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Narrated by Encarnacion Gonzaga, a Visayan from Jaro, Iloilo. She says that she has often heard this story; that it was very popular among the “inhabitants of yesterday;” and that even now many are fond of it.
Tiring-tirang was a barrio in the town of Tang-tang,
situated1 at the foot of a hill which was called “La Campana” because of its shape. Around the hill, about a mile from the barrio, flowed the Malogo River, in which the people of the town used to bathe. It so happened that one time an
epidemic2 broke out in the community,
killing3 off all the inhabitants except one couple. This couple had an only son named Juan Pusong Tambi-tambi.
When Juan had reached his twelfth year, his father died: consequently the boy had to go to work to earn money for the support of himself and his mother. At first Juan followed the occupation of his father, that of fisherman; but, seeing that he made little money from this, he
decided4 to become a farmer. His mother had now reached the age of seventy (!), and was often sick. Juan frequently had to neglect his farm in order to take care of her.
One day Juan went to Pit-pit to buy medicine for his mother. On his way to the town he saw a flock of crows eating up his corn. He paid no attention to the birds; but on his way back, when he saw these same birds still eating his corn, he became angry. He picked up a stone about the size of his fist, and crept into a bush near by. He had hardly hidden himself when the birds heard a
rustling5, and began to fly off. Juan jumped up, and
hurled6 his stone with such accuracy and force that one of the crows fell dead to the ground. He tied the dead crow to a bamboo pole, and planted it in the middle of his cornfield. No sooner was he out of sight than the crows flew back [327]to the field again; but when they saw their dead companion, they flew off, and never troubled Juan again.
For six months Juan had no trouble from birds. He did not know, however, that not far from his field there was a monkey (chongo) living in a large tree. This monkey used to come to his field every day and steal two or three ears of corn. One day, as Juan was walking across his field, he saw many dead cornstalks. He said to himself, “I wonder who it is that comes here and steals my corn! I am no longer troubled by birds; and yet I find here many husks.” He went home and made an image of a
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收听单词发音
1
situated
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adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 |
参考例句: |
- The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
- She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。
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2
epidemic
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n.流行病;盛行;adj.流行性的,流传极广的 |
参考例句: |
- That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
- The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。
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3
killing
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n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 |
参考例句: |
- 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。
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4
decided
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adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 |
参考例句: |
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
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5
rustling
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n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声
adj. 发沙沙声的 |
参考例句: |
- the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
- the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声
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6
hurled
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v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 |
参考例句: |
- He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
- The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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7
crooked
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adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 |
参考例句: |
- He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指,示意我们到他那儿去。
- You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。
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8
courteous
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adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 |
参考例句: |
- Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一,但她总是很谦恭有礼。
- He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善,而且彬彬有礼。
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9
scampered
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v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑,惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) |
参考例句: |
- The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
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10
cabal
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n.政治阴谋小集团 |
参考例句: |
- He had been chosen by a secret government cabal.他已被一个秘密的政府阴谋集团选中。
- The illegal aspects of the cabal's governance are glaring and ubiquitous.黑暗势力的非法统治是显而易见的并无处不在。
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11
appeased
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安抚,抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 ); 绥靖(满足另一国的要求以避免战争) |
参考例句: |
- His hunger could only be appeased by his wife. 他的欲望只有他的妻子能满足。
- They are the more readily appeased. 他们比较容易和解。
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12
frankly
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adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 |
参考例句: |
- To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
- Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
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13
twigs
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细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) |
参考例句: |
- Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
- Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
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14
scoop
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n.铲子,舀取,独家新闻;v.汲取,舀取,抢先登出 |
参考例句: |
- In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
- Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。
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15
chattering
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n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾
adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的
动词chatter的现在分词形式 |
参考例句: |
- The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
- I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。
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16
hoarse
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adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 |
参考例句: |
- He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
- He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动,嗓子都喊哑了。
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17
herd
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n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 |
参考例句: |
- She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
- He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见,只是人云亦云。
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18
adorned
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[计]被修饰的 |
参考例句: |
- The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
- And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。
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19
severely
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adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 |
参考例句: |
- He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
- He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
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20
beheld
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v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 |
参考例句: |
- His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
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21
coffin
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n.棺材,灵柩 |
参考例句: |
- When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
- The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。
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22
dominion
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n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 |
参考例句: |
- Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
- In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里,当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。
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23
compassionate
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adj.有同情心的,表示同情的 |
参考例句: |
- She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
- The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。
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