During the Warring States Period, a man was willing to teach the King of Yan the ways to attain immortality.

　　The King of Yan was very glad when he heard of this, and quickly sent someone to acknowledge the man as master and learn from him.

But before the man he sent had a chance to learn, that man died.

The man he sent could only return dejectedly.

　　At this the King of Yan flew into a rage.

He rebuked4 the man for walking too slowly to get there in time, and ordered to have him killed.

　　The King of Yan never realized that the man who boasted himself as an immortal was deceiving him, but instead, he blamed the man he sent for walking too slowly.

　　战国时，有一个人愿意教给燕王一套长生不老的方法。

　　燕王知道后，非常高兴，连忙派人前去拜师学习。

可是，派去学习的人还没来得及学习，那个人就死了。

派去的人只好垂头丧气地回来了。

　　燕王见了大发雷霆，竟责怪去学习的人走路太慢，去得太晚，命令立即将他杀了。

　　然而，燕王没有醒悟到那个自称长生不老的人是在欺骗他，反而怪罪派去学习的人走得太慢。

　　1 attain　　vt.

达到，获得，完成　　参考例句：　　I used the scientific method to attain this end.

我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。

　　His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy.

他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

　　2 immortal　　adj.

不朽的;永生的，不死的;神的　　参考例句：　　The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.

野生可可树实际上是不会死的。

　　The heroes of the people are immortal!

人民英雄永垂不朽!

　　3 immortality　　n.

不死，不朽　　参考例句：　　belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念　　It was like having immortality while you were still alive.

仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。

　　4 rebuked　　责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 )　　参考例句：　　The company was publicly rebuked for having neglected safety procedures.

公司因忽略了安全规程而受到公开批评。

　　The teacher rebuked the boy for throwing paper on the floor.

老师指责这个男孩将纸丢在地板上。

【英语故事：燕王学道查看网站：[db:时间]】