Once upon a time lived a peasant and his wife, and the parson of the village had a fancy for the wife, and had wished for a long while to spend a whole day happily with her. The peasant woman, too, was quite willing. One day, therefore, he said to the woman, “Listen, my dear friend, I have now thought of a way by which we can for once spend a whole day happily together. I’ll tell you what; on Wednesday, you must take to your bed, and tell your husband you are ill, and if you only complain and act being ill properly, and go on doing so until Sunday when I have to preach¹, I will then say in my sermon² that whosoever has at home a sick child, a sick husband, a sick wife, a sick father, a sick mother, a sick brother or whosoever else it may be, and makes a pilgrimage to the G?ckerli hill in Italy, where you can get a peck³ of laurel-leaves for a kreuzer, the sick child, the sick husband, the sick wife, the sick father, or sick mother, the sick sister, or whosoever else it may be, will be restored to health immediately.”

“I will manage it,” said the woman promptly⁴. Now therefore on the Wednesday, the peasant woman took to her bed, and complained and lamented⁵ as agreed on, and her husband did everything for her that he could think of, but nothing did her any good, and when Sunday came the woman said, “I feel as ill as if I were going to die at once, but there is one thing I should like to do before my end I should like to hear the parson’s sermon that he is going to preach to-day.” On that the peasant said, “Ah, my child, do not do it —-thou mightest make thyself worse if thou wert to get up. Look, I will go to the sermon, and will attend to it very carefully, and will tell thee everything the parson says.”

“Well,” said the woman, “go, then, and pay great attention, and repeat to me all that thou hearest.” So the peasant went to the sermon, and the parson began to preach and said, if any one had at home a sick child, a sick husband, a sick wife, a sick father a sick mother, a sick sister, brother or any one else, and would make a pilgimage to the G?ckerli hill in Italy, where a peck of laurel-leaves costs a kreuzer, the sick child, sick husband, sick wife, sick father, sick mother, sick sister, brother, or whosoever else it might be, would be restored to health instantly, and whosoever wished to undertake the journey was to go to him after the service was over, and he would give him the sack for the laurel-leaves and the kreuzer.

点击收听单词发音  

1 preach
vi.传道，宣扬；vt. 讲道，说教
参考例句：
Don't preach me a sermon,please.请不要对我讲大道理。 They continue to preach their gospel of self-reliance.他们继续倡导自立的信条。

2 sermon
n.布道，讲道，说教，冗长的讲话
参考例句：
The minister preaches a sermon now and then.牧师不时地讲道。 Don't preach me a sermon,please.请不要对我讲大道理。

3 peck
v.啄，啄食；n.啄痕，啄食，（口）轻吻；配克，（口）大量
参考例句：
The cock gave me a peck.那只公鸡啄了我一下。 She gave him a light peck of farewell.她给了他一个匆匆的吻道别。

4 promptly
adv.及时地，敏捷地
参考例句：
He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。 She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

5 lamented
adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫 We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 rejoiced
（使）欣喜[高兴，快乐]( rejoice的过去式和过去分词 )； 非常高兴； 深感欣喜
参考例句：
He rejoiced that all the work was after all finished in time. 他很高兴，全部的工作最终还是按时完成了。 The news of victory rejoiced the heart of the whole nation. 胜利的喜悦使全国人民欢欣鼓舞。

7 hurrah
int.好哇，万岁，乌拉
参考例句：
We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。 The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

8 preached
v.布道( preach的过去式和过去分词 )；劝诫；说教；宣传
参考例句：
She preached to the congregation about forgiveness. 她向会众宣讲宽恕的道理。 The friar preached against stealing and had a goose in his sleeve. 口是心非。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gossip
n.流言蜚语，爱说长道短的人；vi.传播流言
参考例句：
She broadcast the gossip all over the town.她将这个流言传遍全镇。 They spread a lot of tacky gossip about his love life.关于他的爱情生活，他们散播了许多不堪的闲言闲语。

10 eternity
n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷
参考例句：
The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。 Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

11 fiddle
n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动
参考例句：
She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。 Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

12 inconvenient
adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的
参考例句：
You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。 Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？