每日英語 #043: George Washington and His Library Book

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George Washington and His Library Book

Children growing up in the U.S. are told that George Washington was always a very honest person, even as a boy. According to one famous tale, young George was outside one day and his father walked up to him to ask a question.

在美國長大的孩子們常聽說，喬治·華盛頓從小就是一個非常誠實的人。根據一個著名的故事，小喬治有一天在外面，他的父親走到他身邊問了一個問題。

“George, I saw that someone chopped down that cherry tree in back of the house,” his father said. “To chop down” means to kill a tree or large plant using a sharp object, typically an “axe,” which is like a sharp metal knife but much stronger. You must “swing” (move quickly) the axe to hit the bottom of the tree and slowly cut into the tree until it falls. “Did you chop it down?” his father asked. George immediately replied, “I cannot “tell a lie” (say something untrue); I did it with my little ‘hatchet’ (small axe).”

“喬治，我看到有人砍倒了房子後面的那棵櫻桃樹，”他的父親說。“砍倒”是指用鋒利的工具（通常是斧頭）砍伐一棵樹或大植物。斧頭像鋒利的金屬刀，但要堅固得多。你必須揮動斧頭擊打樹的底部，慢慢砍入樹中直到它倒下。“是你砍的嗎？”他的父親問道。喬治立刻回答：“我不能撒謊；我用我的小斧頭砍的。”

George could have lied, you see, but instead he was honest. The “moral” (ethical lesson) for young children, of course, is that they should be honest, too.

你看，喬治本可以撒謊，但他選擇了誠實。對於小孩子來說，這個故事的道德教訓當然是他們也應該誠實。

But what happened when George grew up? It seems that while he may have been honest, he was not very “conscientious” (careful about making a mistake or doing something wrong) or responsible. According to a 2010 news article, Washington had gone to the New York Public Library on October 5, 1789, to check out a book called The Law of Nations by Emer de Vattel. Well, now we learn that old George – by then, President Washington – never returned his book.

但當喬治長大後發生了什麼呢？看來，儘管他可能很誠實，但並不太盡責或負責任。根據2010年的一篇新聞文章，華盛頓於1789年10月5日去紐約公共圖書館借了一本名為《萬國公法》的書。現在我們得知，那時已是總統的喬治·華盛頓從未歸還這本書。

The library recently discovered that the book had not been returned and asked the “staff” (employees) at George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, about it. The staff bought another copy of the book and presented it to the library to replace the missing copy.

圖書館最近發現這本書沒有歸還，並詢問了喬治·華盛頓家中的員工（位於弗農山）。員工購買了另一本相同的書並將其交給圖書館，以替換丟失的那本。

But the story doesn’t end there. When you borrow a book from the library and you don’t return it, you normally have to pay a “fine” (money paid as punishment) for each day it is not returned. The New York Public Library “calculated” (determined; figured out) that Washington owed a fine of approximately $300,000. Who is going to pay that fine?

但故事並未就此結束。當你從圖書館借書而沒有歸還時，通常需要為每逾期一天支付罰金。紐約公共圖書館計算出華盛頓欠了約30萬美元的罰金。誰會支付這筆罰金呢？

重要單字

• Honest /ˈɒnɪst/ 誠實的
• Tale /teɪl/ 故事
• Chop down /ʧɒp daʊn/ 砍倒
• Axe /æks/ 斧頭
• Swing /swɪŋ/ 揮動
• Tell a lie /tɛl ə laɪ/ 撒謊
• Hatchet /ˈhæʧɪt/ 小斧頭
• Moral /ˈmɒrəl/ 道德教訓
• Conscientious /ˌkɒnʃɪˈɛnʃəs/ 盡責的
• Staff /stɑːf/ 員工
• Fine /faɪn/ 罰金
• Calculate /ˈkælkjʊleɪt/ 計算