The Three Army-surgeons

　　There were once three army-surgeons who reckoned that they had nothing more to learn about the art of surgery. They were on their travels.， and stopped for the night at an inn. The landlord asked them where they had come from and where they were going， and they answered， “We're on our travels and living by our skill.” “Well， just show me what you do，” said the landlord. The first said he would cut off his hand and put it back on again next morning and make it heal； the second said he would tear out his heart and put it back in again next morning so that it would heal； the third said he would gouge out his eyes， and they too would heal when he replaced them next morning. “If you can do that，” said the landlord， “then you've nothing more to learn.” Now they had with them an ointment which was able to close and heal any wound they smeared it on， and they always carried the flask containing it wherever they went. So they cut from their bodies the hand and the heart and the eyes as they had said they would， put them all together on a plate and gave it to the landlord； and the landlord gave it to a maidservant， telling her to put it aside in the larder and keep it carefully. But this maidservant secretly had a sweetheart who was a soldier. So when the landlord and the three surgeons and everyone else in the house were asleep， the soldier came and asked her for something to eat. So the girl opened the larder and brought in something from it， and she was so much in love with him that she forgot to close the larder door. she sat down with her sweetheart at the table and they had a good chat， but as she sat there without a care in the world the cat came creeping in， found the larder open， snatched the hand and the heart and the eyes that belonged to the three surgeons and made off with them. So when the soldier had finished eating and the girl got up to clear away the dishes and lock the larder， she saw at once that the plate the landlord had given her to look after was empty. She took fright and said to her young man： “Oh， heaven save me， what am I to do？ The hand's gone， and the heart and the eyes are gone， whatever will happen to me tomorrow morning！” “Stop crying，” he said， “I'll get you out of this. There's a thief hanging on the gallows out there， and I'll cut his hand off； which hand was it？” “The right hand.” So the girl gave him a sharp knife and he went outside， cut the poor sinner's right hand off and brought it in. Then he seized the cat and gouged out its eyes； now all that was needed was the heart. “Haven't you just slaughtered some pigs and put their carcasses in the cellar？” “Yes，” said the girl， “Well， that's all right then，” said the soldier， and he went down to the cellar and came back with a pig's heart. The maid put all the things together on a plate and left it in the larder： then her sweetheart took his leave and she went to bed thinking all was well.

　　When the three surgeons got up next morning， they told the maid to fetch them the plate with the hand and the heart and the eyes. So she fetched it out of the cupboard， and the first surgeon held the thief's hand in place and smeared the join with his ointment， whereupon the hand at once grew back on to his arm. The second took the cat's eyes and fitted them into his head， and the third put the pig's heart in place. The landlord stood and watched their skill with admiration， saying that he had never seen such a thing in his life and that he would praise and recommend them to all and sundry. Then they paid their bill and travelled on.

　　As they were walking along， the one who had the pig's heart kept on leaving the others； every time they passed some corner he would trot over to it and root around in it like a pig. The other two tried to hold him back by the coat tails， but it was no good， he kept running off to wherever the filth was thickest on the ground. The second of them also began to behave strangely， rubbing his eyes and saying to the other： “My dear fellow， what's the matter with me？ These aren't my eyes， I can't see a thing， for heaven's sake one of you hive me your arm or I'll fall.” And they struggled on till evening， when they came to another inn. They all went into the parlor， and there in one corner a rich gentleman was sitting at the table counting money. The surgeon with the thief's hand sidled round behind him， his arm twitched a few times and finally， when the gentleman had his back turned， he reached out and snatched a handful of coins from the pile. One of the others saw this and said： “My dear fellow， what are you doing？ It's wrong to steal， you ought to be ashamed.” “Yes， but I can't stop myself，” said his friend. “My hand keeps twitching and just has to help itself whether I want to or not.” Then they went to bed， and as they lay there it was so dark that you couldn't have seen your hand in front of your face. Suddenly the one with the cat's eyes woke up， wakened the others and said： “My dear friends， look at this， do you see all these white mice running about？” The other two sat up in bed but couldn't see a thing. Then he said： “There's something wrong with us： we didn't back our own parts， that landlord cheated us and we must go back to him.” So next morning they set off back and told the landlord that their right organs hadn't been returned to them： one of them had a thief's hand， the second cat's eyes and the third a pig's heart. The landlord said that it must be the maid's fault and was going to call her， but when the girl had seen the three surgeons returning she had fled through the back door， and she didn't reappear. Then the three of them told the landlord that unless he paid them a great deal of money they'd make a bonfire of his house； so he gave them all he had and all he could raise， and off they went with it. It was enough to keep them for the rest of their lives， but they'd still rather have had their own organs back.

