New Concept English three（16）

35w/m

43

Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece. One of
Mary's prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her. She kept it

tied to a tree in a field during the day and went to fetch it every evening. One evening,

however, the lamb was missing. The rope had been cut, so it was obvious that the lamb had been

stolen. When Dimitri came in from the fields,His wife told him what had happened.Dimitri at

once set out to find the thief. He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small village.

After telling several of his friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour,

Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb. Dimitri immediately went to Aleko's house and angrily

accused him of stealing the lamb. He told him he had better return it or he would call the

police. Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his back-yard. It was true that he had just

bought a lamb, he explained, but his lamb was black. Ashamed of having acted so rashly, Dimitri

apologized to Aleko for having accused him. While they were talking it began to rain and

Dimitri stayed in Aleko's house until the rain stopped. When he went outside half an hour

later, he was astonished to find that the little black lamb was almost white. Its wool, which

had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain!

notes:

一对夫妇掉了一只白色羊羔，调查后，怀疑是邻居偷的，一番询问后，因为邻居的羊羔是黑色的，但是一场雨，染色的黑羊变白了。