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英语故事篇一
The Path through the Gravey
Ivan was a timid little man---so timid that the villages called him "pigeon" or mocked him with the title "Ivan the terrible."
Every night ivan stopped in at the tavern1 which was one the edge of the village graveyard2. Ivan never crossed the graveyard to get to his lonely shack3 on the other side. That path would save many minutes, but he had never taken it---not even in the full light of noon.
Late one winter's night, when bitter wind and snow beat against the tavern, customers took up the familiar mockery. Ivan's mother was scared by a canary when she carried him in her womb. "Ivan the terrible---Ivan the timid one."
Ivan's weak protest only encouraged them, and they jeered4 cruelly when the cossack captain flung his horrid5 challenge at their victim.
"You are a pigeon, Ivan. you'll walk around the graveyard in this cold---but you dare not cross it." Ivan murmured, "the graveyard is nothing to cross, captain. It is nothing but earth, like all the other earth."
The captain cried, "a challenge, then! Cross the graveyard tonight, Ivan, and I'll give you five rubles---five gold rubles!"
Perhaps it was the vodka. Perhaps it was the temptation of the five gold rubles. No one knew why. Ivan, moistening his lips, said suddenly: "Yes, captain, I'll cross the graveyard." The tavern echoed with their disbelief. The captain winked6 to the men and unbuckled his sword.
"Here, Ivan. When you get to the center of the graveyard, in front of the biggest tomb, stick the sword into the ground. In the morning we shall go there. If the sword is in the ground---five rubles to you!" Ivan took the sword. The men drank a toast: "to ivan the terrible!" They roared laughing.
The wind howled around ivan as he closed the door of the tavern behind him. The cold was knife-sharp. He buttoned his long coat and crossed the dirt road. he could hear the captain's voice, louder than the rest, yelling after him, "five rubles, pigeon! If you live!"
Ivan pushed the graveyard gate open. He walked fast. "Earth, just earth… just like any other earth." Nut the darkness was a massive dread7.
"Five gold rubles…" The wind was cruel and the sword was like ice in his hands. Ivan shivered under the long, thick coat and broke into a limping run.
He stopped the large tomb. He must have sobbed---that was the sound that was drowned in the wind. And he kneeled, cold and terrified, and drove the sword through the crust into the hard ground. With all his strength, he pushed it down to the hilt. It was done. The graveyard… the challenge… five gold rubles.
Ivan started to rise from his knees. But he could not move. Something gripped him in an unyielding hold. Ivan tugged8 and lurched and pulled---gasping in his panic, shaken by a horrible fear. He cried out in terror, then made senseless, gurgling noises.
They found Ivan, next morning on the ground in front of the tomb that was in the center of the graveyard. He was frozen to death. The look on his face was not that of a frozen man, but of a man killed by some nameless horror.
And the captain's sword was in the ground where Ivan had pounded it---through the dragging folds of his long coat.
英语故事篇二
九牛一毛
Li Ling was a great general during the time of emperor Han Wu-di. He was a very good fighter, and he won every battle.
One time, however, Li Ling's troops were so hopelessly outnumbered by the Huns that although they fought bravely, the whole army was soon taken captive.
Li Ling shamefully1 surrendered for the moment, planning to wait for an opportunity to strike back.
But when news of the surrender reached the capital, the emperor's jealous ministers began to degrade Li Ling in front of the emperor.
What he heard made the emperor so angry that he had Li Ling's wife and mother put to death.
Ze-ma Chian, who had always respected Li Ling, believed that he wouldn't surrender without a reason, and urged the emperor not to believe rumors2.
This time, the emperor grew angry at Sz-ma Chian, and locking him up, punished him severely3.
Sz-ma Chian then wrote a long letter to a friend, saying, "I am now in the middle of writing a history book. If I die, it will be as if one ox in a group on nine were to lose a single hair. I am willing to withstand punishment in order to complete this book." Sz-ma Chian finally did finish his book - the very famous Shr-Ji.
西汉时代有个很有名的大将军名叫李陵，他骁勇善战，百战百赢。
有一次，虽然李陵的军队奋勇杀敌，因为兵力不足而战败投降。
李陵打算暂时先忍辱投降，以便伺机等待机会反击。
但当李陵投降的消息传到首都，皇上身边嫉妒的大臣们都开始指责李陵。
皇上十分气愤，他将李陵的妻子与母亲都赐死了。
司马迁一直很敬重李陵，他不信李陵会无缘无故投降，便谏言皇上不要听信谣言。
但就因为这样，皇上便迁怒司马迁，并将他囚禁，进行严惩。
司马迁随后写了一封长信给他的朋友，说道：“我现在在写一部历史长篇，如果我死了，就如同九牛一毛般微不足道，但我愿意承受住这般的惩罚，来完成这部书。”最终，司马迁完成了这部名流千古的史学著作——《史记》。