英語童話故事短文帶翻譯

精彩的童話故事像一棵棵美麗的聖誕樹,吸引著無數孩子如痴如醉地去閱讀，下面這些是小編為大家推薦的幾篇英語童話故事短文帶翻譯

英語童話故事短文帶翻譯：THE DARNING-NEEDLE

THERE was once a darning-needle who thought herself so fine that she fancied she must be fitfor embroidery. "Hold me tight," she would say to the fingers, when they took her up, "don'tlet me fall; if you do I shall never be found again, I am so very fine." "That is your opinion, isit?" said the fingers, as they seized her round the body. "See, I am coming with a train," saidthe darning-

needle, drawing a long thread after her; but there was no knot in the fingers then placed the point of the needle against the cook's slipper. There was a crack inthe upper leather, which had to be sewn together. "What coarse work!" said the darning-needle, "I shall never get through. I shall break!- I am breaking!" and sure enough she broke. "Did I not say so?" said the darning-needle, "I know I am too fine for such work as that." "Thisneedle is quite useless for sewing now," said the fingers; but they still held it fast, and the cookdropped some sealing-wax on the needle, and fastened her handkerchief with it in front. "Sonow I am a breast-pin," said the darning-needle; "I knew very well I should come to honorsome day: merit is sure to rise;" and she laughed, quietly to herself, for of course no one eversaw a darning-

needle laugh. And there she sat as proudly as if she were in a state coach, andlooked all around her. "May I be allowed to ask if you are made of gold?" she inquired of herneighbor, a pin; "you have a very pretty appearance, and a curious head, although you arerather small. You must take pains to grow, for it is not every one who has sealing

-wax droppedupon him;" and as she spoke, the darning-needle drew herself up so proudly that she fell outof the handkerchief right into the sink, which the cook was cleaning. "Now I am going on ajourney," said the needle, as she floated away with the dirty water, "I do hope I shall not belost." But she really was lost in a gutter. "I am too fine for this world," said the darning-needle, as she lay in the gutter; "but I know who I am, and that is always some comfort." Sothe darning-needle kept up her proud behavior, and did not lose her good humor. Then therefloated over her all sorts of things,-

chips and straws, and pieces of old newspaper. "See howthey sail," said the darning-needle; "they do not know what is under them. I am here, and hereI shall stick. See, there goes a chip, thinking of nothing in the world but himself-

only a e's a straw going by now; how he turns and twists about! Don't be thinking too much ofyourself, or you may chance to run against a stone. There swims a piece of newspaper; what iswritten upon it has been forgotten long ago, and yet it gives itself airs. I sit here patiently andquietly. I know who I am, so I shall not move." One day something lying close to the darning-

needle glittered so splendidly that she thought it was a diamond; yet it was only a piece ofbroken bottle. The darning-needle spoke to it, because it sparkled, and represented herself asa breast-pin. "I suppose you are really a diamond?" she said. "Why yes, something of thekind," he replied; and so each believed the other to be very valuable, and then they began totalk about the world, and the conceited people in it. "I have been in a lady's work-box," saidthe darning-needle, "and this lady was the cook. She had on each hand five fingers, andanything so conceited as these five fingers I have never seen; and yet they were onlyemployed to take me out of the box and to put me back again." "Were they not high-born?" "High-born!" said the darning-needle, "no indeed, but so haughty. They were five brothers, allborn fingers; they kept very proudly together, though they were of different lengths. The onewho stood first in the rank was named the thumb, he was short and thick, and had only onejoint in his back, and could therefore make but one bow; but he said that if he were cut offfrom a man's hand, that man would be unfit for a soldier. Sweet-

tooth, his neighbor, dippedhimself into sweet or sour, pointed to the sun and moon, and formed the letters when thefingers wrote. Longman, the middle finger, looked over the heads of all the others. Gold-

band,the next finger, wore a golden circle round his waist. And little Playman did nothing at all, andseemed proud of it. They were boasters, and boasters they will remain; and therefore I leftthem." "And now we sit here and glitter," said the piece of broken bottle. At the same momentmore water streamed into the gutter, so that it overflowed, and the piece of bottle was carriedaway. "So he is promoted," said the darning-needle, "while I remain here; I am too fine, butthat is my pride, and what do I care?" And so she sat there in her pride, and had many suchthoughts as these,- "I could almost fancy that I came from a sunbeam, I am so fine. It seemsas if the sunbeams were always looking for me under the water. Ah! I am so fine that even mymother cannot find me. Had I still my old eye, which was broken off, I believe I should weep;but no, I would not do that, it is not genteel to cry." One day a couple of street boys werepaddling in the gutter, for they sometimes found old nails, farthings, and other treasures. Itwas dirty work, but they took great pleasure in it. "Hallo!" cried one, as he pricked himself withthe darning-needle, "here's a fellow for you." "I am not a fellow, I am a young lady," said thedarning-needle; but no one heard her. The sealing-wax had come off, and she was quite black;but black makes a person look slender, so she thought herself even finer than before. "Herecomes an egg-shell sailing along," said one of the boys; so they stuck the darning-needle intothe egg-shell. "White walls, and I am black myself," said the darning-needle, "that looks well;now I can be seen, but I hope I shall not be sea-sick, or I shall break again." She was not sea-sick, and she did not break.

