Ice in the Forest 森林中的冰

One morning， the block1 came out in the middle of the forest. It was a hugeblock of ice. It is as tall as a tree， and as big as a hundred elephants. What’s more，it was so cold that no one wanted to go near. But the animals could see thewonderful treasure2 in it. The treasure looked very beautiful. The Lion King said， ifanyone could get it out， that animal would be the next king.

So all the animals lost their dislike3 of the cold and went close to the block.They tried very hard to get the treasure out. Well， everyone except for4 the weasel5.The weasel stood there and looked at the block. The other animals ran here andthere. They made a lot of noise， and piled6 on top of each other.

The elephant was using his trunk7 as a hammer8， but finally hit the gorilla9.The two later had to go to hospital. The tiger was using his claws10 like a hammerdrill11， but they got stuck12 in the ice. When he finally pulled them out， the clawsbroke off. Several gazelles13 found out that the block was made of cold water. Theytried to lick14 the block away. But the water was very cold. They got astomachache15. The monkeys decided to destroy16 the block. They threw bananasand stones fast and heavily. But they hit many other animals. They had to stop.

And so it went on. All the animals tried to break the block. They used force17from day to night， but didn’t make it. They found it was slowing down. If they keptdoing so， it would take them more than a week.

一天早上，一块物体出现在森林中央。那是一块巨大的冰块。它有一棵树那么高，有一百头大象那么大。而且，它太寒冷了，没有人愿意靠近。但是动物们能看到冰块里有奇妙的宝藏。宝藏看起来漂亮极了。狮子王说，如果有人能把它弄出来，那只动物就是下一任国王。

因此，所有的动物都不再厌恶寒冷，靠近了冰块。它们非常努力地想把宝藏弄出来。唔，鼬是个例外。那只鼬站在那里，注视着冰块。其它动物跑来跑去，它们发出了许多噪音，互相挤成一堆。

大象把鼻子当做锤子，但最终打中了大猩猩。两人后来不得不去医院治疗。老虎把爪子当成锤钻使用，但它们卡在了冰里。当它终于把它们拔出来时，爪子断了。几只瞪羚意识到这块冰是由冷水冻结而成的。它们试图舔化冰块。但水很冷，它们开始肚子疼。猴子们决定捣毁这块冰，它们又快又狠地朝它投掷香蕉和石头。但它们打中了许多其它的动物，不得不停下来。

事情就这样发展下去。所有的动物都试图打破这块冰。它们从白天到黑夜不停使用蛮力，但都没有成功。它们发现进展缓慢，如果继续这样做，还需要一个多星期的时间才能达到目的。

▏Notes

1. block 一块；物体

2. treasure 金银财宝；珍宝

3. dislike 反感；不喜欢的事物. 不喜欢

4. except for 除了；除去

5. weasel 鼬；黄鼠狼

6. pile 堆叠；拥挤

7. trunk 象鼻；树干

8. hammer 锤子

9. gorilla 大猩猩

10. claw 动物、鸟、昆虫的爪

11. hammer drill 锤钻

12. stuck 卡住的

13. gazelle 瞪羚

14. lick 舔

15. stomachache 胃痛；肚子痛

16. destroy 摧毁

17. force 武力