100个儿童英语小故事: An Old Church Bell 古教堂的钟

 

049 An Old Church Bell

There once was a small town in Germany where acacia flowers were in full bloom, and apple and pear trees bore fruit in autumn. This town was beautiful but poor.

On one day of late autumn, when the grape vine leaves were dried with a red color, it rained heavily, and there was a cold strong wind. It was not good news for the poor people in this town. As it got dark outside, the small old houses got darker.

There was one small and shabby house with a very small window. The people in that house were very poor, but they were good and honest. When a solemn church bell tolled¹ piously² and peacefully, a boy came into the world.

His mother was very happy, because the church bell seemed to deliver her happy news to the whole town.

The boy grew up well, and his family moved to another town. On the day that the boy turned six, he visited his hometown with his mother. The town was still poor though.

There were new graves in the churchyard, and the old bell was laying on a lawn next some walls. That was the bell from the church bell tower. A new bell was hanging in the tower.

The mother told her son that the old bell tolled for people of the town when they had baptism ceremonies, weddings and funerals, and it was always on people's minds whenever they were sad or happy.

As she told him how the old bell had given her comfort when she was in pain giving birth to him, and how it had tolled happily to the town, he gazed at the bell with a warm heart.

The old bell took a place in a part of the boy's memory. Soon, he grew up as a red-haired, freckled³ and tall young man. His eyes were as clear as a lake, and luckily, he could go to a military academy, where most of the students were aristocrats⁴, without paying any tuition.

The young man's name was Marebaha, that is, John Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. He became a political exile, and one of the greatest and immortal⁵ poets of Germany who wrote poems about the legendary⁶ warrior⁷ of Switzerland, 'Wilhelm Tell' and 'Die Jungfrau von Orleans'.

What happened to the old church bell? The old bell was sold as a lump of metal and sent to Bayern in Germany. It was used as material to make a statue of a great heros who gave glory to the German people.

The old church bell melted and flowed into the frame of the statue of Johann Christoph and became a part of its head and chest. This statue has generally been known to the public now, after one hundred years from the day Marbaha was born. The statue is still standing⁸ on Stuttgart Square.

1 tolled   

鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Bells were tolled all over the country at the King's death. 全国为国王之死而鸣钟。
• The church bell tolled the hour. 教堂的钟声报时。

2 piously   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• Many pilgrims knelt piously at the shrine.许多朝圣者心虔意诚地在神殿跪拜。
• The priests piously consecrated the robbery with a hymn.教士们虔诚地唱了一首赞美诗，把这劫夺行为神圣化了。

3 freckled   

adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

4 aristocrats   

n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

6 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

7 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。