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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
Like many languages, English loves to use animals in expressions.
像许多语言一样，英语中的许多短语用到了“动物”。
So, today let's talk about chickens!
那么，今天我们就来谈谈鸡吧！
English has several chicken expressions that describe human behavior.
英语中有几个用来描述人类行为的含有“鸡”的短语。
For example, if you are an early riser, we might say you wake up with the chickens.
例如，如果你是一个早起的人，我们可能会说你醒得很早。
If you are fearful of something, you might be called a chicken.
如果你害怕某事，你可能会被称为胆小鬼。
And if you run around in a crazy way--or are just very busy--you are said to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
如果你疯狂地跑来跑去——或者只是很忙——你就会被说成像只没头苍蝇似的跑来跑去。
But today we are going to explore an expression with a little more meaning.
但今天我们要探索一个更有意义的短语。
Today, we talk about our past mistakes and sins--the bad things we have done. We all have them.
今天，我们来谈谈我们过去犯过的错误和罪过——我们做过的坏事。我们都犯过错。
But the question is: Will they come back to haunt us? Will they cause us problems?
但问题是：它们会回来困扰我们吗？它们会给我们带来麻烦吗？
But what does our past sins have to do with chickens?
但是我们过去犯过的罪过和鸡有什么关系呢？
The answer is found in this expression: "Your chickens have come home to roost."
答案就在这句话里：“Your chickens have come home to roost.”
For a chicken, to roost means to settle down for rest or sleep.
对鸡来说，栖息的意思是舒舒服服地趴下休息或睡觉。
For us, however, the expression is not at all restful.
然而，对我们来说，这句话根本不是令人放松的。
When our chickens come home to roost, it means our past mistakes or wrongdoings have come back to cause us problems.
“our chickens come home to roost”的意思是我们过去犯过的错误或做过的坏事又回来给我们带来麻烦。
This happened with a man named Alex.
这样的事情发生在一个叫亚历克斯的人身上。
He was very good at one thing – lying.
他很擅长一件事——撒谎。
He lied to people at work.
他对同事撒谎。
He lied to every woman he met.
他对他遇到的每一个女人都撒谎。
He lied to his neighbors and even to his family.
他对邻居甚至家人都撒了谎。
Then one day, he got into serious trouble with the police.
后来有一天，他犯大事落入了警察的手里。
He was accused of stealing from his workplace.
他被指控在他的工作场所偷东西。
And this time, he was not guilty.
这一次，他是无罪的。
But no one believed him, and no one came to help.
但是没有人相信他，也没有人来帮忙。
After years of lying to people, his chickens had finally come home to roost.
在对人撒谎多年后，他终于自食其果了。
He was on his own.
他只能靠自己了。
This expression is also used another way.
这个短语也有另一种用法。
Bad things might happen to you if you wish for bad things to happen to others.
如果你希望坏事发生在别人身上，那么坏事就可能会发生在你身上。
When used this way, we say, "Curses, like chickens, come home to roost."
这时我们会说：“咒人就是咒自己。”
A curse is like a wish for something bad to happen to someone else.
诅咒就是希望坏事发生在别人身上。
Let's say two friends named Karen and Daniel have a falling-out--a big fight.
假设两个叫凯伦和丹尼尔的朋友大吵了一架。
Their relationship is really damaged and probably will not be repaired.
他们的关系真的破裂了，很可能无法修复了。
When telling the story of the fight to his brother, Daniel says, "I hope Karen loses her job or something else really bad happens to her."
当丹尼尔向他的哥哥讲述他和凯伦吵架的事情时，他说：“我希望凯伦丢掉工作，或者发生其他很糟糕的事情。”
Daniel's brother warns him, "You should be careful what you hope for.
丹尼尔的哥哥警告他说：“你要小心你所希望的。
You know, curses, like chickens, come home to roost."
你知道，咒人就是咒自己。”
And that's all the time we have for this Words and their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
