The Preacher Buys a Parrot

傳教士買鸚鵡

A preacher is buying a parrot.

一個(gè)傳教士在買鸚鵡。

"Are you sure it doesn't scream, yell, or swear?" asked the preacher.

“你確信它不會(huì)尖叫，大叫或詛咒別人嗎？”傳教士問。

"Oh absolutely. He's a religious parrot," the storekeeper assures him.

“噢，絕對(duì)不會(huì)。它是一只虔誠(chéng)的鸚鵡?！钡曛飨蛩ＷC。

"Do you see those strings on his legs? When you pull the right one, he recites the lord's prayer, and when you pull on the left he recites the 23rd Psalm."

“你看見它腿上的那些細(xì)繩了嗎？當(dāng)你拉動(dòng)右邊這根，它會(huì)背誦天主經(jīng)；當(dāng)你拉動(dòng)左邊那根，它會(huì)背誦贊美詩(shī)?！?/div>

"Wonderful!" says the preacher, "but what happens if you pull both strings?"

“太棒了！”傳教士說(shuō)，“但是如果我同時(shí)拉動(dòng)兩根繩子，會(huì)發(fā)生什么呢？”

"I fall off my perch, you stupid fool!" screeched the parrot.

“我會(huì)從樹干上掉下去，你這個(gè)笨蛋！”鸚鵡尖聲說(shuō)道。

這個(gè)笑話中出現(xiàn)了三個(gè)含有“大喊”、“大叫”意思的詞語(yǔ)：scream，yell 和 screech。

scream 指“因痛苦、恐懼、驚奇、快樂等而發(fā)出尖叫聲”，如：
She screamed when she saw the child fall. 當(dāng)她看見那個(gè)孩子跌倒時(shí)，她尖聲叫了起來(lái)。

yell 多指求援、鼓勵(lì)時(shí)的呼叫，也可指因外界因素刺激而發(fā)出尖厲聲音。如：
yell the team to victory 用喊聲鼓勵(lì)運(yùn)動(dòng)隊(duì)取勝

screech 指“發(fā)出尖銳刺耳的聲音”，如：
The car screeched to a halt. 車子發(fā)出尖嘎聲停了下來(lái)。