　　I. Translation for Reference（參考譯文）

　　三個(gè)軍醫(yī)

　　從前，有三個(gè)自以為醫(yī)術(shù)都學(xué)到家了的軍醫(yī)在各地旅行。一天晚上，他們來到一家旅店。旅店老板問他們從哪里來，到哪里去？他們回答說：“我們靠本領(lǐng)，到各處旅行。”“你們有什么本領(lǐng)，讓我開開眼界好嗎？”旅店老板說。于是，第一個(gè)軍醫(yī)說，他可以把自己的手砍下來，明天早晨再接好；第二個(gè)軍醫(yī)說，他可以把自己的心挖出來，明天早晨再放回去；第三個(gè)軍醫(yī)說，他可以把自己的兩只眼睛全剜出來，明天早晨再裝好。“要是真能這樣的話，”老板說，“那你們的本領(lǐng)可就真到家了！”原來，三個(gè)軍醫(yī)有一種藥膏，只要抹上去，傷口就會(huì)愈合，他們總是隨身帶著那裝藥的小瓶子。他們按自己說的那樣，把手，心，眼睛從身上割下來，一起裝在一個(gè)盤子里，交給旅店老板。旅店老板又把盤子給女傭人，叫她把盤子放在柜廚里小心保管。女傭人私下與一個(gè)士兵相戀。就在旅店老板，三個(gè)軍醫(yī)和屋里的人們都睡著了的時(shí)候，那個(gè)士兵來了，他向她要點(diǎn)東西吃。于是，女傭人把柜廚打開，給他拿東西吃。她對(duì)他情意綿綿，竟忘了關(guān)上柜廚的門。她與情人坐在床邊，沒完沒了地聊了起來，把這世上任何事情都拋到了腦后，可就在這時(shí)候，貓悄悄地溜進(jìn)來了，看到柜廚的門敞著，于是叼起三個(gè)軍醫(yī)的手，心，眼睛跑了。那個(gè)兵吃完東西以后，女傭人開始收拾碗筷，當(dāng)她去關(guān)櫥門的時(shí)候，發(fā)現(xiàn)老板讓她看管的那只盤子空了。她嚇了一跳，對(duì)她的情人說：“天啊！我該怎么辦呢？手沒了！心和眼睛也沒了！明天早晨我可怎么交差呀！”士兵說：“別擔(dān)心！我想辦法幫你渡過難關(guān)。外面絞刑架上吊著一個(gè)小偷。我去把他的手切下來。哪只手呢？”“右手！”女傭人說著，交給士兵一把鋒利的菜刀。士兵出去把那個(gè)可憐的犯人的右手砍下來，交給了女傭人。然后，他們又把貓抓住，把貓的眼睛剜出來。現(xiàn)在只缺個(gè)心了。“你們不是剛殺了幾頭豬，把豬肉放在地下室里了嗎？”“嗯，是啊！”女傭人說。“這就好了！”那個(gè)兵說著，就下到地下室里去，把豬心拿上來。女傭人把這三樣?xùn)|西一起放在盤子上，送進(jìn)柜廚里。她的情人告別走了，女傭人也放心地去睡覺了。

　　第二天早上，三個(gè)軍醫(yī)起來，叫女傭人把那裝著手，心和眼睛的盤子拿過來。女傭人打開柜廚，把泡子拿出來。第一個(gè)軍醫(yī)把小偷的手接上又抹上藥膏，馬上手就長在他胳膊上了。第二個(gè)軍醫(yī)把貓眼睛裝在眼窩里。第三個(gè)軍醫(yī)把豬心裝進(jìn)了胸膛。旅店老板站在他們身邊，非常佩服他們高強(qiáng)的本領(lǐng)，說他有生以來還從來沒見過這樣的事情呢。他還說，遇見別人，一定好好宣揚(yáng)他們。于是，他們?nèi)齻€(gè)人繳了店錢，又繼續(xù)旅行去了。

