姑息养鼠

A man in Yongzhou was afraid that doing things on certain days would bring misfortune.

As he was born in the year of zi, and the rat was considered the deity1 of zi, he especially shielded it. He not only didn't keep cats and dogs, but also wouldn't allow his servants to kill rats. He allowed rats to run wild in his granary and kitchen and never bothered about them. Hence, the rats told one another about this and moved one after another into his house, where they ate their fill all day long and lived in safety.

This gentleman's house was so ruined by the rats that there was neither an intact utensil2 nor a whole garment on the clothes rack. Even his own food was mostly leftovers3 by the rats.

In the daytime, the rats walked in swarms4 around the master. At night, they fought for food, quarrelled and squeaked5, making such a racket that no one could sleep. Yet this gentleman never felt annoyed.

Several years later, this gentleman moved away and another family moved in. Yet the rats went on brazenly6 with their evil deeds as before.

The new master was very angry. He said: "These shameless pests steal things and make trouble so devastatingly7. How could they be tolerated?"

He immediately borrowed five to six good cats, closed the doors and windows, and let them catch the rats. He also engaged men to move bricks and tiles, fill up the holes with water so as to close in on the rats on all sides.

Thus, the rats caught and killed were thrown to an out-of- the-way place, heaped up like a hill. It took several months for the stench to dissipate.

Those rats probably thought they could always eat their fill without any disaster. Actually this was lamentable8. The rats should never be tolerated.

永州有个人，害怕在某些日子里办事会倒霉。

他生于子年，而且老鼠被认为是子神，所以他特别袒护老鼠。他不但不养猫和狗，而且不准仆人打老鼠。他家的粮仓、厨房，任凭老鼠怎么横行，也从来不去过问。于是，老鼠互相转告，纷纷搬到他家来住，饱食终日，安然无恙。

这位先生的家里，被老鼠糟蹋得没有一件完好的器具，衣架上没有一件完整的衣裳，自己的食品也大多是老鼠吃剩下来的残余。

白天，老鼠成群结队跟主人一道行走；夜晚，抢吃东西，吵架争斗，刺耳的尖叫声，吵得人无法睡觉，然而这位先生却从不觉得厌烦。

几年后，这位先生迁居外地，另一户人家搬进来居住。老鼠仍旧像过去那样为非作歹，肆无忌惮。

新主人十分恼火，说:“这些见不得阳光的坏东西，偷窃捣乱得太厉害了，怎么能容忍呢？”

他立即借来了五六只好猫，关了门窗捕捉，还专门雇人搬砖移瓦，用水灌洞，四面围剿。

就这样，捕杀的老鼠被扔在偏僻的地方，堆积如山，臭味几个月后才慢慢散尽。

那些老鼠可能自以为它们能一直饱食终日，安然无恙。这种想法实际上是很悲哀的。人们决不应该姑息老鼠。

1 deity

n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)

参考例句：

Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.许多动物被看作神的化身。

The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在庙宇壁龛的最深处。

2 utensil

n.器皿，用具

参考例句：

The best carving utensil is a long, sharp, flexible knife.最好的雕刻工具是锋利而柔韧的长刻刀。

Wok is a very common cooking utensil in every Chinese family.炒菜锅是每个中国人家庭里很常用的厨房食用具。

3 leftovers

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。

She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

4 swarms

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。

On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

5 squeaked

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

6 brazenly

adv.厚颜无耻地；厚脸皮地肆无忌惮地

参考例句：

How dare he distort the facts so brazenly! 他怎么敢如此肆无忌惮地歪曲事实！ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

"I don't know," he answered, looking her brazenly over. “我也不知道，"他厚颜无耻地打量着她。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 devastatingly

adv. 破坏性地，毁灭性地，极其

参考例句：

She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比，魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。

I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。

8 lamentable

adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的

参考例句：

This lamentable state of affairs lasted until 1947.这一令人遗憾的事态一直持续至1947年。

His practice of inebriation was lamentable.他的酗酒常闹得别人束手无策。