02_Thirteen_Equals_One
02 Thirteen Equals One¶
Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock (which used to strike the hours day and night) was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.
'I'm trying to repair the bell, ' answered Bill.'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'
'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'
'That's the trouble, vicar, 'answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.'
'We'll get used to that, Bill, 'said the vicar. 'Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'
我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟修好。教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无声无息了。
一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在"打点"报时了！他一看表，才1点钟，可是那钟一边敲了13下才停。牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟发生了什么事情。借着电筒光，他看见一个人，马上认出那是本地杂货店主比尔·威尔金斯。
"你究竟在这上面干什么，比尔？"牧师惊讶地问。
"我想把这口钟修好，"比尔回答说。"好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。嗯，我是想让你大吃一惊。"
"你确实使我大吃了一惊！"牧师说，"也许同时你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不过，钟又能报时了，我还是很高兴的。"
"问题就在这里，牧师，"比尔回答说。"不错，钟能报时了，但是，恐怕每到1点钟，它总要敲13下，对此我已无能为力了。"
"大家慢慢就习惯了，比尔，"牧师说。"13下是不如1下好，但总比1下也不敲强。来，咱们下楼去喝杯茶吧。"
Words¶
- vicar /ˈvɪkɚ/ 牧师
- raising /ˈrezɪŋ/ money /ˈmʌni/ 筹钱
- Armed /ɑrmd/ with /wɪð/ a /ə/ torch /tɔrtʃ/ 手电筒
- caught /kɑt/ sight /saɪt/ of /ʌv/ a /ə/ figure /ˈfɪɡjɚ/ 人影
- grocer /ˈɡrosɚ/ 杂货商
Expressions¶
- be equal to sth. 胜任
- for one cause or another 因为诸多原因
- wake up with a start 惊醒
- catch sight of sb./sth. 瞥见
- get enough money to do sth. 有足够的钱做某事
- sb. be armed with sth. 某人装备某物
- recognize A as B 认出 A 是 B
- give sb. a surprise 给某人一个惊喜
- What’s going on? 发生什么事了？
- I’m glad that + 句子 我很高兴……
- get used to sth. 习惯
- be always doing sth. be+doing: 与always连⽤时，表示频率过⾼，令说话者⼼烦，⽣厌(⾮绝地)。常⽤肯定。
whatever¶
ever here is not necessary in the sentence but is added to emphasize the speaker's surprise/astonishment/anger/irritation/dismay. It has the same meaning as on earth/in the world.
do/does/did 表强调¶
肯定句表强调: 确实(v.换原型)
was/were doing 表礼貌¶
I was hoping to give you a surprise.
过去时态，用于现在/将来，更加有礼貌
We can use the past continuous to make sentences and requests seem more polite. This is because they sound less definite, more temporary and more gentle.