五分钟的英文故事动物科普（60晨读夜诵英语小故事）

In the palace of Rubyland there was a ruby（红宝石） thief. No one knew who it was, and the thief had everyone so fooled that the only thing known about him was that he lived in the palace and that when you were in the palace you should always hide your jewels.

红宝石国的王宫里住着一个红宝石大盗，没人见过他的真面目。大盗把大伙耍得团团转，人们只知道他就住在王宫里，还有就是只要你身在王宫就得藏好自己的珠宝。

The King decided to find out who it was, and he asked for help from a wise dwarf（矮人） who was famed for his intelligence. The dwarf spent some days there, watching and listening. The following morning the wise dwarf made all the palace inhabitants meet up together in the same room.

国王决定找出大盗，就去向一个聪明的小矮人求助。这个人是出了名的足智多谋。他花了几天工夫，左看看，右听听。第二天早上，小矮人把王宫里所有居民都集中在一个房间里。

After inspecting them for the whole morning, and during lunch, without saying a word, the dwarf started asking them all, one by one, what they knew about the stolen jewels.Once again, it seemed that no one had been the thief.

排查了一上午。午饭时分，他二话不说开始挨个问关于失窃的珠宝他们都知道些什么。 结果还是一样，没人像是大盗。

But then, suddenly, one of the gardeners began coughing, writhing（翻滚） and moaning（呻吟）, and finally he fell to the floor. The dwarf, with a cheeky（无耻的） smile, explained that the food they had just eaten was poisoned, and the only antidote（解药） for this poison was hidden inside the ruby that had been stolen the previous night.

后来，一个园丁突然开始咳嗽，他痛苦地扭动着，呻吟着，最后跌倒在地。 小矮人狡黠地笑着解释说他们刚刚吃下去的食物有毒，此毒唯一的解药就藏在前一晚被盗的红宝石里面。

And he explained how, some days earlier, he himself had swapped （调换）some false rubies for the genuine ones, and that he expected that only the thief would be able to save his life, since the poison was particularly quick working.

接着他解释了几天前他是如何用假宝石把真宝石掉了包，他说只有大盗自己才能救自己一命，因为毒药的药效奇快无比。

The coughs and groans spread around the room, and terror took hold of all present; all except one person. A footman didn't take long to run over to where he had hidden the jewels, from where he took the final ruby.

咳嗽声和呻吟声遍布整个房间，在场的人人自危，只有一个人例外。一个男仆迅速跑到了他藏匿珠宝的地方，取出了新近偷来的红宝石。

Fortunately he would be able to open it and drink the strange liquid inside, thus saving his life. Or so he believed, because the gardener was, in fact, one of the dwarf's assistants, and the poison was nothing more than a potion （一剂）prepared by the little investigator to cause a few strong pains for a short while, but nothing more than that.

所幸的是他还能亲自打开红宝石，喝下里面的不明液体，救自己一命。 或者说他是信以为真了。那个园丁其实是小矮人的一个助手，所谓的毒药不过是这位小矮人调查员准备的一剂药，药效就是短时间内几次剧痛，仅此而已。

And the footman, now found out, was arrested by the guards and taken immediately to court. The King, grateful, generously rewarded his wise adviser, and when he asked the dwarf what his secret was,

男仆终于露出了马脚，被警卫捉住，随即被带上法庭。 国王万分感激，要重重赏赐他这位聪明的顾问。他问小矮人捉拿大盗的秘诀是什么，

the dwarf smiled and said: “I only try to get the person knowing the truth to reveal that truth.” “And who knew it? If the thief had deceived everyone...”

小矮人笑了笑，说： “我只是让知道答案的人亲自揭开谜底而已。” “那谁又是知道答案的人呢？如果大盗成功地骗过所有人的话……”

“No, your majesty, not everyone. Anyone can deceive everyone, but no one can deceive themselves.”

“不，陛下，他不会骗过所有人的。人谁都可以骗，唯独骗不了自己。”

writhe [raɪð] v.(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚

cheeky [ˈtʃiːkɪ] adj.厚颜无耻的

swap [swɒp] v.把……换成

potion [ˈpəʊʃn] n.(药的)一服，一剂

英语文化中，男仆主要有以下几种：“butler”指管家，是仆人的总管；“valet”是贴身男仆，照料主人的起居衣物，鞍前马后。而“footman”是听差，即通常数量最多的家仆，负责各种杂役。

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