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Now, Words and Their Stories, a weekly program from VOA Learning English.

现在是VOA学英语的周更节目《词汇掌故》节目时间。

Today we will be talking about a hated but misunderstood animal – the rat.

今天我们要探讨一个被大家憎恶实则被误解的动物——老鼠（rat）。

The sight of a rat might frighten you. Or it might make you sick to your stomach.

看见老鼠可能会吓到你，或会让你感到恶心。

Well, perhaps not everyone.

好吧，也许不是每个人都这样。

In some countries, dishes made with rat meat can be rare and sometimes pricey -- what we call a delicacy.

在一些国家，用老鼠肉烹饪很罕见，且有时候价格很贵，说得上是珍馐了。

Plus, rats are useful. With their extreme sense of smell, people can train giant rats to find land mines and even tuberculosis.

此外，老鼠的用途广泛。它们拥有强大的嗅觉，人们可以训练巨鼠寻找地雷，甚至是发现结核病。

But do these things make people love rats?

但是这些能让人们爱上老鼠吗？

No. For the most part, rats are not beloved animals.

不能。对于绝大多数人来说，老鼠不是他们心仪的动物。

For starters, they're not cute. They have pointed noses and long, thin tails. They can eat and damage crops. And the world has long blamed rats for spreading diseases, like the Bubonic plague in Europe during the 14th century. It does not help your reputation when you are accused of killing at least one-third of the population of an entire continent.

首先，老鼠长得不可爱。它们有着尖鼻子和细长的尾巴，会啃食和毁坏庄稼。此外，世人们一直抨击老鼠传播疾病，如14世纪时欧洲的黑死病。老鼠被控告杀死了整个欧洲大陆至少三分之一人口，这不利于它们的声誉。

But, perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to judge.

但也许我们不该太早下结论。

Scientists now think that it was most likely not rats, but another rodent, the gerbil, that caused the Bubonic plague. They suspect that gerbils traveled to Europe from Asia, some along the Silk Road that traders used. But these animals were not carrying spices and silk, but rather disease.

科学家们现在认为黑死病很大可能不是老鼠引起的，而是另一种啮齿动物——沙鼠。他们怀疑沙鼠是由亚洲传入的欧洲，其中一些是沿着商人途经的丝绸之路传入的，但这些动物携带的不是香料和丝绸，而是疾病。

Today, however, gerbils are pets in many American homes. Teachers sometimes keep them in classrooms for students to care for. Rats, not so much.

然而今天，沙鼠是很多美国家庭的宠物。老师们有时候把沙鼠带去教室让学生们照料。选择老鼠的则不那么多。

Such is the difficult life of an unwanted, misunderstood animal.

这就是这种不受欢迎且被人误解的动物的艰辛生活。

So, scientists can debate the role of rats in spreading disease. But the fact that rats have a really bad reputation in American English is not debatable. It's the truth. None of our rat expressions means anything good.

那么科学家们可以替老鼠在传播疾病方面做辩护，但美式英语里老鼠的坏名声真得无可辩驳。事实就是这样。没有一个“老鼠（rat）”的表达是表达好意的。

The simplest way we use this word is to simply say, "Rats!" Americans often use this expression when something goes wrong. The term is common and polite -- unlike some of our other expressions we might use when we are angry.

我们使用这个单词的最简单的方式就是简单地说“Rats!（可恶！）”美国人经常在出问题的时候用到这个表达。这个词很常见且有礼，不像其他一些我们在生气时也许会用到的表达。

As we said earlier, rats may have a good sense of smell. But smelling a rat isn't good. When we say, "I smell a rat!" we suspect that something is wrong. If you feel that someone has betrayed you, you can say that you smell a rat.

如之前所说，老鼠也许拥有敏锐的嗅觉。但“smell a rat（感觉可疑）”则不是一件好事。当我们说“I smell a rat!（我觉得不对劲！）”，意思是我们怀疑某事物有问题。如果你感觉有人背叛了你，你可以说“you smell a rat（你感觉不对劲）”。

A pack rat is not good, either. This is a person who keeps useless things. And worse, they live with all the stuff they have collected.

