华富里(Lopburi),又译“洛布里”,泰国南部城市,华富里府首府,历史名城,建于公元五世纪。1665年曾为大城王朝陪都,商业发达。但华富里不只是古城,也有“猴城”之称。独一无二的猴城景观,全世界“只此一家”、“绝无仅有”。
每年11月的最后一个周末,华富里举行“猴子节”,当地居民会大摆宴席,准备丰富的水果食物,宴请数百只猴子齐来赴会,场面怪异壮观。
猴子节已经变成了本地吸引来自世界各地游客的盛大活动,第一届华富里猴子节举行于1989年11月25日,几十张提供各种丰盛食物的中式餐桌被分成三个区域供猴子就餐。华富里的猴子已经有近三十年可以每年在中式餐桌上饱餐一顿。
本篇课程首发于2018年12月6日,选自 The Economist Espresso APP
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Beast feast of the east: Thailand
① While Americans recover from Thanksgiving, one city in Thailand is hosting a rather different banquet today.
② Each year, Lopburi treats its 3,000-odd long-tailed macaques to tonnes of fruit, cakes and sweets, piled in ornate displays among temple ruins.
③ Monkeys represent luck and prosperity in many south-east Asian cultures, and in Thai myth a monkey-king is credited with saving Sita, the wife of a divine prince.
④ Monkey-business means money, too.
⑤ The feast was established in 1989, after a local man recognised his simian neighbours as a tourist draw.
⑥ It becomes more elaborate each year—featuring music and dancing and, once, the organiser parachuting in wearing a monkey costume—and now attracts some 10,000 visitors.
⑦ Lopburi's macaques have it good: elsewhere in Thailand, large groups of monkeys are seen as a nuisance.
⑧ The province of Phuket is trying to reduce their numbers, with sterilising or relocating the animals to unpopulated islands among the options on the table.
▍生词好句
beast /biːst/: n. 野兽
feast /fiːst/: n. 筵席
banquet /'bæŋkwɪt/: n. 宴会
3000-odd: 三千出头;三千多
long-tailed: 长尾的
macaque /mə'kɑːk, mə'kæk/: n. 猕猴;短尾猴
tonnes of: 大量的
pile /paɪl/: vt. 堆放;摞起
prosperity /prɒ'sperɪtɪ, prɑːˈsperətɪ/: n. 繁荣
myth /miθ/: n. 神话
simian / 'sɪmɪən/: n. 猴子
tourist draw: 旅游胜地
elaborate /ɪ'læbrət/: adj. 精心制作的;详尽的
have it good: 过舒适的生活
nuisance /'njuːs(ə)ns, 'nusns/: n. 讨厌的人或事
sterilise /ˈsterɪlaɪz, ˈsterəlaɪz/: vt. 进行绝育手术;使不育
relocate /ˌriːləʊˈkeɪt, ˌriːˈloʊkeɪt/: vt. 重新安置;迁移
▍词汇拓展
1. banquet: n. 宴会
wedding banquet: 婚宴
state banquet: 国宴
2. be credited with sth. / with doing sth.
某人被认为做了某件好事
Evans is credited with inventing the system.
据说是 Evans 开发了这个系统(好事)。
3. draw: n. 吸引人注意的地方
draw=attraction
a tourist draw=a tourist attraction: 旅游景点
draw: vt.
draw a picture: 画画
draw a conclusion: 下结论
draw a bath: 放洗澡水
draw the curtain open: 拉开窗帘
draw one's attention: 吸引某人注意力
4. after 表原因
After you sent this letter, I didn't think I'd ever see you again.
你发出这封信后,我以为我们永别了。
After he had studied hard for a long time, he did great in his final exam.
在经过长时间努力学习之后,他期末考了很好的成绩。
5. have it good: 过舒适的生活
——How have you been?
——I have it good, very good, and I'm grateful.
——最近怎么样?(前任问)
——我过得可幸福了,可感恩了!(气死你)
We'll have it good. We'll have the life we knew we would. My word is good.
一切会好起来的,我们会过上梦想中的好日子的,我说到做到。
▍责任编辑
周书豪、武志琳、章晓丹