A Wise and illustrious Writer of Fables1 was visiting a travelling menagerie with a view to collecting literary materials. As he was passing near the Elephant, that animal said:
“How sad that so justly famous a satirist3 should mar4 his work by ridicule5 of people with long noses — who are the salt of the earth!”
The Kangaroo said:
“I do so enjoy that great man’s censure6 of the ridiculous — particularly his attacks on the Proboscidae; but, alas7! he has no reverence8 for the Marsupials, and laughs at our way of carrying our young in a pouch9.”
The Camel said:
“If he would only respect the sacred Hump, he would be faultless. As it is, I cannot permit his fables to be read in the presence of my family.”
The Ostrich10, seeing his approach, thrust her head in the straw, saying:
“If I do not conceal11 myself, he may be reminded to write something disagreeable about my lack of a crest12 or my appetite for scrap-iron; and although he is inexpressibly brilliant when he devotes himself to censure of folly13 and greed, his dulness is matchless when he transcends14 the limits of legitimate15 comment.”
“That,” said the Buzzard to his mate, “is the distinguished16 author of that glorious fable2, ‘The Ostrich and the Keg of Raw Nails.’ I regret to add, that he wrote, also, ‘The Buzzard’s Feast,’ in which a carrion17 diet is contumeliously disparaged18. A carrion diet is the foundation of sound health. If nothing else but corpses19 were eaten, death would be unknown.”
Seeing an attendant approaching, the wise and illustrious Writer of Fables passed out of the tent and mingled20 with the crowd. It was afterward21 discovered that he had crept in under the canvas without paying.
1 fables | |
n.寓言( fable的名词复数 );神话,传说 | |
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2 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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3 satirist | |
n.讽刺诗作者,讽刺家,爱挖苦别人的人 | |
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4 mar | |
vt.破坏,毁坏,弄糟 | |
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5 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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6 censure | |
v./n.责备;非难;责难 | |
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7 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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8 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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9 pouch | |
n.小袋,小包,囊状袋;vt.装...入袋中,用袋运输;vi.用袋送信件 | |
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10 ostrich | |
n.鸵鸟 | |
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11 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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12 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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13 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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14 transcends | |
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 ); 优于或胜过… | |
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15 legitimate | |
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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16 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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17 carrion | |
n.腐肉 | |
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18 disparaged | |
v.轻视( disparage的过去式和过去分词 );贬低;批评;非难 | |
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19 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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20 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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21 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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