小学英语英语故事童话故事TheFirTree枞树.doc

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1、1TheTheFirFirTreeTree枞树枞树Out in the woods stood such a pretty little fir tree.It grew in a good place,whereit had plenty of sun and plenty of fresh air.Around it stood many tall comrades,both fir trees and pines.The little fir tree was in a headlong hurry to grow up.It didnt care a thing forthe warm

2、 sunshine,or the fresh air,and it took no interest in the peasant childrenwho ran about chattering when they came to pick strawberries or raspberries.Oftenwhen the children had picked their pails full,or had gathered long strings of berriesthreaded on straws,they would sit down to rest near the litt

3、le fir.Oh,isnt ita nice little tree?they would say.Its the baby of the woods.The little treedidnt like their remarks at all.Next year it shot up a long joint of new growth,and the following year another joint,still longer.You can always tell how old a fir tree is by counting the number ofjoints it h

4、as.I wish I were a grown-up tree,like my comrades,the little tree sighed.ThenI could stretch out my branches and see from my top what the world is like.The birdswould make me their nesting place,and when the wind blew I could bow back and forthwith all the great trees.It took no pleasure in the suns

5、hine,nor in the birds.The glowing clouds,that sailedoverhead at sunrise and sunset,meant nothing to it.In winter,when the snow lay sparkling on the ground,a hare would often come hoppingalong and jump right over the little tree.Oh,how irritating that was!That happenedfor two winters,but when the thi

6、rd winter came the tree was so tall that the harehad to turn aside and hop around it.Oh,to grow,grow!To get older and taller,the little tree thought.That is themost wonderful thing in this world.In the autumn,woodcutters came and cut down a few of the largest trees.This happenedevery year.The young

7、fir was no longer a baby tree,and it trembled to see how thosestately great trees crashed to the ground,how their limbs were lopped off,and howlean they looked as the naked trunks were loaded into carts.It could hardly recognizethe trees it had known,when the horses pulled them out of the woods.Wher

8、e were they going?What would become of them?In the springtime,when swallows and storks came back,the tree asked them,Do youknow where the other trees went?Have you met them?The swallows knew nothing about it,but the stork looked thoughtful and nodded hishead.Yes,I think I met them,he said.On my way

9、from Egypt I met many new ships,and some had tall,stately masts.They may well have been the trees you mean,forI remember the smell of fir.They wanted to be remembered to you.Oh,I wish I were old enough to travel on the sea.Please tell me what it reallyis,and how it looks.That would take too long to

10、tell,said the stork,and off he strode.Rejoice in your youth,said the sunbeams.Take pride in your growing strengthand in the stir of life within you.2And the wind kissed the tree,and the dew wept over it,for the tree was young andwithout understanding.When Christmas came near,many young trees were cu

11、t down.Some were not even as oldor as tall as this fir tree of ours,who was in such a hurry and fret to go traveling.These young trees,which were always the handsomest ones,had their branches lefton them when they were loaded on carts and the horses drew them out of the woods.Where can they be going

12、?the fir tree wondered.They are no taller than I am.One was really much smaller than I am.And why are they allowed to keep all theirbranches?Where can they be going?We know!We know!the sparrows chirped.We have been to town and peeped in thewindows.We know where they are going.The greatest splendor a

13、nd glory you can imagineawaits them.Weve peeped through windows.Weve seen them planted right in themiddle of a warm room,and decked out with the most splendid things-gold apples,good gingerbread,gay toys,and many hundreds of candles.And then?asked the fir tree,trembling in every twig.And then?What h

14、appensthen?We saw nothing more.And never have we seen anything that could match it.I wonder if I was created for such a glorious future?The fir tree rejoiced.Why,that is better than to cross the sea.Im tormented with longing.Oh,if Christmaswould only come!Im just as tall and grown-up as the trees th

15、ey chose last year.How I wish I were already in the cart,on my way to the warm room where theres somuch splendor and glory.Then-then something even better,something still moreimportant is bound to happen,or why should they deck me so fine?Yes,there mustbe something still grander!But what?Oh,how I lo

16、ng:I dont know whats the matterwith me.Enjoy us while you may,the air and sunlight told him.Rejoice in the days ofyour youth,out here in the open.But the tree did not rejoice at all.It just grew.It grew and was green both winterand summer-dark evergreen.People who passed it said,Theres a beautiful t

17、ree!And when Christmas time came again they cut it down first.The ax struck deep intoits marrow.The tree sighed as it fell to the ground.It felt faint with pain.Insteadof the happiness it had expected,the tree was sorry to leave the home where it hadgrown up.It knew that never again would it see its

18、 dear old comrades,the littlebushes and the flowers about it-and perhaps not even the birds.The departure wasanything but pleasant.The tree did not get over it until all the trees were unloaded in the yard,and itheard a man say,Thats a splendid one.Thats the tree for us.Then two servantscame in fine

19、 livery,and carried the fir tree into a big splendid drawing-room.Portraits were hung all around the walls.On either side of the white porcelain stovestood great Chinese vases,with lions on the lids of them.There were easy chairs,silk-covered sofas and long tables strewn with picture books,and with

