100个儿童英语小故事: The Singing Lark 会唱歌的云雀

 

076 The Singing Lark¹

A long time ago, there once lived a father who had three daughters. One day, before he left for a long journey, he said to his daughters, "When I come back what gifts should I bring back for you?" The eldest² daughter wanted pearls³ and the second daughter wanted diamonds. However the youngest daughter wanted a singing lark.

 The Singing Lark

Father promised to bring back the gifts and left for his journey. Several months later, Father had finished his journey and returned. He brought back the eldest and the second daughter's presents, but he was not able to get his youngest daughter's gift. And because he loved his youngest daughter the most, he felt very sad.

One day as he was resting in the forest, there up on the big tree he saw a singing lark. He went up the tree to get the singing lark. All of a sudden⁴, a lion came and said, "Who came to take away my singing lark?"

"If you wish to take this bird, when I go to your house, give me the first thing that comes running out. Can you promise me?" Father was worried that his youngest daughter would come out, but because he was afraid of the lion he gave his word to the lion.

When he arrived, as expected, the youngest daughter came running out without even putting on her shoes. Father told the youngest daughter the whole truth. The youngest daughter consoled her father and said, she would try to persuade the lion.

As soon as she arrived, the lion turned into a prince. The prince was cast⁵ upon a spell, during the day he was a lion and at night he lived as a prince.

She married the prince. They also had children. Soon afterward⁶, a few days later, a message came that her second sister was getting married. The youngest wanted to go to the wedding with her prince. However, if the prince saw daylight he would be turned into a pigeon⁷ and fly around for seven years.

But, because his wife wanted to go together, he started for his journey. The wife was good at blocking away the sunlight⁸. However, inside the church there was a hole in the window and one stream of sunlight came in.

So the prince turned into a pigeon and flew away. The wife for seven years searched for the pigeon.

She prayed to god to help her. "Dear god, please show me where he is." God replied that he was about to marry a princess from another country.

She then went into the castle secretly and whispered⁹ to the prince. "Prince, you are my husband. You must leave with me." All of a sudden the prince's spell was broken. The prince was under the terrible princess spell, and was just about to marry her.

The prince and his wife left for their own country. When they arrived home, their child had grown up quite a bit too. And they lived happily ever after for a long time.

1 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

2 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

3 pearls   

n.珍珠( pearl的名词复数 )；珍品；人造珍珠；珠状物

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• a string of pearls 一挂珍珠

4 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

5 cast   

vt./vi.(cast,cast)投掷；投射；抛

参考例句：

• You can cast your vote at the local polling station.你可以在当地的投票站投票。
• He cast off fear and decided to make a try.他去掉害怕心理，决定试一试。

6 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

7 pigeon   

n.鸽子

参考例句：

• The pigeon homed from a distance of 100 miles.鸽子从百英里之外返回窝巢。
• How many pigeon eggs do you need?你要几个鸽子蛋？

8 sunlight   

n.日光，阳光，日照

参考例句：

• The room was flooded with warm and golden sunlight.房间充满着温暖、金色的阳光。
• In the bright sunlight she had to narrow her eyes.在强烈阳光下她必须眯着双眼。

9 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》