"It is a good thing against sea-

sickness to have a steel stomach,and not to forget one's own importance. Now my sea-sickness has past: delicate people canbear a great deal." Crack went the egg-shell, as a waggon passed over it. "Good heavens, howit crushes!" said the darning-needle. "I shall be sick now. I am breaking!" but she did notbreak, though the waggon went over her as she lay at full length; and there let her lie.

織布針

從前有一根織補衣服的針。作為一根織補針來說，她倒還算細巧，因此她就想像自己是一根繡花針。“請你們注意你們現在拿著的這東西吧!”她對那幾個取她出來的手指說。“你們不要把我失掉!我一落到地上去，你們就決不會找到我的，因為我是那麼細呀!”“細就細好了，”手指說。它們把她攔腰緊緊地捏住。“你們看，我還帶著隨從啦!”她說。她後面拖著一根長線，不過線上並沒有打結。

手指正把這根針釘著女廚子的一隻拖鞋，因為拖鞋的皮面裂開了，需要縫一下。“這是一件庸俗的工作，”織補針說。“我怎麼也不願鑽進去。我要折斷!我要折斷了!”——於是她真的折斷了。“我不是說過嗎?”織補針說，“我是非常細的呀!”

手指想：她現在沒有甚麼用了。不過它們仍然不願意放棄她，因為女廚子在針頭上滴了一點封蠟，同時把她別在一塊手帕上。“現在我成為一根領針(註：領針(brystnaal)是一種裝飾*?，穿西裝時插在領帶上;針頭上一般鑲有一顆珍珠。)了!”織補針說。“我早就知道我會得到光榮的：一個不平凡的人總會得到一個不平凡的地位!”

於是她心裡笑了——當一根織補針在笑的時候，人們是沒有辦法看到她的外部表情的。她別在那兒，顯得很驕傲，好像她是坐在轎車裡，左顧右盼似的。“請准許我問一聲：您是金子做的嗎?”她問她旁邊的一根別針。“你有一張非常好看的面孔，一個自己的頭腦——只是小了一點。你得使它再長大一點才成，因為封蠟並不會滴到每根針頭上的呀。”

織補針很驕傲地挺起身子，結果弄得自己從手帕上落下來了，一直落到廚子正在沖洗的汙水溝裡去了。“現在我要去旅行了，”織補針說。“我只希望我不要迷了路!”

不過她卻迷了路。“就這個世界說來，我是太細了，”她來到了排水溝的時候說。“不過我知道我的身份，而這也算是一點小小的安慰!”

所以織補針繼續保持著她驕傲的態度，同時也不失掉她得意的心情。許多不同的東西在她身上浮過去了：菜屑啦，草葉啦，舊報紙碎片啦。“請看它們遊得多麼快!”織補針說。“它們不知道它們下面還有一件甚麼東西!我就在這兒，我堅定地坐在這兒!看吧，一根棍子浮過來了，它以為世界上除了棍子以外再也沒有甚麼別的東西。它就是這樣一個傢伙!一根草浮過來了。你看它扭著腰肢和轉動的那副樣兒!不要以為自己了不起吧，你很容易撞到一塊石頭上去呀!一張破報紙游過來了!它上面印著的東西早已被人家忘記了，但是它仍然鋪張開來，神氣十足。我有耐心地、靜靜地坐在這兒。我知道我是誰，我永遠保持住我的本來面目!”

有一天她旁邊躺著一件甚麼東西。這東西射出美麗的光彩。織補針認為它是一顆金剛鑽。不過事實上它是一個瓶子的碎片。因為它發出亮光，所以織補針就跟它講話，把自己介紹成為一根領針。“我想你是一顆鑽石吧?”她說。“嗯，對啦，是這類東西。”

於是雙方就相信自己都是價值很高的物件。他們開始談論，說世上的人一般都是覺得自己非常了不起。“我曾經在一位小姐的匣子裡住過，”織補針說，“這位小姐是一個廚子。她每隻手上有五個指頭。我從來沒有看到像這五個指頭那樣驕傲的東西，不過他們的作用只是拿著我，把我從匣子裡取出來和放進去罷了。”“他們也能射出光彩來嗎?”瓶子的碎片問。“光彩!”織補針說，“甚麼也沒有，不過自以為了不起罷了。他們是五個兄弟，都屬於手指這個家族。他們互相標榜，雖然他們是長短不齊：最前面的一個是”笨摸“(註：”笨摸“、”餂罐“、”長人“、”金火“和”比爾——玩朋友“，是丹麥孩子對五個指頭所起的綽號。大拇指摸東西不靈活，所以叫做”笨摸“;二指常常代替吞頭伸到果醬罐裡去餂東西吃，所以叫”餂罐“;四指因為戴戒指，所以看起來像有一道金火;小指叫做”比爾——玩朋友“，因為它甚麼用也沒有。)，又短又肥。他走在最前列，他的背上只有一個節，因此他只能同時鞠一個躬;不過他說，假如他從一個人身上砍掉的話，這人就不夠資格服兵役了。第二個指頭叫做”餂罐“，他伸到酸東西和甜東西里面去，他指著太陽和月亮;當大家在寫字的時候，他握著筆。第三個指頭是”長人“，他伸在別人的頭上看東西。第四個指頭是”金火“，他腰間圍著一條金帶子。最小的那個是”比爾——玩朋友“，他甚麼事也不做，而自己還因此感到驕傲呢。他們甚麼也不做，只是吹牛，因此我才到排水溝裡來了!”“這要算是升級!”瓶子的碎片說。

