100个儿童英语小故事: The Shower and the Buckwheat 阵雨和荞麦

 

024 The Shower and the Buckwheat

A long time ago, there was a big field in a village. The Barely and wheat were planted in that field. The buckwheat was also in the field.

The grains grew very well in summer with mild sunshine. "I am so beautiful. There is no comparison between me and barely or wheat. My flowers are as beautiful and white as those of apple trees!" The buckwheat boasted about herself. She paid no attention to any of the barely, wheat, trees or flowers of the riverside.

Right at that moment, "Grrrrrr, Boom boom! Flash flash!" It thundered with a rumbling¹ sound, the lightning flashed. "Pitter patter, pitter patter!" And it showered heavily. Heavy raindrops came down with frightening speed. 

"Oh, it's a shower!" "Lower your head, quickly!" Barely and wheat who were taking in the sun were astonished and shouted. Everyone lowered their heads, shut their buds and waited for the shower to pass by, but the buckwheat did not.

"Hum, what a fuss! It's only a shower." Rather, she raised her head arrogantly². "Buckwheat, lower your head quickly." Barely was surprised to see Buckwheat was raising her head and said.

"Why do I have to lower my head?" "Look at that heavy rain. You will get wounds from that beating rain all over your body. Besides, if your eyes are struck by the lightning, you'll be blind forever. God is inside of the lightning. We cannot look at him directly." Barely said impatiently.

"Is he really in the lightning? Well, I will look at him directly!" Buckwheat leaned backwards³ much more arrogantly than before. 'Flash!' At that moment, a very big lightning flashed. It looked like the whole world was on fire. "Oh my God!" All the grains shouted simultaneously⁴ and closed their eyes.

After a while, the shower stopped, and the sun shone gloriously. A beautiful rainbow appeared from the opposite side of the mountain. The grains slowly and carefully raised their heads after crouching⁵ themselves. They raised their moistly wet bodies and looked at the beautiful rainbow.

"Wow, what a beautiful rainbow!" "Yes, you're right. It is such a beautiful rainbow!" Rainbows after showers were always beautiful. Everyone felt cool and fresh, but buckwheat did not.

"Boo-hoo!" She lowered her head and was sobbing⁶ at one side. Buckwheat did not lower her head, so she got a big scar on her face from the heavy rains. On top of that, because she lost her sight from the lightning, she could never look at a rainbow again. 

1 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

2 arrogantly   

adv.傲慢地

参考例句：

• The consular porter strode arrogantly ahead with his light swinging. 领事馆的门房提着摇来晃去的灯，在前面大摇大摆地走着。
• It made his great nose protrude more arrogantly. 这就使得他的大鼻子更加傲慢地翘起来。

3 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

4 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

5 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

6 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。