精美英文欣赏:苹果树(上)

The Apple Tree

苹果树

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and lay around it every day. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap¹ under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

很久很久以前，有一棵又高又大的苹果树。一位小男孩，天天到树下来，他爬上去摘苹果吃，在树荫下睡觉。他爱苹果树，苹果树也爱和他一起玩耍。

Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.

后来，小男孩长大了，不再天天来玩耍。一天他又来到树下，很伤心的样子。

"Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy. "I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them."

苹果树要和他一起玩，男孩说：“不行，我不小了，不能再和你玩，我要玩具，可是没钱买。”

"Sorry, but I don't have money...but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money." The boy was so excited. He grabbed² all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

苹果树说：“很遗憾，我也没钱，不过，把我所有的果子摘下来卖掉，你不就有钱了？”男孩十分激动，他摘下所有的苹果，高高兴兴地走了。然后，男孩好久都没有来。苹果树很伤心。

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me," the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter³. Can you help me?" "Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can chop⁴ off my branches to build your house."

有一天，男孩终于来了，树兴奋地邀他一起玩。男孩说：“不行，我没有时间，我要替家里干活呢，我们需要一幢房子，你能帮忙吗？”“我没有房子，”苹果树说，“不过你可以把我的树枝统统砍下来，拿去搭房子。”

So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then.

于是男孩砍下所有的树枝，高高兴兴地运走去盖房子。看到男孩高兴树好快乐。从此，男孩又不来了。

1 nap   

n.(白天)打瞌睡，打盹

参考例句：

• The nap of the coat has been worn off.外衣上的绒毛已经磨掉了。
• Don't bother me while I am taking my nap.我小睡的时候不要打扰我。

2 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

3 shelter   

n.掩蔽，掩蔽处，避身处；庇护所，避难所，庇护；vt.庇护，保护，隐匿；vi.躲避

参考例句：

• We took shelter from the rain in a cave.我们在一个山洞里避雨。
• Trees are a shelter from the sun.树木可以遮挡阳光。

4 chop   

n.厚肉片，排骨，砍，交换，戳记，商标；vt.剁碎，砍，切，割断；vi.砍，突然转向

参考例句：

• He struck off the branch with a single chop of the ax.他一斧子就砍掉了那根树枝。
• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。