這時有更多的水沖進排水溝裡來了，漫得遍地都是，結果把瓶子的碎片沖走了。“瞧，他倒是升級了!”織補針說。“但是我還坐在這兒，我是那麼細。不過我也正因此感到驕傲，而且也很光榮!”於是她驕傲地坐在那兒，發出了許多感想。“我差不多要相信我是從日光裡出生的了，因為我是那麼細呀!我覺得日光老是到水底下來尋找我。啊!我是這麼細，連我的母親都找不到我了。如果我的老針眼沒有斷了的話，我想我是要哭出來的——但是我不能這樣做：哭不是一樁文雅的事情!”

有一天幾個野孩子在排水溝裡找東西——他們有時在這裡能夠找到舊釘、銅板和類似的物件。這是一件很髒的工作，不過他們卻非常欣賞這類的事兒。“哎喲!”一個孩子說，因為他被織補針刺了一下，“原來是你這個傢伙!”“我不是一個傢伙，我是一位年輕小姐啦!”織補針說。可是誰也不理她。她身上的那滴封蠟早已沒有了，全身已經變得漆黑。不過黑顏色能使人變得苗條，因此她相信她比以前更細嫩。“瞧，一個蛋殼起來了!”孩子們說。他們把織補針插到蛋殼上面。“四周的牆是白色的，而我是黑色的!這倒配得很好!”織補針說。“現在誰都可以看到我了。——我只希望我不要暈船才好，因為這樣我就會折斷的!”不過她一點也不會暈船，而且也沒有折斷。“一個人有鋼做的肚皮，是不怕暈船的，同時還不要忘記，我和一個普通人比起來，是更高一招的。我現在一點毛病也沒有。一個人越纖細，他能受得住的東西就越多。”“砰!”這時蛋殼忽然裂開了，因為一輛載重車正在它上面碾過去。“我的天，它把我碾得真厲害!”織補針說。“我現在有點暈船了——我要折斷了!我要折斷了!”

雖然那輛載重車在她身上碾過去了，她並沒有折斷。她直直地躺在那兒——而且她儘可以一直在那兒躺下去。

英語童話故事短文帶翻譯：THE DAISY

Now listen! In the country, close by the high road, stood a farmhouse; perhaps you have passedby and seen it yourself. There was a little flower garden with painted wooden palings in front ofit; close by was a ditch, on its fresh green bank grew a little daisy; the sun shone as warmly andbrightly upon it as on the magnificent garden flowers, and therefore it thrived well. Onemorning it had quite opened, and its little snow-white petals stood round the yellow centre, likethe rays of the sun. It did not mind that nobody saw it in the grass, and that it was a poordespised flower; on the contrary, it was quite happy, and turned towards the sun, lookingupward and listening to the song of the lark high up in the air. The little daisy was as happy asif the day had been a great holiday, but it was only Monday. All the children were at school, andwhile they were sitting on the forms and learning their lessons, it sat on its thin green stalkand learnt from the sun and from its surroundings how kind God is, and it rejoiced that thesong of the little lark expressed so sweetly and distinctly its own feelings. With a sort ofreverence the daisy looked up to the bird that could fly and sing, but it did not feel envious. "I can see and hear," it thought; "the sun shines upon me, and the forest kisses me. How rich Iam!" In the garden close by grew many large and magnificent flowers, and, strange to say, theless fragrance they had the haughtier and prouder they were. The peonies puffed themselvesup in order to be larger than the roses, but size is not everything! The tulips had the finestcolours, and they knew it well, too, for they were standing bolt upright like candles, that onemight see them the better. In their pride they did not see the little daisy, which looked over tothem and thought, "How rich and beautiful they are! I am sure the pretty bird will fly down andcall upon them. Thank God, that I stand so near and can at least see all the splendour." Andwhile the daisy was still thinking, the lark came flying down, crying "Tweet," but not to thepeonies and tulips-

no, into the grass to the poor daisy. Its joy was so great that it did not knowwhat to think. The little bird hopped round it and sang, "How beautifully soft the grass is, andwhat a lovely little flower with its golden heart and silver dress is growing here." The yellowcentre in the daisy did indeed look like gold, while the little petals shone as brightly as happy the daisy was! No one has the least idea. The bird kissed it with its beak, sang to it,and then rose again up to the blue sky. It was certainly more than a quarter of an hour beforethe daisy recovered its senses. Half ashamed, yet glad at heart, it looked over to the otherflowers in the garden; surely they had witnessed its pleasure and the honour that had beendone to it; they understood its joy. But the tulips stood more stiffly than ever, their faces werepointed and red, because they were vexed. The peonies were sulky; it was well that they couldnot speak, otherwise they would have given the daisy a good lecture. The little flower could verywell see that they were ill at ease, and pitied them sincerely. Shortly after this a girl came intothe garden, with a large sharp knife. She went to the tulips and began cutting them off, oneafter another. "Ugh!" sighed the daisy, "that is terrible; now they are done for." The girl carriedthe tulips away. The daisy was glad that it was outside, and only a small flower-

