100个儿童英语小故事: The Shadow 影子

 

013 The Shadow

A scholar¹ who used to live in a cold region² took a trip to a place of tropical³ weather. He stayed in the house all day because it was too hot to go out. "Phew. It is so hot. I can't even go outside."

At night, people came out from their houses to get fresh air. The scholar also went out of his house and looked around here and there. "There are a lot of people here. Now I feel better. But how come the house across the street is so quiet?"

"Music flows from the house, and such beautiful flowers are in the house. There must be a pretty woman living in that house. "Then, one evening.

"That house is quiet again. The only thing that moves in the house is my shadow." The scholar acted as if he was talking to his own shadow.

Suddenly, his shadow on the house went into the inside the house. The scholar was shocked. Then, the next day. "How can I lose my own shadow? People will laugh at me. Phew. What am I going to do? I feel awful. What am I going to do now?"

In a tropical region, everything grew really fast. Fortunately, the scholar's shadow grew a lot in a week. 

Then, one evening. Someone visited the scholar. "Who is it? Please come in." A well-dressed gentleman came into his house. "Excuse me, but have we meet before?" The gentleman answered. "Don't you recognize me? Well, I guess you've never imagined that I would show up in front of you with this kind of look. I have been enjoying my own life very much since I left you." "Then, you must be." "That's right! I am your shadow." "How amazing! How can this happen? And how are you doing?"

"I will tell you everything. But promise me one thing before I tell my story. Don't you ever tell anyone that I used to be your shadow." "I promise!"

"I went into the house across the street and met a Goddess. I learned⁴ a lot of things while I was staying there with her. Then, she allowed me to live my own life all by myself. Sometimes I gave severe⁵ punishments to bad people. People always welcomed me wherever I was. They just loved me." "Really? That's amazing! How can this happen?" "I've to go now. See you next time."

A few years later, the shadow visited the scholar again. The scholar was writing a book, but he was so sad because no one read his book. He felt tired of writing. "You look very exhausted⁶." "No one can understand my book." "You have to take a rest. Let's go to a spa. I will pay for the trip for you. Instead, you should be my shadow." "Oh god! Do I really have to be your shadow?" After long thinking about the shadow's suggestion, the scholar decided⁷ to go on the trip and be a shadow. 

There were lots of people in the spa, and a princess was one of them. The princess saw the shadow and thought, "He is so nice. I want to go out with him."

She met the shadow. She liked him very much because he knew everything. The shadow pointed⁸ to the scholar and said, "He is my shadow. If you want to know about something, please ask him." "You look so smart."

The princess decided to get married to the shadow.

The shadow met the scholar and said, "I am going to marry the princess. You can come to the castle and live with us. But you have to be my shadow and have to live under my feet forever." "No, that doesn't make any sense. You are MY shadow."

The shadow put the scholar in prison, and then he told the princess. "My shadow is out of his mind. He kept insisting that I am his shadow. There seems to be no chance of his recovery⁹. I will help him to disappear quietly." "Yes, you need to help him."

The princess and the shadow finally got married. But the scholar died in prison. <Whatever comes your way, don't forget to keep your self-esteem.>

1 scholar   

n.学者，公费生，有文化者，学习者

参考例句：

• There was no doubt that he was a fine scholar.毫无疑问，他是位杰出的学者。
• To be a scholar is to be the top of society.万般皆下品，惟有读书高。

2 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

3 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 severe   

adj.严格的，凶猛的，严肃的，严重的，严厉的，朴素的

参考例句：

• The severe storm did for most of the crops.猛烈的暴风雨毁掉了大部分庄稼。
• The pace was too severe to be kept up for long.跟上这步伐太难了，无法持久。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 recovery   

n.恢复，痊愈；追回，寻回，收复

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• The quick recovery was truly in response to medication.这次迅速康复确实是对药物治疗的反应。