休闲阅读两则

任丽珍

Why is the Cocks Face Red?

Long, long a-go, a cock, a rab-bit, a duck and a dog lived together in a forest.

One morning the rabbit came to

the cock and said, “Hello, Mr Cock. Im going to buy some vegetables. May I borrow your basket?”

“Sorry,” the cock said, “Im going to use it myself.”

At noon, the duck caught some fish. She came and said to the cock, “My dear friend, would you please help me carry the fish to my house?”

“Sorry,” the cock answered, “Cant you see Im having lunch?”

In the evening the dog came. “Good evening, my friend. Im going to town tomorrow morning. Please wake me up earlier.”

“No,” said the cock, “I cant do that. I am tired.”

At night, there suddenly came a strong wind and a heavy rain. The cocks house fell down. He cried for help. The rabbit, the duck and the dog ran up to help him without a word.

After the rain, they helped him build a new house. The cock felt very ashamed and his face turned red. He said, “Im sorry for what I have done. Ill learn from you.”

After that, the cocks face is red.

公鸡的脸为什么是红的？

从前，公鸡、兔子、鸭子和狗一起住在森林里。

有一天早晨，兔子来到公鸡跟前说，“公鸡先生，你好！我打算去买菜，可以借你的篮子用一下吗？”

“对不起”，公鸡说，“我自己要用呢。”

中午，鸭子捉了一些鱼。她过来对公鸡说，“我亲爱的朋友，请帮我把鱼搬到我家，好吗？”

“对不起”，公鸡回答说，“难道你没有看到我在吃午饭吗？”

晚上，狗来了，“晚上好，我的朋友，我明早要去城里，请你早一点把我叫醒。”

“不行”，公鸡说，“我不能那样做，我很累。”

夜里，突然刮起了一阵大风，又下了一场大雨。公鸡的房子倒了。他拼命喊救命。兔子、鸭子和狗二话没说，都跑过来帮他。

大雨过后，他们帮他盖了一间新房子。公鸡感到非常羞愧，他的脸变红了。他说，“我为我做过的事而感到抱歉，我要向你们学习。”

从那以后，公鸡的脸就变成红色的了。

Self-reliance

A baby sail asked his mother, “Why was I born with a shell that grew so hard and heavy?”

His mother said, “Because we dont have bones to support us. We can only crawl and move slowly, so weve got a shell to protect us.”

Her baby asked again, “The caterpillar has no bones either, nor can she move quickly; why can she do so without a shell?”

The mother snail answered, “Thats because a caterpillar will become a butterfly. She flies high to the sky which can protect her.”

Her baby had another question, “But the earthworm crawls like us. He has no bones nor can he turn into a butterfly. Why doesnt he carry a hard, heavy shell?”

His mother said, “He can drill a hole, get into the ground and be protected by it.”

The baby snail then burst into tears, “What a pity! We have no protection either from the sky or from the ground.”

His mother comforted him, “Thats why we are gifted with a shell. We neednt count on the sky or the ground for protection. We rely on our-selves.”

靠自己

小蜗牛问妈妈：“为什么我从生下来就要背负这个又硬又重的壳呢？”

蜗牛妈妈答道：“因为我们的身体没有骨骼的支撑，只能爬，又爬不快，所以要这个壳来保护我们呀！”

小蜗牛又问：“毛虫没有骨头，也爬不快，为什么她却不用背这个壳呢？”

蜗牛妈妈说：“因为毛虫能变成蝴蝶，她可以飞上天空，天空会保护她啊。”

小蜗牛再次问道：“可是蚯蚓和我们一样，他也没有骨头，也不会变成蝴蝶，他为什么不背这个又硬又重的壳呢？”

蜗牛妈妈说：“因为蚯蚓会打洞，钻进泥土里，大地会保护他啊。”

于是小蜗牛哭了起来：“我们好可怜哦！天空不保护我们，大地也不保护我们。”

蜗牛妈妈安慰他：“所以我们天生有壳啊!我们不靠天，也不靠地，我们靠自己。”