it felt verygrateful. At sunset it folded its petals, and fell asleep, and dreamt all night of the sun and thelittle bird. On the following morning, when the flower once more stretched forth its tenderpetals, like little arms, towards the air and light, the daisy recognised the bird's voice, but whatit sang sounded so sad. Indeed the poor bird had good reason to be sad, for it had been caughtand put into a cage close by the open window. It sang of the happy days when it could merrilyfly about, of fresh green corn in the fields, and of the time when it could soar almost up to theclouds. The poor lark was most unhappy as a prisoner in a cage.

The little daisy would haveliked so much to help it, but what could be done? Indeed, that was very difficult for such asmall flower to find out. It entirely forgot how beautiful everything around it was, how warmlythe sun was shining, and how splendidly white its own petals were. It could only think of thepoor captive bird, for which it could do nothing. Then two little boys came out of the garden;one of them had a large sharp knife, like that with which the girl had cut the tulips. They camestraight towards the little daisy, which could not understand what they wanted. "Here is a finepiece of turf for the lark," said one of the boys, and began to cut out a square round the daisy,so that it remained in the centre of the grass. "Pluck the flower off" said the other boy, and thedaisy trembled for fear, for to be pulled off meant death to it; and it wished so much to live, asit was to go with the square of turf into the poor captive lark's cage. "No let it stay," said theother boy, "it looks so pretty". And so it stayed, and was brought into the lark's cage. The poorbird was lamenting its lost liberty, and beating its wings against the wires; and the little daisycould not speak or utter a consoling word, much as it would have liked to do so.

So theforenoon passed. "I have no water," said the captive lark, "they have all gone out, and forgottento give me anything to drink. My throat is dry and burning. I feel as if I had fire and ice withinme, and the air is so oppressive. Alas! I must die, and part with the warm sunshine, the freshgreen meadows, and all the beauty that God has created." And it thrust its beak into the pieceof grass, to refresh itself a little. Then it noticed the little daisy, and nodded to it, and kissed itwith its beak and said: "You must also fade in here, poor little flower. You and the piece of grassare all they have given me in exchange for the whole world, which I enjoyed outside.

Each littleblade of grass shall be a green tree for me, each of your white petals a fragrant flower. Alas!you only remind me of what I have lost." "I wish I could console the poor lark," thought thedaisy. It could not move one of its leaves, but the fragrance of its delicate petals streamedforth, and was much stronger than such flowers usually have: the bird noticed it, although itwas dying with thirst, and in its pain tore up the green blades of grass, but did not touch theflower. The evening came, and nobody appeared to bring the poor bird a drop of water; itopened its beautiful wings, and fluttered about in its anguish; a faint and mournful "Tweet,tweet," was all it could utter, then it bent its little head towards the flower, and its heart brokefor want and longing. The flower could not, as on the previous evening, fold up its petals andsleep; it dropped sorrowfully. The boys only came the next morning; when they saw the deadbird, they began to cry bitterly, dug a nice grave for it, and adorned it with flowers. The bird'sbody was placed in a pretty red box; they wished to bury it with royal honours. While it wasalive and sang they forgot it, and let it suffer want in the cage; now, they cried over it andcovered it with flowers. The piece of turf, with the little daisy in it, was thrown out on the dustyhighway. Nobody thought of the flower which had felt so much for the bird and had so greatlydesired to comfort it.

雛菊

在鄉間的一條大路旁邊，有一座別墅。你一定看見過的!別墅前面有一個種滿了花的小花園和一排塗了油漆的柵欄。在這附近的一條溝裡，一叢美麗的綠草中長著一棵小小的雛菊。太陽溫暖地、光明地照著它，正如太陽照著花園裡那些大朵的美麗的花兒一樣。因此它時時刻刻都在不停地生長。有一天早晨，它的花盛開;它的光亮的小小的花瓣，圍繞一個金黃色的太陽的中心撒開來，簡直像一圈光帶。它從來沒有想到，因為它生在草裡，人們不會看到它，所以它要算是一種可憐的、卑微的小花。不，它卻是非常高興，它把頭掉向太陽，瞧著太陽，靜聽百靈鳥在高空唱歌。

小雛菊是那麼快樂，好象這是一個偉大的節日似的。事實上這不過是星期一，小孩子都上學去了。當他們正坐在凳子上學習的時候，它就坐在它的小綠梗上向溫暖的陽光、向周圍的一切東西，學習了上帝的仁慈。雛菊覺得它在寂靜中感受到的一切，都被百靈鳥高聲地、美妙地唱出來了。於是雛菊懷著尊敬的心情像著這隻能唱能飛的、幸福的鳥兒凝望，不過，它並不因為自己不能唱歌和飛翔就感到悲哀。

“我能看，也能聽，”它想。“太陽照著我，風吻著我。啊，我真是天生的幸運!”

