about adj. 在附近的；四处走动的；在起作用的

　　twig n. 小枝；嫩枝；末梢

　　nestle vi. 舒适地坐定；偎依；半隐半现地处于

　　whirl vi. 旋转，回旋；急走；头晕眼花

　　Once upon a time a little leaf was heard to sigh and cry, as leaves often do when a gentle wind is about. And the twig said, "What is the matter, little leaf?" And the leaf said, "The wind just told me that one day it would pull me off and throw me down to die on the ground!"

　　The twig told it to the branch on which it grew, and the branch told it to the tree. And when the tree heard it, it rustled all over, and sent back word to the leaf, "Do not be afraid. Hold on tightly, and you shall not go till you want to."

　　And so the leaf stopped sighing, but went on nestling and singing. Every time the tree shook itself and stirred up all its leaves, the branches shook themselves, and the little twig shook itself, and the little leaf danced up and down merrily, as if nothing could ever pull it off. And so it grew all summer long, till October.

　　And when the bright days of autumn came the little leaf saw all the leaves around becoming very beautiful. Some were yellow and some scarlet, and some striped with both colors. Then it asked the tree what it meant. And the tree said, "All these leaves are getting ready to fly away, and they have put on these beautiful colors because of joy."

　　Then the little leaf began to want to go, too, and grew very beautiful in thinking of it, and when it was very gay in color it saw that the branches of the tree had no bright color in them, and so the leaf said, "O branches! Why are you lead-color and we golden?"

　　"We must keep on our work-clothes, for our life is not done - but your clothes are for holiday, because your tasks are over," said the branches.

　　Just then a little puff of wind came, and the leaf let go, without thinking of it, and the wind took it up and turned it over and over, and whirled it like a spark of fire in the air, and then it dropped gently down under the edge of the fence, among hundreds of leaves, and fell into a dream, and it never woke up to tell what it dreamed about.

　　焦虑的树叶

　　从前，当微风靠近时，就像其它所有的树叶一样，有一片小小的树叶在叹息和哭泣。小树枝说：“小叶子，怎么啦？”叶子说：“风告诉我，总有一天它会把我拉下来，然后把我扔到地上，并死在那！”

　　小树枝把它告诉它生长的大树枝上，大树枝把它告诉了树。当树听到时， 它沙沙作响，并传话给树叶：不要害怕，紧紧抓住，直到你想走了，你才会离开”

　　于是叶子停止了叹息，继续依偎着，唱着歌。每一次树摇起来，把它的叶子都搅起来，树枝就颤动起来，小树枝也摇了起来，那小叶子高兴地上下跳着，好像什么也不能把它扯下来似的。所以整个夏天都在生长，一直到十月。

　　当明媚的秋天来临时，小叶子看到周围的树叶变得非常美丽。有些是黄色的，有些是猩红色的，还有一些有两种颜色都有。然后它问树这意味着什么。树说：“所有这些树叶都准备好要飞走了，因为喜悦，他们已经着上这些美丽的颜色了。”

　　这时，小叶子也开始想走了，想着想着，它长得非常美丽。当它颜色鲜艳时，它看到树的枝干上没有鲜艳的颜色，于是叶子说：“哦，树枝。！为什么你是铅色而我们是金色的？”

　　“我们必须穿上工作服，因为我们的生命还没有结束，但你的衣服是用来度假的，因为你的任务已经结束了。”

　　一阵风吹了过来，小叶子想都没想就放手离开了。风把它吹上去翻转着，它就像空气中的火花那样旋转着。然后慢慢的它轻轻的落在篱笆边上，周围有成百上千的树叶，然后它睡着了，再也没有醒来告诉别人自己梦见了什么。