[睡前故事之轻松学英文]皇帝的新装2

上一篇讲到一个有虚荣心的皇帝啥也不喜欢就偏偏喜欢新衣服，喜欢到什么程度呢？喜欢到每个钟头都要换一套衣服。两个骗子利用皇帝这个特点，就谎称他们能做出一件最美丽最奇特的衣服来，凡是不称职和愚蠢的人都看不出来。那接下来会发生什么事呢？让我们一起来听听。 "These must， indeed， be splendid clothes！" thought the Emperor． "Had I such a suit， I might at once find out what men in my realms are unfit for their office， and also be able to distinguish the wise from the foolish！ This stuff must be woven for me immediately．" And he caused large sums of money to be given to both the weavers in order that they might begin their work directly． “那正是我最喜欢的衣服！”皇帝心里想。“我穿了这样的衣服，就可以看出我的王国里哪些人不称职；我就可以辨别出哪些人是聪明人，哪些人是傻子。是的，我要叫他们马上织出这样的布来！”他付了许多现款给这两个骗子，叫他们马上开始工作。 So the two pretended weavers set up two looms， and affected to work very busily， though in reality they did nothing at all． They asked for the most delicate silk and the purest gold thread； put both into their own knapsacks； and continued their pretended work at the empty looms until late at night． 他们摆出两架织机来，装做是在工作的样子，可是他们的织机上什么东西也没有。他们接二连三地请求皇帝发一些最好的生丝和金子给他们。他们把这些东西都装进自己的腰包，却假装在那两架空空的织机上忙碌地工作，一直忙到深夜。 "I should like to know how the weavers are getting on with my cloth，" said the Emperor to himself， after some little time had elapsed； he was， however， rather embarrassed， when he remembered that a simpleton，or one unfit for his office，would be unable to see the manufacture． To be sure，he thought he had nothing to risk in his own person； but yet， he would prefer sending somebody else， to bring him intelligence about the weavers and their work， before he troubled himself in the affair．All the people throughout the city had heard of the wonderful property the cloth was to possess；and all were anxious to learn how wise， or how ignorant，their neighbors might prove to be． “我很想知道他们织布究竟织得怎样了，”皇帝想。不过，他立刻就想起了愚蠢的人或不称职的人是看不见这布的。他心里的确感到有些不大自在。他相信他自己是用不着害怕的。虽然如此，他还是觉得先派一个人去看看比较妥当。全城的人都听说过这种布料有一种奇异的力量，所以大家都很想趁这机会来测验一下，看看他们的邻人究竟有多笨，有多傻。