“a pack rat（什么东西都不肯扔的人）”也不是什么褒义短语。这种人喜欢保留没用的东西。更糟的是，他们和他们收藏的所有东西住在一起。

So, calling someone a "rat" is never an expression of respect or affection. When describing people, a "rat" is someone who is not loyal or cannot be trusted. A rat snitches on someone to an authority figure – a parent, a teacher, a police officer.

因此，称呼某人为“rat”绝不是一个表示尊敬或是喜爱的表达。被称之为“rat”的人是不忠诚或是不被信任的人。告密的人会向有权威的人告发某人，如向父母、老师、警察告密。

As a verb, the word "rat" isn't good either.

动词的“rat”的含义也不好。

To rat on someone means to betray a loved one, friend or someone else you know. When you rat on someone, you tell on them.

“rat on someone（出卖某人）”意思是背叛爱人、朋友或是一个熟人。当你出卖某人，你告发（tell on）了他们。

Let's say you know that your brother ate the last piece of cake when he wasn't supposed to. You rat on him to your parents. Or maybe you rat on a colleague at work. Ratting on people, or tattling on them, will not win you friends. It just makes you a rat. Or worse -- a rat fink.

假设你的兄弟偷吃了最后一块蛋糕。你向你的父母告发了他。或者也许你出卖了你的同事。出卖别人或是打别人小报告（tattle on）的人是不会有朋友的。那只会让你成为一个不被信任的人，或者更糟，一个卑鄙小人（a rat fink）。

The words tattling and tattletales are often used for children. But ratting someone out or snitching on them can be for any age.

单词“tattle（打小报告）”和“tattletales（打小报告者）”一般适用于儿童。但“rat someone out（出卖某人）”或是“snitch on them（告发某人）”适用于任何年龄段。

No matter what your age, nobody likes to be called a rat, a snitch or a tattletale. However, it is a little different when the police are involved.

无论你多大，没人会喜欢被称作“a rat（不被信任的人）, a snitch（告密者） 或是a tattletale（打报告者）”。但当警察介入的时候，这种行为还是有些许不同的。

Let's say you have information about a crime. When the police begin asking questions, you decide to keep that information to yourself. You may feel you don't want to rat on someone else.

假设你握有一宗犯罪案件的相关信息。当警察开始向你询问问题时，你决定保有这些信息。你也许觉得不想出卖别人。

However, nobody would blame you for sharing information with the police if it helps them catch a criminal. Well, another criminal might not approve. Most criminals have a different code of conduct among themselves: You don't rat on fellow criminals to the police.

但如果向警察分享这些信息能帮助他们抓住罪犯，没人会指责你。好吧，其他罪犯可能会不同意你这么做。大多数罪犯之间都有一条不同的行为准则：不向警察出卖你的同伙。

In old police television shows and movies, you may hear one criminal criticize another who snitched to the police. They may say, "You dirty rat!"

在老警察剧和电影里，你也许听见一个罪犯批评另一个向警察告密的人。他们也许会说，“你这可耻的叛徒！”

You would not say that a hardened, possibly violent criminal tattled on another ... unless you were trying to be funny.

你不会说一个冷酷的，也许暴力的罪犯打另一个罪犯的小报告……除非你是想搞笑。

So, when using the word "rat" in English know that the meaning is never a good one. But in life, maybe we should take another look at rats and give them a chance.

所以，当使用英语里单词“rat”的时候，了解其含义绝不是好意。但在生活中，也许我们应该重新审视老鼠并给他们一次机会。

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

到了本期《词汇掌故》的节目尾声了。

Do rats have a good reputation in your country? Please tell us! It would be nice to know there is a place on this planet where saying "Rats!" is a good thing.

“老鼠”在你们国家有好的名声吗？请告诉我们！知道这个星球上有个地方人们说“老鼠”表示好的含义将会是一件令人开心的事情。

I'm Anna Matteo.

我是安娜•马特奥。