The Stories ofthe“Bag” “袋子”的故事
作者：***
来源：《中学生英语·中考指导版》2014年第11期
        There are many expressions about the word “bag” or using the word “bag” in English. So today， let’s start with the word “bag”.
        英语中有很多表达与“袋子”一词相关或者使用了“袋子”这个词。今天我们就从“袋子”这个词说起吧。
        The bag is one of the most simple and useful things in the world. It is a container （容器） made of paper or cloth. It has given the world many strange expressions that are not very simple. Some of them are used in the United States today.
        袋子是世界上最简单而实用的物品之一，它是由纸或布料制成的容器。但是随之而来的也有很多奇异的、并不简单的表达。其中某些表达现在在美国还在使用。
        One is “bagman”. It describes a go-between （媒介者；中间人）. The go-between sees to it that money is passed —often illegally—from one person to another.
        其中之一是“口袋人”。 这个短语形容的是一种中间人，这种中间人确保资金得以转手——从一个人到另一个人手上——通常是非法的。
        Another widely-used （被广泛使用的） expression is “to let the cat out of the bag”. It is used when someone tells something that was supposed to be secret. No one can explain how the cat got into the bag. But there is an old story about it.
        另一个广泛使用的表达是“让猫从袋子里出来”。当某些人公布了一些本应是秘密的事情时，就可以用这个短语表达。没有人知道猫是如何进入袋子的，但是关于这一点有个古老的故事。
        Long ago tradesmen （商人） sold things in large cloth bags. One day a woman asked for a pig. The tradesman held up a cloth bag with something moving inside it. He said it was a live pig. The woman asked to see it. When the dishonest tradesman opened t
he bag， out jumped a cat—not a pig. The tradesman’s secret was out. He was trying to trick her. And now everybody knew it.
        很久以前，商人们做生意的时候把货物放在大的布袋子里。有一天一个女人想买一头猪，商人抓起一只布袋子，里面有什么东西在动的样子。他说那是头活猪。但是女人要求看看。当那不诚实的商人打开口袋时，蹦出来的是一只猫，而不是一头猪。于是那个商人的秘密曝光了。他想欺骗那个女人，但是现在所有人都知道是怎么回事了。
        The phrase “to be left holding the bag” is as widely used as the expression “to let the cat out of the bag”.
        习语“被留下来背口袋”和 “让猫从袋子里出来”的表达皆被大家广泛使用。
        This expression means making the person left and responsible for an action， often a crime （犯罪） or misdeed （违法行为）. That person is the one who is punished. The others involve in （涉及） the act escape.
        这个习语表示让某人留下来为某个行为负责，通常为某种罪行或违法行为。这个被留下
来的人接受了惩罚，而其他涉及此行为的人可以逃脱惩罚。
        Where the expression came from is not clear. Some say that General （将军） George Washington used it during the American Revolutionary War （美国独立战争）.
        这个习语的起源并不明了。有些人说乔治·华盛顿将军在美国独立战争中用过它。
        One of Washington’s officers， Royall Taylor， used the expression in a play about Daniel Shays’ rebellion （叛乱）. The play was in seventeen eighty-seven， after Taylor helped to put down （平定） Shay’s rebellion.
        华盛顿的一名官员，诺伊尔·泰勒在一部描述丹尼尔·谢伊的叛变的戏剧中用过这个习语。这部戏剧诞生于1787年，在泰勒帮助镇压谢伊的叛变之后。
书包里的故事        Shays led a thousand war veterans （老兵） in an attack on a federal （联邦的） building in Springfield， Massachusetts. Guns were in the building. Some of the protesters （抗议者；示威者） were farmers who had no money to buy seed. Some had been put in prison for not paying their debts （债务）. They were men who fought one war against the
king of England， and were now prepared to fight against their own government. Most of the rebels （叛乱者） were captured. Shays and some of the officers escaped.
        谢伊在马萨诸塞州的斯普林菲尔德率领千名老兵袭击了一幢联邦建筑。支都在这幢建筑中。有一些起义者是买不起种子的农民。有一些是没钱还债而锒铛入狱的人。他们是一曾参加过反抗英国国王的战争，现在却准备反抗自己的政府的人。大部分叛乱者都被抓获，只有谢伊和一些军官逃脱了。
        In his play， Taylor describes Shays as disappearing， giving others “the bag to hold”.
        泰勒在他的戏剧中描述说谢伊自己消失了，而让他人“背口袋”。
        A bag is useful in many ways. Just be careful not to let the cat out of the bag， or someone may leave you holding the bag.
        “bag”这个词的用法很多。你一定小心不要“让猫从袋子里跑出来”，否则别人可能会“让你背口袋”。