提 要

Bill was a 40-year-old cloth vendor. He sold various types of clothes in neighbor towns and villages. His donkey helped him to carry the cloth bags.

One day, He took his 15-year-old son along with him to a nearby town. The donkey carried two bags and all the clothes were sold out. Both father and son were happy. After having a huge business and lump sum profit, Bill was happily returning home with his son and his donkey.

They were exhausted and all three of them walked extremely slow on their way home.

Two men saw the extremely tired three, and they spoke to themselves. "See they are all very tired and sleepy. Why doesn't anyone of them sit on that donkey? They are obviously fools."

The father and son heard the conversation about them and son asked his father to sit on the donkey.

The father agreed and sat on the donkey. After a few minutes, an old man saw Bill on top of the donkey and yelled at him, "Hey look at your wearied boy, why don't you let him sit on the donkey!"

Bill made his son sit on the donkey and they continued their journey for another while. A stranger shouted at Bill's son, "Hey are you too young to walk? You made your old daddy walk behind you? Get on the ground now!"

Bill and his son were bewildered and frustrated. Both of them decided to sit on the donkey. The donkey, therefore, was unable to walk after carrying such a burden on its back.

Another man saw this from a distance and rushed toward them. He shouted at the father and his son, "Are you mad? How the donkey can carry you both? Don't you know how to walk? How dare you to hurt this poor animal?"

Bill and the boy were stunned and speechless for quite a while. Because the only option left, was to carry the donkey on their back.

解說

比爾是一名四十歲的服飾商。他在鄰近城鎮販售各種款式類型的衣服。他的驢子幫助他搬運衣服布袋。

有一天，他帶著十五歲的兒子和他一起去附近的一個小鎮，驢子背去的兩個袋子裡的所有衣服都賣光了。父子倆都很高興地獲得這一筆巨額利潤。比爾帶著兒子和驢興高采烈地回家。

他們筋疲力盡，一家三口在回家的路上都走得很慢。

兩個路人看到了非常疲倦的父子，他們自言自語：「 看到他倆都這麼疲勞困倦。為什麼沒有人坐在那隻驢上休息？他們顯然是傻瓜。」

父子倆聽到了這段關於他們的談話，兒子於是請父親坐在驢背上。

父親同意兒子的提議，坐到了驢背上。過了幾分鐘後，一個老人看見騎著驢的比爾，對他大吼：「嘿，看看你這個一臉倦容的孩子，為什麼不是他坐在驢上呢！」

比爾於是讓兒子坐在驢上，他們又繼續了一段旅程。一個陌生人向比爾的兒子大喊：「嘿，難道你年紀還太小所以不能走路？你居然讓你老爸跟著你走？快點下來！」

比爾和兒子感到困惑而沮喪，他倆決定都騎到驢身上。也因為如此，背上扛著如此重擔的驢，一步也走不動了。

另一個男人遠遠地看到了這一幕，急忙衝到他們面前，向這對父子大喊：「你們瘋了嗎？驢子怎麼能扛得動兩個人？你們不會走路嗎？居然敢虐待這可憐的動物？」

比爾跟兒子目瞪口呆了好一陣子，因為剩下的唯一選擇，就是是將驢扛在他們倆背上了。

對 話

Choosing Gifts

Alice: Let's stop and look at the souvenirs at the gift shop.

Becky: What kind of souvenirs are you looking for?

Alice: When visiting a foreign country, I usually like to bring back a special snow globe or T-shirt for my family.

Becky: What types of things do they like?

Alice: My brothers like sports, and my sisters like artful buildings.

Becky: I think these things are kind of overpriced.

Alice: Some gift shops charge more than others, so it pays to shop around.

Becky: That's right, why don't we try checking prices a little farther away from the tourist section?

選禮物

愛麗絲：我們在禮品店停一下，看看裡面的

紀念品。

貝琪：妳想找什麼樣的紀念品？

愛麗絲：到國外旅行時，我通常會帶件特別

的雪球或圓領衫給家人。

貝琪：他們喜歡什麼類型的東西？

愛麗絲：我的弟弟們喜歡運動，而姐妹們喜

歡精巧的建築物。

貝琪：我認為這些東西都賣太貴了。

愛麗絲：有些禮品店收費比其他店高，所以

貨比三家是值得的 。

貝琪：沒錯，我們何不到離觀光區遠一點的

地方看看？