One day, the peachwood charm against evil hung on the door turned its face upward to curse the figure made of Chinese mugwort: "Who do you think you are to dare to set yourself over my head?"
The figure of Chinese mugwort, unwilling1 to be outdone, looked down and retorted: "It is summer now. You have only half a year to go, and can't live long. Why squabble over who is higher or who is lower?"
The peachwood charm was beside itself with rage, and answered back sarcastically2. Both sides refused to give in, and squabbled endlessly with a stream of abuse against each other.
At this moment, the deity3 of the door came to mediate4: "It is only because we have no ability that we have to attach ourselves to the door of others. What's the point of quarrelling with each other?"
一天，掛在門上的桃符仰起了臉，大罵艾草人：“你這個艾草人算什么東西，膽敢高踞在我的頭上！”
艾草人不甘示弱，低頭還嘴，說道：“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是夏天了，你只有半年了，活不了多長時間了，還爭什么高低呢？”
桃符怒不可遏，反唇相譏。它們互相不服氣，彼此罵不絕口，爭吵不休。
這時候，門神出來勸解說：“我們都是因為沒有什么本事，才依附在別人的門下，還爭什么強，斗什么氣呢？”
1 unwilling
adj.不情愿的
參考例句：
The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民勢力的擺布。 His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝嗇的雇主不肯給他加薪。
2 sarcastically
adv.挖苦地，諷刺地
參考例句：
'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡羅琳輕聲挖苦道。 Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮爾斯嘲笑她，諷刺地鞠了一躬。
3 deity
n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)
參考例句：
Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.許多動物 被看作神的化身。 The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在廟宇壁龕的最深處。
4 mediate
vi.調(diào)解，斡旋；vt.經(jīng)調(diào)解解決；經(jīng)斡旋促成
參考例句：
The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必須通過調(diào)解來解決對水資源的爭奪。 They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他們也許能在不同利益政黨之間進(jìn)行斡旋
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