100个儿童英语小故事: Cinderella 灰姑娘/辛德瑞拉

 

069 Cinderella

There once lived a cute lovable girl named Cinderella. But one day a misfortune¹ came upon her. Cinderella's mother was ill and soon died. Every day Cinderella cried so sadly.

"Cinderella, Cinderella don't cry" Father, comforted her and comforted her. But, because Cinderella missed her mother so much she cried every day. "Cinderella please don't cry. Soon your stepmother will be arriving."

The stepmother brought with her two daughters. Cinderella was happy to have a new stepmother and stepsisters. However, it wasn't for long, for Father soon had to leave on a far away trip. "Pretty Cinderella, listen to your stepmother and stepsisters." Cinderella promised her father that she would.

Everyday, while the lazy, ugly stepsisters played they teased² Cinderella. Cinderella always stayed up late cleaning and washing the laundry. "Cinderella! Clean my shoes." Cinderella always wore tattered³ clothes and worked all day doing housework.

One day, an invitation came from the royal palace. "Mother, the prince is having a ball in finding a bride." Stepmother and stepsisters were in a commotion⁴ is choosing there clothes for the ball.

"Until we get back clean the house and have the laundry washed spotlessly." The powered and dressed up stepmother and stepsisters left for the ball. "Oh! How I wish to go to the ball too." Cinderella left all alone began to cry.

All of a sudden the room became bright and a fairy godmother appeared. "Pretty Cinderella why are you crying?" "I want to go to the ball too. But, there's so much to do and I have nothing to wear"

"Don't worry Cinderella." As soon as the fairy godmother waved her magic wand, the housework that the stepmother asked was finished. And as soon as the tattered clothes were touched by the magic wand it changed into a splendid dress. And on her feet a pair of lovely glass slippers⁶.

"Once the clock strikes twelve the spell will be broken. Don't forget and come before then." As soon as Cinderella arrived at the ball everyone's eyes starred at her. "Ah! Who can that lovely girl be?" The prince asked Cinderella to dance. The two danced happily.

The clock began to strike twelve. The startled⁷ Cinderella ran out of the ballroom⁸. She left the ball so quickly that she lost one of her glass slippers. As soon as she came out of the palace the spell was broken. Cinderella went back home with one of her glass slippers.

The prince could not forget the girl who left the ball so quickly. So, the prince searched house by house to find the girl who would fit the glass slipper⁵. However, there was no girl who was able to fit the glass slipper. Finally, he came to Cinderella's house.

The stepsisters fought over the glass slipper and tried it on. Both had big feet and did not fit the shoe. The prince was very disappointed.

"I will try on the glass slipper." Cinderella tried on the glass slipper. The shoe fit her perfectly⁹. Cinderella took out the other glass slipper to put it on, "Ah! It was you." The prince and Cinderella went back to the palace and lived happily ever after.

1 misfortune   

n.不幸，厄运，逆境，不幸事故，灾难

参考例句：

• It is said to be an omen of misfortune.那被认为是一种不幸的先兆。
• She had the misfortune to break her leg.她不幸摔断了腿。

2 teased   

v.取笑，戏弄( tease的过去式和过去分词 )；梳理（羊毛等）

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws. 他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt annoyance at being teased. 我恼恨别人取笑我。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

4 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

5 slipper   

n.拖鞋

参考例句：

• I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。
• The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。

6 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

7 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。