中国故事（双语）44：No Difference 朝三暮四

44、No Difference

朝三暮四

有个老人住在大山旁边，山中又许多猴子。此人喜欢这些猴子，乐于看他们玩耍嬉戏，猴子们也习惯了这个老人的存在。他将其中三只带回家养着，像父亲一样照顾它们。冬天到了，因食物匮乏，老人决定限制猴子的食物量。他对猴子们说：“以后早上三个果子，晚上四个，如何？”猴子们都不同意。他又改口道：“早上四个，晚上三个，如何？”猴子们对此又会如何反应呢？

 

Once upon a time, an old man named Li Tao lived next to a big mountain. Many monkeys lived on the mountain. Li Tao loved those monkeys. He watched them as they played, chasing each other and jumping from tree to tree. They were a lively bunch! At first the monkeys would run away when they saw Li Tao, but they got used to him. They would even play with him too. Li Tao and the monkeys became best friends.

He brought three of the monkeys to live in his house. One was very loud. She was always banging around, laughing and singing. One was very playful. He liked to play pranks on the other monkeys and Li Tao. The third was very curious. She was always poking things that lay around the house.

Li Tao looked after the monkeys like a father. He fed them delicious fruit every day. The monkeys learned to understand everything Li Tao said. He also understood what the monkeys were saying to him.

It was autumn, and winter was coming soon. Li Tao counted the fruit that he had harvested. There wasn’t enough to last the whole winter. He knew that the monkeys would have to eat less, or else the food would not last until spring.

He needed to explain this problem to the monkeys. He pointed at the fruit. Immediately, the curious monkey began to pick the fruit up. She spun them in her hands and held them to her ear. She smelled the fruit. She nodded her head, enjoying the fruit.

“I’m glad you are happy with the fruit,” Li Tao said with a smile. “However, there isn’t enough fruit to last through winter. Starting today, each of you can only eat seven pieces of fruit a day.” The monkeys all nodded. They understood what Li Tao was saying.

He then said, “Every morning I will give you each three pieces of fruit. In the evening, I will give you each four pieces. How does that sound?”

Immediately, the monkeys began to cry out. They were not happy. Not happy at all! The playful monkey got angry and started throwing fruit at Li Tao. More fruit! More fruit! he seemed to say.

“All right, all right!” yelped Li Tao, dodging an apple that came flying at his head. “Every morning I will give you each four pieces of fruit! And in the evening, I will give you each three pieces. Is that okay?”

The loud monkey led the others in hoot-hoot-hooting with happiness! All the monkeys heard was that they would be getting four instead of three pieces of fruit in the morning. To them, this was better already, so they stopped listening to see how their evening meal would change. They jumped around and laughed. The loud monkey hit the floor like a drum, showing her approval.

Just like the monkeys, some people’s minds can be easily changed—even when something is not actually different. Today, the idiom “three in the morning and four in the evening” is used to describe someone who changes their mind often.

The End

Question: Why did the monkeys have to start eating less fruit?

1. The fruit was making the monkeys sick.

2. There was not enough because the man needed to eat more fruit.

3. There was not enough fruit to last until spring.

4. The winter was cold, which killed a lot of the fruit.

核心词汇

chase v. 追赶

bunch n. 群，伙

bang v. 奔，冲，轰然而过

prank n. 胡闹，恶作剧

spin spun. v. （使）旋转

dodge v. 躲开，闪开

hoot v. 鸣叫，笑，喊叫

approval n. 赞成，认可

He knew that the monkeys would have to eat less, or else the food would not last until spring. 他知道猴子们将不得不少吃点，否则的话食物不能维持到春天。本句中or else表示否则，代指另一种情况。

以下翻译来自百度翻译：

从前，一位名叫李涛的老人住在一座大山旁边。许多猴子住在山上。李涛喜欢那些猴子。他看着他们玩耍，互相追逐，从一棵树跳到另一棵树。他们是一群活泼的人！起初，猴子们看到李涛会逃跑，但他们已经习惯了李涛。他们甚至还会和他一起玩。李涛和猴子成了最好的朋友。

他带了三只猴子住在他的房子里。一个声音很大。她总是蹦蹦跳跳，又笑又唱。其中一个很好玩。他喜欢捉弄其他猴子和李涛。第三个人很好奇。她总是戳房子周围的东西。

李涛像父亲一样照顾猴子。他每天给他们喂美味的水果。猴子们学会了理解李涛所说的一切。他也明白猴子们对他说的话。

现在是秋天，冬天很快就要来临了。李涛数了数他收获的水果。没有足够的钱维持整个冬天。他知道猴子们将不得不少吃，否则食物将无法维持到春天。

他需要向猴子们解释这个问题。他指着水果。很快，好奇的猴子开始捡起水果。她用手旋转着，把它们放在耳边。她闻到了水果的味道。她点点头，享受着水果。

李涛笑着说：“我很高兴你对水果很满意。”。“然而，没有足够的水果过冬。从今天开始，你们每人每天只能吃七片水果。”猴子们都点点头。他们明白李涛在说什么。

然后他说：“每天早上，我会给你每三片水果。晚上，我会给你每四片。听起来怎么样？”

猴子们立刻开始叫喊起来。他们不高兴。一点也不快乐！那只顽皮的猴子生气了，开始向李涛扔水果。更多的水果！更多的水果！他似乎在说。

“好吧，好吧！”李涛喊道，躲开一个飞来的苹果。“每天早上我会给你们每人四片水果！晚上我会给你们每人三片。可以吗？”

那只吵闹的猴子带着其他人快乐地叫着！猴子们所听到的是，他们将在早上得到四片而不是三片水果。对他们来说，这已经更好了，所以他们不再去听他们的晚餐会有什么变化。他们跳来跳去，大笑起来。那只吵闹的猴子像鼓一样敲击着地板，表示她的赞同。

就像猴子一样，有些人的想法很容易改变，即使有些事情实际上并没有什么不同。今天，成语“早上三点，晚上四点”用来形容经常改变主意的人。