时间:2019-02-01 作者:英语课 分类:英美文化


英语课

   The RiddleOnce upon a time...


  A King's son once had a great desire to travel through the world, so he started off, taking no one with him but one trusty servant. One day he came to a great forest, and as evening drew on he could find no shelter, and could not think where to spend the night. All of a sudden he saw a girl going towards a little house, and as he drew nearer he remarked that she was both young and pretty. He spoke 2 to her, and said, 'Dear child, could I and my servant spend the night in this house?'
  'Oh yes,' said the girl in a sad tone, 'you can if you like, but I should not advise you to do so. Better not go in.'
  'Why not?' asked the King's son.
  The girl sighed and answered, 'My stepmother deals in black arts, and she is not very friendly to strangers.'
  The Prince guessed easily that he had fallen on a witch's house, but as by this time it was quite dark and he could go no further, and as moreover he was not at all afraid, he stepped in.
  An old woman sat in an armchair near the fire, and as the strangers entered she turned her red eyes on them. 'Good evening,' she muttered, and pretending to be quite friendly. 'Won't you sit down?'
  She blew up the fire on which she was cooking something in a little pot, and her daughter secretly warned the travellers to be very careful not to eat or drink anything, as the old woman's brews 3 were apt to be dangerous.
  They went to bed, and slept soundly till morning. When they were ready to start and the King's son had already mounted his horse the old woman said: 'Wait a minute, I must give you a stirrup cup.' Whilst she went to fetch it the King's son rode off, and the servant who had waited to tighten 4 his saddle-girths was alone when the witch returned.
  'Take that to your master,' she said; but as she spoke the glass cracked and the poison spurted 5 over the horse, and it was so powerful that the poor creature sank down dead. The servant ran after his master and told him what had happened, and then, not wishing to lose the saddle as well as the horse, he went back to fetch it. When he got to the spot he saw that a raven 6 had perched on the carcase and was pecking at it. 'Who knows whether we shall get anything better to eat to-day!' said the servant, and he shot the raven and carried it off.
  Then they rode on all day through the forest without coming to the end. At nightfall they reached an inn, which they entered, and the servant gave the landlord the raven to dress for their supper. Now, as it happened, this inn was a regular resort of a band of murderers, and the old witch too was in the habit of frequenting it.
  As soon as it was dark twelve murderers arrived, with the full intention of killing 7 and robbing the strangers. Before they set to work, however, they sat down to table, and the landlord and the old witch joined them, and they all ate some brothin which the flesh of the raven had been stewed 9 down. They had hardly taken a couple of spoonfuls when they all fell down dead, for the poison had passed from the horse to the raven and so into the broth 8. So there was no one left belonging to the house but the landlord's daughter, who was a good, well-meaning girl, and had taken no part in all the evil doings.
  She opened all the doors, and showed the strangers the treasures the robbers had gathered together; but the Prince bade her keep them all for herself, as he wanted none of them, and so he rode further with his servant.
  After travelling about for some length of time they reached a town where lived a lovely but most arrogant 10 Princess. She had given out that anyone who asked her a riddle 1 which she found herself unable to guess should be her husband, but should she guess it he must forfeit 11 his head. She claimed three days in which to think over the riddles 12, but she was so very clever that she invariably guessed them in a much shorter time. Nine suitors had already lost their lives when the King's son arrived, and, dazzled by her beauty, determined 13 to risk his life in hopes of winning her.
  So he came before her and propounded 14 his riddle. 'What is this?' he asked. 'One slew 15 none and yet killed twelve.'
  She could not think what it was! She thought, and thought, and looked through all her books of riddles and puzzles, but she found nothing to help her, and could not guess; in fact, she was at her wits' end. As she could think of no way to guess the riddle, she ordered her maid to steal at night into the Prince's bedroom and to listen, for she thought that he might perhaps talk aloud in his dreams and so betray the secret. But the clever servant had taken his master's place, and when the maid came he tore off the cloak she had wrapped herself in and hunted her off with a whip.
  On the second night the Princess sent her lady-in-waiting, hoping that she might succeed better, but the servant took away her mantle 16 and chased her away also.
  On the third night the King's son thought he really might feel safe, so he went to bed. But in the middle of the night the Princess came herself, all huddled 17 up in a misty 18 grey mantle, and sat down near him. When she thought he was fast asleep, she spoke to him, hoping he would answer in the midst of his dreams, as many people do; but he was wide awake all the time, and heard and understood everything very well.
  Then she asked: 'One slew none--what is that?' and he answered: 'A raven which fed on the carcase of a poisoned horse.'
  She went on: 'And yet killed twelve--what is that?' 'Those are twelve murderers who ate the raven and died of it.'
  As soon as she knew the riddle she tried to slip away, but he held her mantle so tightly that she was obliged to leave it behind.
  Next morning the Princess announced that she had guessed the riddle, and sent for the twelvejudges, before whom she declared it. But the young man begged to be heard, too, and said: 'She came by night to question me, otherwise she never could have guessed it.'
  The judges said: 'Bring us some proof.' So the servant brought out the three cloaks, and when the judges saw the grey one, which the Princess was in the habit of wearing, they said: 'Let it be embroidered 19 with gold and silver; it shall be your wedding mantle.

