1、中英双语传统故事：孟母三迁中英双语传统故事：孟母三迁 （上）（上） Mencius was a great thinker and educator in ancient China. His father died when he was still a small child, plunging his family into dire poverty. To support the family, his mother had to work round the clock, spinning yarn and weaving cloth. spinning yarn and weavi
2、ng cloth 纺纱织布 Mencius mother was hard working and knowledgeable. She attached great importance to his education. Good schooling would turn him into a man of great learning and virtue, she believed. attach great importance to 重视 Mencius was naughty and active during his childhood, just like other chi
3、ldren. To catch birds in the trees, or fish in the rivers, with other children in the village was his greatest pleasure, while studying was the last of his concerns. To secure a better environment for his growth, his mother moved their house several times. At the beginning, the Meng s lived in the c
4、ountryside. Their house stood by a big graveyard （墓地）, and every now and then people in white sackcloth would come to attend the funerals of their relatives. Others might also come to visit the graves of their deceased( 亡 故 者 ) and offer sacrifices(祭祀). Taking great interest in all these events, the
5、 young Mencius would often join other children to play, copying their games in the courtyard. One day, Mencius and several other children were playing such a game. Mimicking(模仿) the grown-ups, they carried earth to build a “grave”. Apart from decorating it with “wreaths” and “sacrificial offerings”
6、, they knelt down and kowtowed before the grave with an air of importance. They also burned joss sticks and candles(焚香 燃烛), and wept, mimicking the adults. Mencius mother was weaving at home, when the weeping of the children startled her. Putting down her work, she ran out of the house, only to see
7、the children amusing themselves with a fake funeral. only to see结果看到(only to do 表示意想不到的结果） She frowned and pondered. “We should not live here any longer,” she concluded, believing that such a small child was being naive to copy whatever he saw. So Mencius mother decided to move their house to a town
8、. It was a busy town bustling with activity. Shops and stalls dotted the roadsides, selling all kinds of things; and the streets were crowded with people and vehicles, hurrying to and fro. All this excited Mencius, and aroused his curiosity. As time passed, Mencius began to copy what he frequently s
9、aw and heard. He and other children in the neighborhood put up a stall and disguised themselves as peddlersandcustomers.The“peddlers”toutedforbusinesswiththe “customers” bargaining. Mencius mother saw it all. “Neither is this the place for us to live,” she concluded. The Meng s moved out of the town
10、. (To be continued.) 全文翻译：全文翻译： 孟子是中国古代著名的大思想家、教育家。他很小的时候，父亲就去世了，家中 十分贫困，全靠母亲一人日夜纺纱织布，才得以维持生活。孟母是一个勤劳而有见识 的妇女，她十分重视对孟子的教育，希望孟子读书上进，将来能成为一个有学问、有 德行的人。孟子小时候跟其他孩子一样，顽皮好动，经常跟左邻右舍的小伙伴们爬树 捉鸟、下河摸鱼， 想着办法玩儿，就是不想刻苦学习。为了给孟子创造一个良好的成 长环境，孟母曾经多次搬家。最初，孟子的家住在乡下，家附近有一大片墓地。经常 会有身着白色麻衣的人们前来安葬亲人；也常常会有前来上坟扫墓的人在坟前跪拜祭 祀。年
11、幼的孟子觉得很有趣，于是常常和小伙伴们玩筑坟墓或学别人哭拜的游戏。这 天， 孟子和小伙伴们又开始玩起了这个游戏。 他们模仿大人， 用土垒起了一个“小坟墓”, 插“花圈”, 摆“祭品”, 还像模像样地跪的跪，拜的拜，焚香燃烛，假装哭号。孟母正在 家织布，突然听到屋外一片孩子们的哭号声，吓了一跳， 跑出去一看，原来他们正在 玩办丧事的游戏。孟母皱起了眉头，心想： 孩子年幼无知，见什么学什么，我们可不 能再住在这里了！于是，孟母带着孟子搬到集镇上。集镇上有好多店铺，有各式各样 的商品，人来人往，车水马龙，十分热闹。孟子觉得兴奋又好奇。日子久了，孟子耳 濡目染，也和邻居的孩子们学着摆摊儿。有的扮成小商
