中国故事 47 The Tale of Two Pearls 鱼目混珠 | 传播传统文化（音频版）

47、The Tale of Two Pearls

鱼目混珠

一人花大价钱买到一颗珍珠，他将珍珠珍藏起来，展示给亲朋好友们看。其中一人心中十分妒忌，也想拥有一颗这样的珍珠。奇妙的是，第二天他在街边竟然找到一颗更大的珍珠。虽然没有将其示于人，但这不妨碍他四处吹嘘。直到有一天，两人都得了重病，需要珍珠磨成粉制成一味药。前一人将珍珠给了大夫，大夫对此赞不绝口，后一人也拿出了珍珠，却遭到了大夫的嘲笑。这是为什么呢？

Once upon a time, in ancient China, a businessman named Man Yuantook a long trip to a faraway town. In the town market, Man Yuan saw some interesting items on display outside a little shop. He went inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was a giantpearlon the shelf behind the shopkeeper. It was larger and more beautiful than any pearl he had ever seen. Man Yuan knew he had to have it!

“Shopkeeper! Let me see that pearl!” called Man Yuan, pointing to the shelf.

“Oh, you have goodeyesight, Sir. This is a very rare pearl. There’s none other like it in the world,” replied the shopkeeper.

Man Yuan used all the money and valuables he had on him to buy the pearl. He wasthrilled!

When he got back home, Man Yuan took out the pearl toadmireit. He wanted a special place to store it. He made a box from the finest wood. He decorated thelidof the box with gold, silver, andgemstones.

Man Yuan carefully placed the pearl inside the box. Then he hid the box. Every day, he took the pearl out of the box to admire it. Some days, he would even take it out twice!

On special days and holidays, Man Yuan would take out the pearl to show his family and friends.

“Oh! Look how big it is.”! said Man Yuan’s uncle.

“Oh! Look how itshimmers. It’s so beautiful,” said his aunt.

“You must have paid a lot of money for it,” cried his neighbor Shou Liang.

“Oh yes, this pearl cost me afortune!” replied Man Yuan.

I wish I couldowna pearl like that, Shou Liang thought to himself. It’s so beautiful!

One day, Shou Liang was on his way to the market. The sunlightbouncedoff something on the ground and caught his attention.

“Wow!!” he cried. “It’s a giant pearl!”

He picked it up.

“Oh, it is my lucky day! This pearl is even bigger than Man Yuan’s!” hegloated. “It’ssmootherand prettier too.”

Shou Liang hid his pearl in his pocket and ran home as fast as he could.

In the days that followed, Shou Liangboastedto everyone about his big and beautiful pearl. But he never showed anyone. It was toopreciousto take out. He did not want to lose it.

A few months later, Man Yuan and Shou Liang both became sick.Incredibly, they both had the same, strange illness.

No one could figure out what the mysterious illness was. Their doctors tried different treatments. Nothing worked.

One day, a traveling doctor came into town. He carried a sign that read, “DOCTOR OF STRANGE ILLNESSES.”

The two families weredesperate. They invited the doctor in. Since the families were neighbors, the doctor was able to look at both patients at the same time.

“I know acure,” the doctor told the families. “But the medicine must have one specialingredient. It won’t work without it.”

“What is the special ingredient, doctor?” asked the families.

“You need a pearl,” he explained. “You have togrindup the powder from inside the pearl, and add it to the medicine mixture.”

Man Yuanhesitated. But he had no choice. He took out his pearl and showed it to the doctor.

“Wow. This is beautiful. It is a precious pearl indeed!”exclaimedthe doctor.

Then Shou Liang showed his pearl to the doctor.

The doctor examined the pearl. He burst into a loud laugh!

“What? This is not a pearl! It’s just an eyeball from a giant fish,” laughed the doctor. “This is truly a case ofpassing offa fish eye as a pearl! How can you expect to behealedwith afake?”

Today, this idiom is used to describe when something fake is passed off as the real deal.

The End

Question:Why do you think Shou Liang thought the fish eye was a pearl?