柵欄裡面長著許多驕傲的名花——它們的香氣越少，就越裝模做樣。牡丹儘量擴張，想要開得比玫瑰花還大，可是問題並不在於龐大。鬱金香的顏色最華麗，它們也知道這個特點，所以它們就特別立得挺直，好叫人能更清楚地看到它們。它心裡想：“它們是多麼富麗堂皇啊!是的，美麗的鳥兒一定會飛向它們，拜訪它們!感謝上帝!我離它們那麼近，我能有機會欣賞它們!”正當它正在這樣想的時候，“滴麗”——百靈鳥飛下來了，但是他沒有飛到牡丹或鬱金香上面去——不，他卻飛到了草叢裡微賤的小雛菊身邊來了。雛菊快樂得驚惶起來，真是不知怎麼辦才好。

這隻小鳥在它的周圍跳著舞，唱著歌：

“啊，草是多麼柔軟!請看，這是一朵多麼甜蜜的小花兒——它的心是金子，它的衣服是銀子!”

雛菊的黃心看起來也的確像金子;它周圍的小花瓣白得像銀子。

誰也體會不到，小雛菊心裡感到多麼幸福!百靈鳥用嘴來吻它，對它唱一陣歌，又向藍色的空中飛去。足足過了一刻鐘以後，雛菊才清醒過來。它懷著一種羞怯而又快樂的心情，向花園裡的花兒望了一眼。它們一定看見過它所得到的光榮和幸福，它們一定懂得這是多麼愉快的事情。可是鬱金香仍然像以前那樣驕傲;它們的面孔也仍然很刻板和發紅，因為它們在自尋煩惱。牡丹花也是頭腦不清楚，唉，幸而它們不會講話，否則雛菊就會挨一頓痛罵。這棵可憐的小花看得很清楚，它們的情緒都不好，這使得它感到苦惱。正在這時候，有一個女孩子拿著一把明晃晃的刀子到花園裡來了。她一直走到鬱金香中間去，把它們一棵一棵地都砍掉了。

“唉，”小雛菊嘆了口氣，“這真是可怕。它們現在一切都完了。”

女孩子拿起鬱金香走了。雛菊很高興，自己生在草裡，是一棵寒微的小花。它感到很幸運。當太陽落下去以後，它就捲起花瓣，睡著了，它一整夜夢著太陽和那隻美麗的小鳥。

第二天早晨，當這花兒向空氣和陽光又張開它小手臂般的小白花瓣的時候，它聽到了百靈鳥的聲音;不過他今天唱得非常悲哀。是的，可憐的百靈鳥是有理由感到悲哀的;他被捕去了。他現在被關在敞開窗子旁邊的一個籠子裡。他歌唱著自由自在的、幸福的飛翔，他歌唱這田裡嫩綠的麥田，他歌唱這他在高空中快樂的飛行。可憐的百靈鳥的心情真是壞極了，因為他是坐在牢籠裡的一個囚徒。

小雛菊真希望能夠幫助他。不過，它怎麼才能辦得到呢?是的，要想出一個辦法來真不太容易。它現在也忘記了周圍的一切景物是多麼美麗，太陽普照這多麼溫暖，它自己的花瓣白得多麼可愛。啊!它心中只想著關在牢籠裡的雀子，只感到自己一點辦法也沒有。

這時候有兩個男孩子從花園裡走出來。有一個男孩子手裡拿著一把又大又快的刀子——跟那個女孩子砍掉鬱金香的那把刀子差不多。他們一直向小雛菊走來——它一點也猜不到他們的用意。

“我們可以在這兒為百靈鳥挖一快很好的草皮。”一個小孩子說。於是他就在雛菊周圍挖了一塊四四方方的草皮，使雛菊仍然恰好留在草的中間。

“拔掉這朵花吧”另一個孩子說。

雛菊害怕得發抖來，因為如果它被拔掉，它就會死去的。它現在特別需要活下去，因為它要跟草皮一道到被囚的百靈鳥那兒去。

“不，留下它吧”，頭一個孩子說，“它可以作為一種裝飾品。”

這麼著，它就被留下來了，而且還來到百靈鳥的籠子裡去了。

不過這隻可憐的鳥兒一直在為失去了自由而啼哭，他用翅膀打著牢籠的鐵柱。小雛菊說不出話來，它找不出半個字眼來安慰百靈鳥——雖然它很願意這麼做。一整個上午就這樣過去了。

“這兒沒有水喝，”被囚禁的百靈鳥說。“大家都出去了，一滴水也沒有留給我喝。我的喉嚨在發乾，在發焦。我身體裡像有火，有像有冰，而且空氣有非常沉悶，啊，我要死了!我要離開溫暖的太陽、新鮮的綠草和上帝所創造的一切美景!”