　　三個(gè)軍醫(yī)往前走啊走，安上豬心的軍醫(yī)總不和另外兩個(gè)軍醫(yī)一起走。遇到個(gè)角落，他就跑過去，像頭豬似的，用鼻子到處聞。另外的兩個(gè)人不管怎么拉他的衣服，都一點(diǎn)兒也不頂用。他總是掙開，跑到那最骯臟的地方去。第二個(gè)軍醫(yī)的行為也很奇怪。他揉著眼睛，對(duì)另外一個(gè)軍醫(yī)說：“伙計(jì)，這是怎么的了？這不是我的眼睛啊！我怎么什么也看不見了？你們誰來扶我一下，別讓我摔跟頭！”就這樣，他們?nèi)齻€(gè)人非常困難地往前走，晚上，他們走進(jìn)另一家旅店。剛一進(jìn)大廳，就看到有一個(gè)財(cái)主正坐在角落的飯桌數(shù)錢呢。安上小偷手的軍醫(yī)，在財(cái)主身邊走過來，走過去，動(dòng)了幾回胳膊。就在財(cái)主轉(zhuǎn)身之機(jī)，他把手伸到錢堆去，抓了一大把錢出來。另一個(gè)軍醫(yī)看見了說：“伙計(jì)，你干什么？不能偷東西呀！真不知羞恥！”安上小偷手的軍醫(yī)說：“唉！我無法控制自己，我的心不想偷，可手卻不聽指揮，非要抓錢不可！”后來，他們睡覺去了。躺下時(shí)天已漆黑了，伸手不見五指。可是那安上貓眼睛的軍醫(yī)突然醒了，喊那兩個(gè)軍醫(yī)起來：“老兄，快看啊！有好多老鼠在那里亂跑呢，看見了嗎？”另外兩個(gè)軍醫(yī)起身看了看，什么也沒看見。安上貓眼睛的軍醫(yī)說：“我們都變了！旅店老板沒有把我們的手，心和眼睛還給我們！我們得回去向他要！他欺騙了我們！”第二天早晨，他們?nèi)齻€(gè)人起身到第一次住宿的旅店老板那里去，說他們沒有得到自己的手，心和眼睛。一個(gè)人得的是小偷的手，一個(gè)人得的是貓的眼睛，另一個(gè)得的是豬的心。老板說，這一定是女傭人的錯(cuò)。于是，要叫她來。但是女傭人看到他們?nèi)嘶貋恚缇蛷暮箝T逃跑了，再也沒有回來。于是三個(gè)軍醫(yī)要老板拿出很多錢來，要不就點(diǎn)火燒房子。老板把現(xiàn)錢和能收上來的錢都拿出來讓他們帶走了。這些錢雖然夠他們用一輩子的，可是他們寧愿討回自己的手，心和眼睛啊！

　　II. Exercise Choose the correct answer to the following questions.

　　1）。 What did the three surgeons think of themselves？

　　A） They thought they know nothing about the art of surgery.

　　B） They thought they had nothing to learn about the art of surgery.

　　C） They thought they hadn't known enough to be great surgeons.

　　D） They thought they just knew a little about the art of surgery.

　　2）。 How could the surgeons replace their hand， heart and eyes and make them heal？

　　A） They were so great surgeons that they could operate on themselves.

　　B） They asked a mysterious surgeon to help them.

　　C） They had a kind of medicine to take.

　　D） The had a kind of ointment to smear on the wound.

　　3）。 How did the hand， heart and eyes get lost？

　　A） The maidservant didn't close the larder door from beginning.

　　B） The soldier stole them without being noticed by the maidservant.

　　C） A dog snatched them when the maidservant sat there without a care in the world and with the larder door open.

　　D） A cat snatched them when the maidservant sat there without a care in the world and with the larder door open.

　　4）。 What kinds of organs did the maidservant and the soldier change？

　　A） The thief's left hand， the cat's eyes and the pig's heart.

　　B） The thief's left hand， the dog's eyes and the pig's heart.

　　C） The thief's right hand， the cat's eyes and the pig's heart.

　　D） The thief's right hand， the dog's eyes and the pig's heart.

　　5）。 Which word has the same meaning with the word “cupboard” which is in the third paragraph？

　　A） larder

　　B） cup

　　C） board

　　D） box

　　6）。 What's wrong with the one who had the cat's eyes？

　　A） He kept on leaving the others when they were walking alone.

　　B） He couldn't see anything in the day but see clearly at night.

　　C） He couldn't see anything at night but see clearly in the day.

　　D） He couldn't see anything entirely.

　　7）。 Which statement is not right？

　　A） The three surgeons were very modest.

　　B） In the evening， they were aware that they were cheated.

　　C） The maidservant fled away and didn't reappear.

　　D） The landlord gave the three surgeons all his money at last.

　　III. New Words and Expressions 生詞和詞組

　　ointment n. 軟膏

　　gallows n. 絞臺(tái)

　　sinner n. 罪人

　　organ n. 器官

　　Key to Exercise（練習(xí)答案）

　　1：B 2：D 3：D 4：C 5：A 6：B 7：A

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