英语六级读故事记单词(二十五)

A Rivalry of Laughter
       The rivalry between the two princes was rigorous. If it was not who could tell the best riddles, it was who could make the best rhymes. The royalty was never as happy as when the two boys competed with their jokes in the roundabout where they all gathered. Everyone would ripple with laughter as the boys ripped into each other with their robust humor as they roamed the room like attacking lions.
Each ritual competition would begin with the boys each wearing an oversized robe, one of the color rouge and one of blue. That the ruffles of the robes were rotting from overuse never mattered. They were only rinsed once from the previous day.
       One day, however, the royalty’s romance with the rivalry between the princes reached new heights. This happened with one of the prices brought in a rig of rotary devices to use against the jokes of his brother. When the other prince touched its rim his hair stood straight up from the electric current produced by the rubies in the device. The royalty all fell to the ground laughing as the second prince screamed in surprise.
       Their laughter stopped suddenly however when they realized that the screams were not of pleasure but of pain. When the device was finally turned off the prince was dead. He had been electrocuted. The first prince, in such grief that his joke had been deadly, turned the rig back on and grabbed the rim himself. He died as well.
       That castle was soon abandoned and no one ever heard a laugh from it again.

 

带来笑声的比赛
       两个王子之间的比赛很严格。他俩不是比猜谜语，就是比押韵。王族成员只有在两个男孩坐在旋转木马上、他们围在周围看他们比赛说笑话的时候才是最高兴的。两个孩子一边像进攻的狮子一样在屋子里漫游一边用强有力的幽默猛攻对方，大家的笑声在周围荡漾。
每次例行的比赛开始的时候，两个男孩都穿着对他们来说尺寸太大的长袍，一个胭脂红色，另一个是蓝色。长袍的褶裥饰边由于使用太久而有些破烂，但这没有关系，它们只是在前一天用过之后才漂洗一次。
       然而有一天，王子之间的比赛带给王族成员的传奇故事达到了新的顶峰。事情是这样的，一个王子拿了一套旋转装置来，他要用他对付他哥哥的笑话。当另外一个王子触到他的边缘的时候，装置中的红宝石产生的电流使他的头发竖了起来，王子吃惊地尖叫起来，王族成员倒在地上笑成一团。
       但是他们的笑声突然停止了，因为他们发现尖叫声不是因为高兴而是因为痛苦。等到他们终于把装置关上时，王子已经死了。他是被电死的。第一个王子因自己的玩笑弄出人命伤心极了，他把装置重新打开并伸手抓住边缘。他也被电死了。
       那座城堡很快就变得空无一人，人们再也听不到发自里面的笑声了。