於是他把嘴伸進清涼的草皮去，希望嚐到一點涼味。這時他發現了雛菊，於是對它點頭，用嘴來吻它，同時說：

“你也只好在這兒枯萎下去了——你這可憐的小花兒!他們把你和跟你生長在一起的這一小塊綠草送給我，來代替我在外面的那整個世界!對於我來說，現在每根草就是一株綠樹，你的每片白花瓣就是一朵芬芳的花!啊，你使我記起，我喪失了真不知多少東西!”

“我希望我能安慰他一下!”小雛菊想。

但是它連一片花瓣都不能動。不過它精緻的花瓣所發出的香氣，比它平時所發出的香氣要強烈得多。百靈鳥也注意到了這一點，所以雖然他渴得要昏倒，他只是吃力地啄著草葉，而不願意動這棵花。

天已經黑了，還沒有人來送一滴水給這隻可憐的鳥兒。他展開美麗的翅膀，痙攣地拍著。他的歌聲變成了悲哀的尖叫，他的小頭向雛菊垂下來——百靈鳥的心在悲哀和渴望中碎裂了。雛菊再也不像前天晚上那樣又把花瓣合上睡一覺。它的心很難過，它的身體病了，它的頭倒在土上。

小孩子在第二天早晨才走過來。當他們看見雀子死了的時候，他們都哭起來——哭出許多眼淚。他們為百靈鳥掘了一個平整的墳墓，並且用花瓣把他裝飾了一番。百靈鳥的屍體躺在一個美麗的紅匣子裡，因為他們要為他——可憐的鳥兒——舉行一個隆重的葬禮。在他活著能唱歌的時候，人們忘記他，讓他坐在牢籠裡受苦受難;現在他卻得到了尊榮和許多眼淚!

可是那塊草皮連帶著雛菊被扔到路上的灰塵裡去了。誰也沒有想到它，而最關心百靈鳥、最願意安慰他的，卻正是雛菊。

英語童話故事短文帶翻譯：THE CONCEITED APPLE-BRANCH

IT was the month of May. The wind still blew cold; but from bush and tree, field and flower,came the welcome sound, “Spring is come.” Wild-flowers in profusion covered the r the little apple-tree, Spring seemed busy, and told his tale from one of the brancheswhich hung fresh and blooming, and covered with delicate pink blossoms that were just readyto open. The branch well knew how beautiful it was; this knowledge exists as much in the leafas in the blood; I was therefore not surprised when a nobleman’s carriage, in which sat theyoung countess, stopped in the road just by. She said that an apple-branch was a most lovelyobject, and an emblem of spring in its most charming aspect. Then the branch was broken offfor her, and she held it in her delicate hand, and sheltered it with her silk parasol. Then theydrove to the castle, in which were lofty halls and splendid drawing-rooms. Pure white curtainsfluttered before the open windows, and beautiful flowers stood in shining, transparent vases;and in one of them, which looked as if it had been cut out of newly fallen snow, the apple-branch was placed, among some fresh, light twigs of beech. It was a charming sight. Then thebranch became proud, which was very much like human nature.

People of every description entered the room, and, according to their position in society, sodared they to express their admiration. Some few said nothing, others expressed too much,and the apple-branch very soon got to understand that there was as much difference in thecharacters of human beings as in those of plants and flowers. Some are all for pomp andparade, others have a great deal to do to maintain their own importance, while the rest mightbe spared without much loss to society. So thought the apple-branch, as he stood before theopen window, from which he could see out over gardens and fields, where there were flowersand plants enough for him to think and reflect upon; some rich and beautiful, some poor andhumble indeed.

“Poor, despised herbs,” said the apple-branch; “there is really a difference between themand such as I am. How unhappy they must be, if they can feel as those in my position do!There is a difference indeed, and so there ought to be, or we should all be equals.”

And the apple-branch looked with a sort of pity upon them, especially on a certain littleflower that is found in fields and in ditches. No one bound these flowers together in a nosegay;they were too common; they were even known to grow between the paving-stones, shooting upeverywhere, like bad weeds; and they bore the very ugly name of “dog-flowers” or “dandelions.”

“Poor, despised plants,” said the apple-bough, “it is not your fault that you are so ugly, andthat you have such an ugly name; but it is with plants as with men,—there must be adifference.”

“A difference!” cried the sunbeam, as he kissed the blooming apple-branch, and thenkissed the yellow dandelion out in the fields. All were brothers, and the sunbeam kissed them—the poor flowers as well as the rich.

The apple-bough had never thought of the boundless love of God, which extends over allthe works of creation, over everything which lives, and moves, and has its being in Him; he hadnever thought of the good and beautiful which are so often hidden, but can never remainforgotten by Him,—not only among the lower creation, but also among men. The sunbeam, theray of light, knew better.

“You do not see very far, nor very clearly,” he said to the apple-branch. “Which is thedespised plant you so specially pity?”

“The dandelion,” he replied.

“No one ever places it in a nosegay; it is often trodden underfoot, there are so many of them; and when they run to seed, they have flowers like wool, whichfly away in little pieces over the roads, and cling to the dresses of the people. They are onlyweeds; but of course there must be weeds. O, I am really very thankful that I was not made likeone of these flowers.”

