2008星火30篇文章贯通考研词汇(1)

The Princess sat down and turned to her servants who absently lay at her feet. She gestured for them to stand up. “Tell me,” she said, “tell me about the world now; are there still wars?” Her servants nodded sadly. One stepped forward, his blonde hair brushing against his cheek and he knelt at his Princess’s feet. “My dear lady”, he spoke sadly yet his voice hinted a warning(警告), “as you slept, the Emperor passed away and his son Calaf was his successor and he is even more blood-thirsty than his father. We all hate him.” The Princess rose to her feet.

“Then I must stop him。I cannot stand to see innocent people killed in the name of an Emperor. Are they still fighting with the neighboring tribe?” The man nodded. “Then once again I must try to stop this mischief. I do not care what happens to me as long as they stop this nonsense.” She walked swiftly across the cold surface of the moon and looked toward the earth. “Fetch my cloak,” she commanded, “I will go down now to them and negotiate with this man.” Without saying anything her servants fetched a white silk cloak and wrapped it round her shoulders. “Good luck,” they told her in a neutral tone. The princess jumped and floated gently from the moon to earth below.

Emperor Calaf sat on a gold throne with velvet cushions at his back. He lived in abundance. He had everything no one could ever want and he boasted about it, but he was not satisfied with it. He wanted more and he didn’t care how he got anything as long as it pleased him. He oppressed the workers and raised taxes so arbitrarily(任意地)that people in poverty struggled to pay them. He looked out of the temple’s window. The royal court doors burst open and two muscular guards hurled in a terrified man who cowered(畏缩)at the wicked Emperor’s feet. This was what Calaf had been waiting for. This man couldn’t pay his taxes so he would be sentenced to death. The man said nothing, either too scared to speak or knew nothing better than to be silent. The Emperor smiled evilly(邪恶地)and kicked the man in the face so he fell back into the guards.“Take him and execute him. I want it in public so all those other fools can see what happens if you don’t pay up on time.”The guards bowed from the waist and dragged the man away. Calaf got up and for an Emperor he was more like a celebrity, very slim and good-looking. He walked down a corridor after the guards, wanting to see this death. It was fun for him to listen to the man’s scream as his loyal executioner(刽子手)either slitted his throat or beheaded(斩首)him on a rack. He turned left from where the guards went out and onto a balcony, which had a better view there. The crowds called out the executioner’s name over and over, but Calaf didn’t know why they were so excited that they were acting as if this were an enemy being put into death.

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