n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜
  • The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
  • Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
n.(尤指某地酿造的)啤酒( brew的名词复数 );酿造物的种类;(茶)一次的冲泡量;(不同思想、环境、事件的)交融v.调制( brew的第三人称单数 );酝酿;沏(茶);煮(咖啡)
  • He brews beer at home. 他在家里酿造啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They produce the country's best brews of beer. 他们生产该国的佳酿啤酒。 来自辞典例句
v.(使)变紧;(使)绷紧
  • Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
  • Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策,以避免通货膨胀。
(液体,火焰等)喷出,(使)涌出( spurt的过去式和过去分词 ); (短暂地)加速前进,冲刺
  • Water spurted out of the hole. 水从小孔中喷出来。
  • Their guns spurted fire. 他们的枪喷射出火焰。
n.渡鸟,乌鸦;adj.乌亮的
  • We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
  • Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等)
  • Every cook praises his own broth.厨子总是称赞自己做的汤。
  • Just a bit of a mouse's dropping will spoil a whole saucepan of broth.一粒老鼠屎败坏一锅汤。
adj.焦虑不安的,烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 );煨;思考;担忧
  • When all birds are shot, the bow will be set aside;when all hares are killed, the hounds will be stewed and eaten -- kick out sb. after his services are no longer needed. 鸟尽弓藏,兔死狗烹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • \"How can we cook in a pan that's stewed your stinking stockings? “染臭袜子的锅,还能煮鸡子吃!还要它?” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
adj.傲慢的,自大的
  • You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
  • People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物
  • If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎,就会失掉大家对你的好感。
  • Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。
n.谜(语)( riddle的名词复数 );猜不透的难题,难解之谜
  • Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看,口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
  • But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句
adj.坚定的;有决心的
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
v.提出(问题、计划等)供考虑[讨论],提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 )
  • the theory of natural selection, first propounded by Charles Darwin 查尔斯∙达尔文首先提出的物竞天择理论
  • Indeed it was first propounded by the ubiquitous Thomas Young. 实际上,它是由尽人皆知的杨氏首先提出来的。 来自辞典例句
v.(使)旋转;n.大量,许多
  • He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧,抵住了。
  • They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红
  • The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
  • The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式)
  • We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
  • We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。
adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的
  • He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿,看看是不是还有雾霭。
  • The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。
adj.绣花的
  • She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
  • She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。
标签: riddle
学英语单词
AACRAO
acceptance of materials report
airdrying
angle beam ultrasonic examination
arthrodia
automatic water quality monitor
balancing layer
Ban Huai Pong
Banbān, 'Irq
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buyout repo
cantilever hood
carbohydrate recognition domain
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ceramic fiber felt
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correctly
counter-clockwise rotation
crystal fiber laser
cuneiform bones
dielectric membrane
doctuss
drynursed
duckish
effective distortion
epic film
fashion element
flat sliding
fund warrant
gauge glass cutter
geologic-topographic map
get an egg on the head
go flatting
gollania varians (mitt) broth
grand pas de basque
herringboning
high pressure arc discharge
histabutyzine
horizontal filter
hot isostatic bonding
hypotyposes
Iatrobdella
induction field
infective stricture of ureter
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isentropic procedure
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kinetic energy in rotation
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lea management
magnetic instrumentation tape
magnetic original
Max Perutz
methoxylvalue
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MVCF
nasus cartilagineus
negative ignore gate
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not care for
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paccha
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perforated wall
perore
Philodemus
pooling
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restricted publication
ride the bench
robbinss
root/shoot ratio
rozinski
runner-up finish
Santa Irene
secant conic chart
second law of motions
Shetland sheep dog
shunt coil
slave pedestal
soil water belt
spindle drive
super-duty fire clay
superheater external covering
ticketsnow
trival
tunkhannock
Ucar
weak topology
weighted squared error loss function
wet crepe
whip-fish
white clover
Zamboanguita
zdpr