There came presently across the fields a whole group of children, the youngest of whom wasso small that it had to be carried by the others; and when he was seated on the grass, amongthe yellow flowers, he laughed aloud with joy, kicked out his little legs, rolled about, plucked theyellow flowers, and kissed them in childlike innocence. The elder children broke off the flowerswith long stems, bent the stalks one round the other, to form links, and made first a chain forthe neck, then one to go across the shoulders, and hang down to the waist, and at last awreath to wear round the head, so that they looked quite splendid in their garlands of greenstems and golden flowers. But the eldest among them gathered carefully the faded flowers, onthe stem of which was grouped together the seed, in the form of a white feathery e loose, airy wool-flowers are very beautiful, and look like fine snowy feathers or down. Thechildren held them to their mouths, and tried to blow away the whole coronal with one puff ofthe breath. They had been told by their grandmothers that who ever did so would be sure tohave new clothes before the end of the year. The despised flower was by this raised to theposition of a prophet or foreteller of events.

“Do you see,” said the sunbeam, “do you see the beauty of these flowers? do you see theirpowers of giving pleasure?”

“Yes, to children,” said the apple-bough.

By-and-by an old woman came into the field, and, with a blunt knife without a handle,began to dig round the roots of some of the dandelion-plants, and pull them up. With some ofthese she intended to make tea for herself; but the rest she was going to sell to the chemist,and obtain some money.

“But beauty is of higher value than all this,” said the apple-tree branch;

“only the chosenones can be admitted into the realms of the beautiful. There is a difference between plants, justas there is a difference between men.”

Then the sunbeam spoke of the boundless love of God, as seen in creation, and over allthat lives, and of the equal distribution of His gifts, both in time and in eternity.

“That is your opinion,” said the apple-bough.

Then some people came into the room, and, among them, the young countess,—the ladywho had placed the apple-bough in the transparent vase, so pleasantly beneath the rays of thesunlight. She carried in her hand something that seemed like a flower. The object was hiddenby two or three great leaves, which covered it like a shield, so that no draught or gust of windcould injure it, and it was carried more carefully than the apple-branch had ever been. Verycautiously the large leaves were removed, and there appeared the feathery seed-crown of thedespised dandelion. This was what the lady had so carefully plucked, and carried home so safelycovered, so that not one of the delicate feathery arrows of which its mist-like shape was solightly formed, should flutter away. She now drew it forth quite uninjured, and wondered at itsbeautiful form, and airy lightness, and singular construction, so soon to be blown away bythe wind.

“See,” she exclaimed, “how wonderfully God has made this little flower. I will paint it withthe apple-branch together. Every one admires the beauty of the apple-bough; but this humbleflower has been endowed by Heaven with another kind of loveliness; and although they differ inappearance, both are the children of the realms of beauty.”

Then the sunbeam kissed the lowly flower, and he kissed the blooming apple-branch,upon whose leaves appeared a rosy blush.

自負的蘋果樹枝

那正是五月。風吹來仍然很冷;但是灌木和大樹，田野和草原，都說春天已經到來了。處處都開滿了花，一直開到灌木叢組成的籬笆上。春天就在這兒講它的故事。它在一棵小蘋果樹上講——這棵樹有一根鮮豔的綠枝：它上面佈滿了粉紅色的、細嫩的、隨時就要開放的花苞。它知道它是多麼美麗——它這種先天的知識深藏在它的葉子裡，好像是流在血液裡一樣。因此當一位貴族的車子在它面前的路上停下來的時候，當年輕的伯爵夫人說這根柔枝是世界上最美麗的東西、是春天最美麗的表現的時候，它一點也不感到驚奇。接著這枝子就被折斷了。她把它握在柔嫩的手裡，並且還用綢陽傘替它遮住太陽。他們回到他們華貴的公館裡來。這裡面有許多高大的廳堂和美麗的房間。潔白的窗簾在敞著的窗子上迎風飄蕩;好看的花兒在透明的、發光的花瓶裡面亭亭地立著。有一個花瓶簡直像是新下的雪所雕成的。這根蘋果枝就插在它裡面幾根新鮮的山毛櫸枝子中間。看它一眼都使人感到愉快。

這根枝子變得驕傲氣來;這也是人之常情。

各色各樣的人走過這房間。他們可以根據自己的身份來表示他們的讚賞。有些人一句話也不講;有些人卻又講得太多。蘋果枝子知道，在人類中間，正如在植物中間一樣，也存在著區別。

“有些東西是為了好看;有些東西是為了實用;但是也有些東西卻是完全沒有用，”蘋果樹枝想。

正因為它是被放在一個敞著的窗子面前，同時又因為它從這兒可以看到花園和田野，因此它有許多花兒和植物供它思索和考慮。植物中有富貴的，也有貧賤的——有的簡直是太貧賤了。

“可憐沒有人理的植物啊!”蘋果枝說。“一切東西的確都有區別!如果這些植物也能像我和我一類的那些東西那樣有感覺，它們一定會感到多麼不愉快啊。一切東西的確有區別，而且的確也應該如此，否則大家就都是一樣的了!”

