英文(2) Lesson 3: "Mammon and the Archer"财神與愛神 … 課文

。 English Text and Chinese Translation

1. Old Anthony Rockwall was a successful millionaire who believed money could solve any problem. Therefore, when he noticed that his son, Richard, had been quite upset lately, he assured him that money could be the solution to all his troubles. Richard, however, disagreed. “There are some things that money can’t accomplish,” he replied.

   老Anthony Rockwall是個相信金錢能夠解決任何問題的成功百萬富翁。因此，當他注意到他的兒子Richard最近非常苦惱時，他向他的兒子保證金錢會是他所有煩惱的解方。然而，Richard卻不同意這樣的說法。他回說：「有些事情是金錢不能做到的。」

2. Richard told his father that money couldn’t buy time. He then explained that he was desperately in love with Miss Lantry but had had no chance to express his feelings. The reason was that Miss Lantry was a popular socialite and every moment of hers was filled with engagements. Furthermore, she was going to depart for Europe in two days and would stay there for two years. The only time Richard and she could be alone was a few minutes the next evening, when the two would take a cab together to the theater—hardly enough time for him to declare his love.

   Richard告訴他的父親金錢買不到時間。他接著解釋，他很愛Lantry小姐卻一直沒有機會表達他的感情。原因是Lantry小姐是個受歡迎的社交名媛，而她無時無刻都有重要的約會。除此之外，再過兩天她就要前往歐洲，而且會待在那裡兩年。Richard可以跟她獨處的唯一時間只有隔天傍晚的幾分鐘，那時他們兩個會一起搭馬車到戲院去——幾乎沒有足夠的時間讓他表明他的愛意。

3. That night, Anthony talked about the matter with his sister, Ellen. She didn’t believe money was the answer, either. The next day, Aunt Ellen gave Richard a ring which had belonged to Richard’s deceased mother. “Good luck in love,” she said it brought, Aunt Ellen told him. Richard put the ring in his vest pocket and went to meet Miss Lantry.

   那天晚上，Anthony跟他的妹妹Ellen談論此事。她也不相信金錢會是答案。隔天，Ellen姑媽給了Richard一枚原本屬於Richard過世母親的戒指。Ellen姑媽告訴他：「她說它為愛情帶來好運。」Richard將戒指放在他背心的口袋，然後去跟Lantry小姐見面。

4. As Richard and Miss Lantry were on their way to the theater, Richard accidentally dropped the ring. He got out of the cab to look for it, and when he returned with the ring, a car stopped right in front of them. The cab driver tried to pass the car but was cut off by a wagon. Soon, the cab got stuck in a traffic jam. As they waited for the road to clear, Miss Lantry was curious about the ring and asked if she could see it.

   當Richard跟Lantry小姐在前往戲院的路上，Richard不小心將戒指弄掉了。他下了馬車去找戒指，而當他找到戒指回到馬車的時候，一輛汽車就正好停在他們前面。馬車駕駛試著繞過那輛車，但是卻被一輛四輪馬車擋住去路。很快地，馬車就被困在交通堵塞當中。當他們在等待道路能夠暢通時，Lantry小姐對那枚戒指感到好奇，就問說她是否能夠看一下那枚戒指。

5. Later that evening, Aunt Ellen informed Anthony that Richard and Miss Lantry were engaged. She described the traffic jam and how it had given Richard the time to propose to Miss Lantry. She announced that it was the ring, a symbol of love, that had brought the pair together. Anthony did not argue with her. He just said that he was glad to see the boy get what he wanted.

   那天晚上稍晚，Ellen姑媽通知Anthony說Richard和Lantry小姐訂婚了。她描述那場交通堵塞及其如何給予Richard時間跟Lantry小姐求婚。她聲稱就是那枚象徵愛情的戒指將兩人送作堆。Anthony沒有跟她爭論。他只是說他很高興看到他兒子得到他想要的。

6. The next day, a man showed up at Anthony’s house to report how much money he had paid drivers and policemen to create the traffic jam. The millionaire gave the man a check and jokingly asked if he had seen a naked fat boy shooting arrows at the scene of the traffic jam. “No,” said the man, confused. Anthony laughed, satisfied with himself for having proven that money could buy time. However, was it money or the ring that brought love?

   隔天，有一名男子出現在Anthony的家跟他報告他付了多少錢給駕駛與警察去製造那場交通堵塞。這位百萬富翁給了這男子一張支票並開玩笑地問他是否有看到一個裸身的胖男孩在交通堵塞的現場射弓箭。「沒有。」那名男子疑惑地說。Anthony笑了笑，很滿意自己已證明金錢能夠買到時間。然而，究竟是金錢還是那枚戒指帶來了愛情？