LESSON 31

WEIGHING AN ELEPHANT

称　象

1．"An eastern king," said Teddy's mother, "had been saved from some great danger. To show his gratitude for deliverance, he vowed he would give to the poor the weight of his favorite elephant in silver."

2．"Oh! what a great quantity that would be," cried Lily, opening her eyes very wide. "But how could you weigh an elephant?" asked Teddy, who was a quiet, thoughtful boy.

3．"There was the difficulty," said his mother. "The wise and learned men of the court stroked their long beards, and talked the matter over, but no one found out how to weigh the elephant.

4．"At last, a poor old sailor found safe and simple means by which to weigh the enormous beast. The thousands and thousands of pieces of silver were counted out to the people; and crowds of the poor were relieved by the clever thought of the sailor."

5．"O mamma," said Lily, "do tell us what it was!"

6．"Stop, stop!" said Teddy. "I want to think for myself—think hard—and find out how an elephant's weight could be known, with little trouble and expense."

7．"I am well pleased," said his mother, "that my little boy should set his mind to work on the subject. If he can find out the sailor's secret before night, he shall have that orange for his pains."

8．The boy thought hard and long. Lily laughed at her brother's grave looks, as he sat leaning his head on his hands. Often she teased him with the question, "Can you weigh an elephant, Teddy?"

9．At last, while eating his supper, Teddy suddenly cried out, "I have it now!"

10．"Do you think so?" asked his mother.

11．"How would you do it," asked Lily.

12．"First, I would have a big boat brought very close to the shore, and would have planks laid across, so that the elephant could walk right into it."

13．"Oh, such a great, heavy beast would make it sink low in the water,"said Lily.

14．"Of course it would," said her brother. "Then I would mark on the outside of the boat the exact height to which the water had risen all around it while the elephant was inside. Then he should march on shore, leaving the boat quite empty."

15．"But I don't see the use of all this," said Lily.

16．"Don't you?" cried Teddy, in surprise. "Why, I should then bring the heaps of silver, and throw them into the boat till their weight would sink it to the mark made by the elephant. That would show that the weight of each was the same."

17．"How funny!" cried Lily; "you would make a weighing machine of the boat?"

18．"That is my plan," said Teddy.

19．"That was the sailor's plan," said his mother. "You have earned the orange, my boy;” and she gave it to him with a smile.

【中文阅读】

1．泰迪的妈妈说：“东方世界中曾经有一个国王临危获救。为了表达自己的感激之情，他发誓要给穷人分发银子，银子的数量就和他最喜欢的大象一样重。”

2．“哇，那可是一笔数目不小的钱呀，”莉丽睁大双眼，大喊道。在一旁陷入沉思的泰迪百思不得其解，便问道：“但是，你如何给大象称重量呀？”

3．妈妈接着说：“是有点困难，朝廷上那些智者和有学问的人都在抚摸着自己的长胡子，相互探讨如何称象，可是，没有人能说出具体的衡量方法。”

4．“最后，一个贫穷的老水手找出了安全又简单的方法，可以称到这头巨兽的重量。成千上万的白银被清点出来准备分发给穷人，这个水手的聪明智慧减轻了大批穷人的负担。”

5．莉丽说：“噢，妈妈，快告诉我们是什么方法！”

6．可泰迪却说：“不要，不要！我想自己思考，仔细地想一想，哪怕会有麻烦和损失，我也要自己找出称象的方法。”

7．他的妈妈说：“我很高兴，我的小儿子应该自己动脑筋解决问题。如果他能在今晚找出水手称象的秘密，就可以得到那个橘子作为奖赏了。”

8．这个男孩子认真地想了很久。当他以手托腮坐在那里时，莉丽还嘲笑哥哥那一本正经的严肃样。她经常用这样的话来取笑他：“泰迪，你能称一头大象吗？”

9．后来，就在吃晚饭时，泰迪突然大喊道：“我终于知道了！”

10．“你确定吗？”妈妈问他。

11．莉丽也问道：“你想怎么称呀。”

12．“首先，我需要有一艘大船，能够非常接近岸边，并且还要铺上木板以便能从岸上登船，这样，大象就能直接走上去了。”

13．“哇，像这么体态肥硕的巨兽一定会让船沉下去的。”莉丽说。

14．“当然会了，”她的哥哥说，“接着，我就会在船舷一侧标出大象站在船上时确切的水面高度。然后，让它走上岸，让空船静止下来。”

15．“我可不认为这样做有什么用。”莉丽说。

16．泰迪吃惊地大喊：“你认为没用吗？为什么，我还会把大批白银放到船上，直到它们的重量使船下沉到那个称大象时的刻度。这样就能显示出它们的重量相等了。”

17．“多么有趣呀！你会做出一个和船一样的秤重机吗？”

18．“这还真是我的计划。”泰迪说。

19．“这也正是水手的方案，”他的妈妈说，“我的儿子，你赢得了橘子。”她微笑着把橘子给了泰迪。