英语故事-Jonah-And-The-Whale完整版.docVIP

英语故事 Jonah And The Whale 　　Jonah was a Hebrew. He worshiped the God of Israel. One day God spoke to Jonah. 　　’Jonah，’ he said. ‘I want you to go to the great city of Nineveh and tell the people about the word of God. They have become very wicked and I am angry with them.’ 　　Jonah was frightened to go to Nineveh. 　　He said to himself， ‘If they are wicked， then they will probably hurt me. If God is going to forgive them， he can do so without my help.’ 　　So Jonah ran away in the opposite direction. He hurried down to Joppa and went on board a ship that was sailing to the port of Tarshish. 　　’I’ll go as far as I can away from God and Nineveh，’ he thought. 　　But Jonah could not hide from God. When the ship set sail， God sent a fierce wind and a rough storm. The sails of the little ship were torn. The waves rose high above the deck. The masts were broken by the crashing sea. The sailers were afraid. 　　They threw their cargo overboard so that the ship rode higher and more safely on the waves. Then each man Prayed to his own god to save them. But the storm continued and the ship began to drift towards the rocky shore. 　　All this time Jonah had been asleep below the deck. He slept even when the storm was its fiercest， with the wind howling and shrieking in the rigging. The captain went below to wake him up. 　　’Come on， you lazy man！’ Get up， get up. The storm will wreck the ship. On deck with you and join the rest. Each man is praying to his god and you must pray to yours. Get up on deck and down on your knees or we will all be drowned.’ 　　Jonah went up on deck. The sailors had stopped their prayers. They were grumbling to each other and swearing at the storm. They wondered how to save themselves. 　　’Let’s draw lots，’ they? said， ‘to find out who’s to blame for the anger of the gods.’ 　　On man took several straws and broke them all off short， except for one. He held them in his hand so that none of the sailors could see which was the long straw and which were the short