An Ingenious Love Letter　一封绝妙的情书

·Richard·

There once lived a lad who was deeply in love with a girl, but disliked by the girl's father, who didn't want to see any further development of their love. The lad was eager to write to the girl, yet he was quite sure that the father would read it first.So he wrote such a letter to the girl：

My love for you I once expressed

no longer lasts, instead, my distaste for you

is growing with each passing day. Next time I see you，

I even won't like that look of yours.

I'll do nothing but

look away from you. You can never expect I'll

marry you. The last chat we had

was so dull and dry that you shouldn't think it

made me eager to see you again. If we get married, I firmIy

believe I'll

live a hard life, I can never

live happily with you, I'll devote myself

but not

to you. No one else is more

harsh and selfish and less

soIicitous and considerate than you.

I sincerely want to let you know

what I said is true. Please do me a favor by

ending our relations and refrain from

writing me a reply. Your letter is always full of

things which displease me. You have no

sincere care for me. So long！Please believe

I don't love you any longer. Don't think

I still have a love of you！

Having read the letter, the father felt relieved and gave it to his daughter with a light heart.

The girl also felt quite pleased after she read it carefully, her lad still had a deep love for her.

Do you know why?In fact, she felt very sad when she read the letter for the first time. But she read it for a few more times and, at last, she found the key-only every other line should be read, that is the first line, the third, the fifth……and so on to the end.

理查德

一个小伙子非常爱一位姑娘，但姑娘的父亲却不喜欢他，也不允许他们的爱情再发展下去。小伙子很想给姑娘写封情书，然而他知道姑娘的父亲会先看，于是他给姑娘写了这样一封信：

我对你表达过的爱

已经消逝。我对你的厌恶

与日俱增。当我下次看到你时

我甚至不会喜欢你的样子。

我想做的一件事就是

把目光移往别处，你永远别指望我会

和你结婚。我们最近的一次谈话

枯燥乏味，你别想

使我渴望再与你相见。假如我们结婚，我深信我将

生活得非常艰难，我也无法

快乐地和你生活在一起，我要把我的心

奉献出来，但绝不是

奉献给你。没有人能比你更

苛求和自私，所有人都比你更

关心我、帮助我。

我诚挚地要你明白，

我讲的是真话。请你助我一臂之力

结束我们之间的关系，别试图

回复此信。你的信充满

使我乏味的事情，你没有

对我的真诚关心。再见，请相信

我并不喜欢你，请你不要以为

我仍然爱着你！

姑娘的父亲看了这封信以后，很轻松，并高兴地把信给了姑娘。

姑娘在仔细看完信后也非常高兴，小伙子依然爱着她。

你知道她为什么高兴吗？其实，她初读时非常伤心。但是，在她又默读了几遍之后，终于明白这封信的读法了：隔一行读一行，即只读一、三、五行，以此类推，直到信的结尾。

Practising&Exercise　实战提升篇

核心单词

express[ik'spres]v.表达，陈述；表示

chat[tʃæt]n./v.闲谈，聊天

firmIy['fə：mli]adv.坚固地；稳固地

soIicitous[sə'lisitəs]adj.热心的；挂念的

sincere[sin'siə]adj.衷心的，真诚的

key[ki：]n.关键，要害

实用句型

Having read the Ietter, the father feIt reIieved and gave it to his daughter with a Iight heart.

姑娘的父亲看了这封信以后，很轻松，并高兴地把信给了姑娘。①现在分词having在这里做状语。

②with a light heart心情愉快地。另外还有to one’s heart’s content痛快地，尽情地。

翻译练习

1.请勿给动物喂食。（refrain from）

2.事实上，我对绘画并不感兴趣。（in fact）

3.那调皮的孩子终于睡着了。（at last）