蘋果枝對某些花兒——像田裡和溝裡叢生的那些花兒——特別表示出憐憫的樣子。誰也不把他們紮成花束。它們是太普通了，人們甚至在鋪地石中間都可以看得到。它們像野草一樣，在什麼地方都冒出來，而且它們連名字都很醜，叫做什麼“魔鬼的奶桶”(注：即蒲公英，因為它折斷後可以冒出像牛奶似的白漿。)。

“可憐被人瞧不起的植物啊!”蘋果枝說。“你們的這種處境，你們的平凡，你們所得到的這些醜名字，也不能怪你們自己!在植物中間，正如在人類中間一樣，一切都有個區別啦!”

“區別?”陽光說。它吻著這盛開的蘋果枝，但是它也吻著田野裡的那些黃色的“魔鬼的奶桶”。陽光的所有弟兄們都吻著它們——吻著下賤的花，也吻著富貴的花。

蘋果枝從來就沒想到，造物主對一切活著和動著的東西都一樣給以無限的慈愛。它從來沒有想到，美和善的東西可能會被掩蓋住了，但是並沒有被忘記——這也是合乎人情的。

太陽光——明亮的光線——知道得更清楚：

“你的眼光看得不遠，你的眼光看得不清楚!你特別憐憫的、沒有人理的植物，是哪些植物呢?”

“魔鬼的奶桶!”蘋果枝說。“人們從來不把它紮成花束。人們把它踩在腳底下，因為它們長得太多了。當它們在結子的時候，它們就像小片的羊毛，在路上到處亂飛，還附在人的衣上。它們不過是野草罷了!——它們也只能是野草!啊，我真要謝天謝地，我不是它們這類植物中的一種!”

從田野那兒來了一大群孩子。他們中最小的一個是那麼小，還要別的孩子抱著他。當他被放到這些黃花中間的時候，他樂得大笑起來。他的小腿踢著，遍地打滾。他只摘下這種黃花，同時天真爛漫地吻著它們。那些較大的孩子把這些黃花從空梗子上折下來，並且把這根梗子插到那根梗子上，一串一串地聯成鏈子。他們先做一個項鍊，然後又做一個掛在肩上的鏈子，一個系在腰間的鏈子，一個懸在胸脯上的鏈子，一個戴在頭上的鏈子。這真成了綠環子和綠鏈子的展覽會。但是那幾個大孩子當心地摘下那些落了花的梗子——它們結著以白絨球的形式出現的果實。這鬆散的、縹緲的絨球，本身就是一件小小的完整的藝術品;它看起來像羽毛、雪花和茸毛。他們把它放在嘴面前，想要一口氣把整朵的花球吹走，因為祖母曾經說過：誰能夠這樣做，誰就可以在新年到來以前得到一套新衣。

所以在這種情況下，這朵被瞧不起的花就成了一個真正的預言家。

“你看到沒有?”太陽光說。“你看到它的美沒有?你看到它的力量沒有?”

“看到了，它只能和孩子在一道時是這樣!”蘋果枝說。

這時有一個老太婆到田野裡來了。她用一把沒有柄的鈍刀子在這花的周圍挖著，把它從土裡取出來。她打算把一部分的根子用來煮咖啡吃;把另一部分拿到一個藥材店裡當做藥用。

“不過美是一種更高階的東西呀!”蘋果枝說。“只有少數特殊的人才可以走進美的王國。植物與植物之間是有區別的，正如人與人之間有區別一樣。”

於是太陽光就談到造物主對於一切造物和有生命的東西的無限的愛，和對於一切東西永恆公平合理的分配。

“是的，這不過是你的看法!”蘋果枝說。

這時有人走進房間裡來了。那位美麗年輕的伯爵夫人也來了——把蘋果枝插在透明的花瓶中，放在太陽光裡的人就是她。她手裡拿著一朵花——或者一件類似花的東西。這東西被三四片大葉子掩住了：它們像一頂帽子似地在它的周圍保護著，使微風或者大風都傷害不到它。它被小心翼翼地端在手中，那根嬌嫩的蘋果枝從來也沒受過這樣的待遇。

那幾片大葉子現在輕輕地被挪開了。人們可以看到那個被人瞧不起的黃色“魔鬼的奶桶”的柔嫩的白絨球!這就是它!她那麼小心地把它摘下來!她那麼謹慎地把這帶回家，好使那個雲霧一般的圓球上的細嫩柔毛不致被風吹散。她把它保護得非常完整。她讚美它漂亮的形態，它透明的外表，它特殊的構造，和它不可捉摸的、被風一吹即散的美。

“看吧，造物主把它創造得多麼可愛!”她說。“我要把這根蘋果枝畫下來。大家現在都覺得它非凡地漂亮，不過這朵微賤的花兒，以另一種方式也從上天得到了同樣多的恩惠。雖然它們兩者都有區別，但它們都是美的王國中的孩子。”

於是太陽光吻了這微賤的花兒，也吻了這開滿了花的蘋果枝——它的花瓣似乎泛出了一陣難為情的緋紅。