12、贩，叫卖吆喝；有的则扮成顾 客，讨价还价。孟母见了，又皱起了眉头 ,“看来，这个地方也不适合我的孩子居住！” 孟母又一次带着孟子搬家了。 中英双语传统故事中英双语传统故事 | | 孟母三迁（上）孟母三迁（上） They settled down by a school this time. A gray-bearded(胡 子 花 白 的 ) teacher tutored(教) a large number of students here. Every day, the teacher would lead the students to read aloud,wagging his he
13、ad from side to side at the same time.The sound of the reading was so melodious(悦 耳的) that Mencius began to follow,unknowingly. 读 后 续 写 动 作 描 写 ：读 后 续 写 动 作 描 写 ： Every day, the teacher would lead the students to read aloud, wagging his head from side to side at the same time.（ ing 分 词 作 伴 随 状 语 ） 老
14、 师 每 天 摇 头 晃 脑 地 领 着 学 生 念 书 。 His love of reading pleased his mother. After saving enough money for tuition, she sent Mencius to school. Every day,Mencius went to school with heartfelt delight.He learned reading and writing from the teacher. 读后续写心理描写： Every day, Mencius went to school with heartfel
15、t delight. 孟 子 每 天 高 高 兴 兴 进 学 堂 。 He also proved to be extremely intelligent, and was able to instantly master whatever the teacher taught him. He also became well-disciplined and polite, greatly pleasing his mother.“Well, this is where my son should live,” she said. As time went on,however, Menciu
16、s got tired of learning in the classroom. It was so boring, reading and writing all day long.Knowing that the life outside was so much more fun, he would sneak out of the school with his classmates to play in the forests not far away. One day Mencius missed class again. His behavior greatly angered
17、his mother. When he returned home, his somber-faced mother called him over and asked, “How about your school work these days?” He flushed(脸红) and lowered his head in shame,and did not utter a single word.Seeing his remorse(懊悔), his mother said nothing and brought him to her loom(织布机). Picking up a p
18、air of scissors, she began cutting her cloth in half. Mencius was stunned(惊)by his mothers act. It would mean the total destruction of the cloth. How hard his mother once worked on it! “Schooling is not a job to be accomplished in just one day,” she told him. “Just like weaving, you must keep weavin
19、g. Many a yarn makes a cloth, and only finished cloth is good for making clothes,” she continued. “Do you know why Ive cut the cloth?” she asked him. “What I did would mean the destruction of the cloth and total waste of the work done so far. The same is true with schooling. Talents grow out of cont
20、inuous learning and concentration. Youll never go anywhere in life if you give up halfway,” she told Mencius. Now Mencius knew why his mother moved their house time and again and cut the cloth before his eyes. From that moment on, he threw his heart and soul into his studies.With his intelligence an
21、d hard work, he finally grew into a great scholar respected by all and a leading figure of Confucianism. 全文翻译：全文翻译： 这回他们家隔壁就是一座学堂，学堂里有位胡子花白的老师，还有一群大大小小的学 生。 老师每天摇头晃脑地领着学生念书，琅琅的读书声就像唱歌一样好听，孟子也不知不 觉地跟着念了起来。 孟母看到儿子喜欢念书，十分高兴，就凑足学费，将孟子送去学堂。 孟子每天高高兴兴进学堂，跟着老师念书、写字。 他十分聪明，老师讲的，一学就会，人也变得守规矩、懂礼貌。这时候，孟母满意地 点着头
22、说:“这才是我儿子应该住的地方呀!” 日子久了，孟子有时候觉得整天坐在教室里很乏味，不是背书就是写字，多无聊！外 面多好玩呀！有时候他趁老师不注意，就和同伴们溜到学校外面的树林里玩耍。 一天，孟子又逃学了。孟母知道后很生气。等孟子回到家，孟母把他叫到跟前，沉着 脸问他 :“你最近书读得怎么样？” 孟子红着脸不说话，惭愧地低下了头。孟母见了，一句话没说，将孟子带到她的织布 机前，“咔嚓”一声， 剪断了将要织好的布。 孟子吃惊地看着母亲：这样一来，就等于毁了她辛苦纺织的这匹布啊。 孟母告诉他：“读书不是一天两天的事，就像我织布一样，需要一根一根地织，积少 成多，最后才能织成一匹完整的布，这样才能拿去裁制衣服。我现在毁了这匹布，前面的 努力都白费了。” “读书也是这个道理，需要日积月累，专心致志，持之以恒。像你这样半途而废，怎 么才能成才？” 孟子理解了母亲迁居断织的良苦用心，从此专心读书。 他天资聪明，加上后天的刻苦努力，最终成为了一位受人尊敬的大学问家、儒家学说 的主要代表人物。