核心词汇

pearl n. 珍珠

eyesight n. 视力

thrilled adj. 兴奋的，激动的

admire v. 欣赏

lid n. 盖子

gemstone n. 宝石矿石

shimmer v. 发微光，闪光

fortune n. 财富，大笔的钱

own v. 拥有

bounce v. 弹跳

gloat v. 心满意足地看（或想、看待）

smooth adj. 光滑的

boast v. 吹嘘

precious adj. 珍贵的

incredibly adv. 难以置信地

desperate adj. 绝望的，不顾一切的

cure n. 治疗，对策

ingredient n. 成分

grind v. 研磨

hesitate v. 犹豫

exclaim v. 大叫

pass off 把……冒充成

heal v.（使）治愈

fake n. 假货

any pearl he had ever seen 他曾见过的任何珍珠，这种表达方式常用于比较级。

must have done 必定做过，表示对于过去的推断。本句意思是你必定为它花了很多钱。

too…to…太……以至于不能……，本句意思是珍珠太珍贵以至于不能拿出来。

a sign that read 一块写着……的牌子，牌子上写着不用write而用read。

burst into 爆发出……，本句意思是爆发出巨大的笑声。

a case of 是……的一种情况，本句意思是这真是一种鱼目混珠的情况。

以下翻译来自百度翻译：

很久以前，在中国古代，一个名叫满元的商人到一个遥远的城镇作了一次长途旅行。在镇上的集市上，满元看到一家小店外陈列着一些有趣的商品。他走了进去。

首先引起他注意的是店主身后货架上的一颗巨大珍珠。它比他所见过的任何一颗珍珠都要大，更美丽。满园知道他必须拥有它！

“店主！让我看看那颗珍珠！”满园指着架子喊道。

“哦，先生，您的视力很好。这是一颗非常稀有的珍珠。世界上没有其他珍珠像它一样。”店主回答。

满元用身上所有的钱和贵重物品买了这颗珍珠。他很激动！

回到家后，满渊拿出珍珠来欣赏。他想要一个特别的地方来存放它。他用最好的木头做了一个盒子。他用金、银和宝石装饰盒盖。

满园小心翼翼地把珍珠放在盒子里。然后他把盒子藏了起来。每天，他都从盒子里拿出珍珠来欣赏它。有时候，他甚至会把它拿出来两次！

在特殊的日子和节日，满园会拿出珍珠给家人和朋友看。

“哦！看它有多大。”！满园的叔叔说。

“哦！看它怎么闪闪发光。它太漂亮了，”他的姨妈说。

“你一定花了很多钱买的，”他的邻居寿亮喊道。

“哦，是的，这颗珍珠花了我一大笔钱！”满园回答。

“我希望我能拥有一颗那样的珍珠，”寿亮心想。太美了！

一天，守良在去市场的路上。阳光从地上的某物上反射回来，引起了他的注意。

“哇！！”他喊道。“这是一颗巨大的珍珠！”

他把它捡起来了。

“哦，今天是我的幸运日！这颗珍珠比满园的还要大！”他得意地说。“它也更平滑、更漂亮。”

寿良把珍珠藏在口袋里，飞快地跑回家。

在接下来的日子里，寿亮向大家吹嘘他的大而美丽的珍珠。但他从未向任何人展示过。它太珍贵了，不能拿出来。他不想失去它。

几个月后，满园和寿亮都生病了。令人难以置信的是，他们都得了同样奇怪的病。

没有人能弄清楚这种神秘的疾病是什么。他们的医生尝试了不同的治疗方法。什么都没用。

一天，一位旅行的医生来到城里。他拿着一块牌子，上面写着“怪病医生”

这两个家庭绝望了。他们请医生进来。由于这两个家庭是邻居，医生可以同时看两个病人。

“我知道一种治疗方法，”医生告诉家人。“但是这种药必须有一种特殊的成分。没有它就不能起作用。”

“医生，特殊成分是什么？”家人问道。

“你需要一颗珍珠，”他解释道。“你必须把珍珠里面的粉末磨碎，然后加入药物混合物中。”

满园犹豫了一下。但他别无选择。他拿出珍珠给医生看。

“哇。这真漂亮。这的确是一颗珍贵的珍珠！”医生大声说。

然后寿良把他的珍珠给医生看。

医生检查了珍珠。他突然大笑起来！

“什么？这不是珍珠！它只是一条大鱼的眼球，”医生笑着说。“这真是一个把鱼眼冒充珍珠的案子！你怎么能指望用假货治愈呢？”

今天，这个成语用来形容什么东西假货冒充真货。

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