. The Emperor wanted my help. I told the minister that I was ready to help the Emperor.

The Blefuscu navy was planning to invade Lilliput by sea. The distance between the two countries is about three hundred metres by sea. All the Blefuscu ships were ready, and they were sure they would be victorious⑤ in the war. I told the Emperor of Lilliput that I had a plan of my own to help him defeat⑥ the enemy. I waited until it was dark. Then I took some rope with me, and walked into the sea that separated the two kingdoms⑦. The water was not deep.

While I was walking in the sea, I put on my glasses to protect my eyes from the arrows of the enemy. I tied a piece of rope to each of the Blefuscu ships. The Blefuscu sailors were terrified when they sawme. They jumped into the sea, and swam away. I took the pieces of rope in my hands, and pulled the Blefuscu navy towards Lilliput.

When the people of Lilliput saw the Blefuscu navy, they thought the invasion had started. They were very frightened now!

Then they saw that I was pulling the ships, and they were happy. It was a great victory for Lilliput, and the Emperor said I was a hero.

The Emperor of Lilliput asked me to go on with the war against Blefuscu, I did not want to go on with the war, because I did not want lots of people to be killed, The Emperor listened to what I said, but he was very angry with me. Now he did not like me. 

Some government ministers from Blefuscu came to Lilliput. I spoke to them, and they invited me to visit their country, I thanked them for their invitation, and I decided to ask the Emperor for permission to go there.

'The Blefuscu ministers have asked me to visit their country,' I told him, 'May I go there?'

The Emperor looked at me very coldly before he replied. Then he said, 'Of course. You're free to go.'

I was surprised at the Emperor's coldness towards me, because I thought we were good friends. Soon I had an opportunity⑧ to help him once again. One night I was woken by a great noise in the city. Many people were shouting and calling for me. Several of the government ministers came to me, and they told me there was a fire in the palace, I ran to the palace, and I saw flames everywhere, People were trying to extinguish the flames with buckets of water - but the fire was a big one. It seemed that the whole palace would be destroyed.

Then I had an idea, I had drunk a large quantity of wine that evening, I urinated⑨ over the palace, and extinguished⑩ the flames. This act saved the palace from destruction. I was pleased at what I had done.

Then I remembered one of the most important laws of Lilliput. Urinating in the palace grounds was a crime punished by death! I was now worried, but the Emperor sent me a message, He said that he would order the court to pardon me for my crime, I learnt later that the Empress hated me for what I had done - she was very angry, and she decided never to return to the palace.

旺

财

旺

福

Words

① particularly：尤其。

② palace：王宫。

③ delighted：高兴。

④ concerned：涉及。

⑤ victorious：胜利。

⑥ defeat：打败。

⑦ kingdoms：王国。

⑧ opportunity：机会

⑨ urinated: 撒尿。

⑩ extinguished: 扑灭。

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