20、toys thatwere worth a mint of money,or so the children said.The fir tree was planted in a large tub filled with sand,but no one could see thatit was a tub,because it was wrapped in a gay green cloth and set on a many-colored3carpet.How the tree quivered!What would come next?The servants and even the

21、 youngladies helped it on with its fine decorations.From its branches they hung littlenets cut out of colored paper,and each net was filled with candies.Gilded applesand walnuts hung in clusters as if they grew there,and a hundred little white,blue,and even red,candles were fastened to its twigs.Amo

22、ng its green branches swayeddolls that it took to be real living people,for the tree had never seen their likebefore.And up at its very top was set a large gold tinsel star.It was splendid,I tell you,splendid beyond all words!Tonight,they all said,ah,tonight how the tree will shine!Oh,thought the tr

23、ee,if tonight would only come!If only the candles were lit!And after that,what happens then?Will the trees come trooping out of the woodsto see me?Will the sparrows flock to the windows?Shall I take root here,and standin fine ornaments all winter and summer long?That was how much it knew about it.Al

24、l its longing had gone to its bark and setit to arching,which is as bad for a tree as a headache is for us.Now the candles were lighted.What dazzling splendor!What a blaze of light!Thetree quivered so in every bough that a candle set one of its twigs ablaze.It hurtterribly.Mercy me!cried every young

25、 lady,and the fire was quickly put out.The tree nolonger dared rustle a twig-it was awful!Wouldnt it be terrible if it were to dropone of its ornaments?Its own brilliance dazzled it.Suddenly the folding doors were thrown back,and a whole flock of children burstin as if they would overturn the tree c

26、ompletely.Their elders marched in after them,more sedately.For a moment,but only for a moment,the young ones were strickenspeechless.Then they shouted till the rafters rang.They danced about the tree andplucked off one present after another.What are they up to?the tree wondered.What will happen next

27、?As the candles burned down to the bark they were snuffed out,one by one,and thenthe children had permission to plunder the tree.They went about it in such earnestthat the branches crackled and,if the tree had not been tied to the ceiling by thegold star at top,it would have tumbled headlong.The chi

28、ldren danced about with their splendid playthings.No one looked at the treenow,except an old nurse who peered in among the branches,but this was only to makesure that not an apple or fig had been overlooked.Tell us a story!Tell us a story!the children clamored,as they towed a fat littleman to the tr

29、ee.He sat down beneath it and said,Here we are in the woods,andit will do the tree a lot of good to listen to our story.Mind you,Ill tell onlyone.Which will you have,the story of Ivedy-Avedy,or the one about Humpty-Dumptywho tumbled downstairs,yet ascended the throne and married the Princess?Ivedy-A

30、vedy,cried some.Humpty-Dumpty,cried the others.And there was a greathullabaloo.Only the fir tree held its peace,though it thought to itself,Am Ito be left out of this?Isnt there anything I can do?For all the fun of the eveninghad centered upon it,and it had played its part well.4The fat little man t

31、old them all about Humpty-Dumpty,who tumbled downstairs,yetascended the throne and married the Princess.And the children clapped and shouted,Tell us another one!Tell us another one!For they wanted to hear about Ivedy-Avedytoo,but after Humpty-Dumpty the story telling stopped.The fir tree stood very

32、stillas it pondered how the birds in the woods had never told it a story to equal this.Humpty-Dumpty tumbled downstairs,yet he married the Princess.Imagine!That mustbe how things happen in the world.You never can tell.Maybe Ill tumble downstairsand marry a princess too,thought the fir tree,who belie

33、ved every word of the storybecause such a nice man had told it.The tree looked forward to the following day,when they would deck it again withfruit and toys,candles and gold.Tomorrow I shall not quiver,it decided.Illenjoy my splendor to the full.Tomorrow I shall hear about Humpty-Dumpty again,andper

34、haps about Ivedy-Avedy too.All night long the tree stood silent as it dreamedits dreams,and next morning the butler and the maid came in with their dusters.Now my splendor will be renewed,the fir tree thought.But they dragged it upstairsto the garret,and there they left it in a dark corner where no

35、daylight ever came.Whats the meaning of this?the tree wondered.What am I going to do here?Whatstories shall I hear?It leaned against the wall,lost in dreams.It had plentyof time for dreaming,as the days and the nights went by.Nobody came to the garret.And when at last someone did come,it was only to

36、 put many big boxes away in thecorner.The tree was quite hidden.One might think it had been entirely forgotten.Its still winter outside,the tree thought.The earth is too hard and coveredwith snow for them to plant me now.I must have been put here for shelter untilspringtime comes.How thoughtful of t

37、hem!How good people are!Only,I wish it werentso dark here,and so very,very lonely.Theres not even a little hare.It was sofriendly out in the woods when the snow was on the ground and the hare came hoppingalong.Yes,he was friendly even when he jumped right over me,though I did not thinkso then.Here i

38、ts all so terribly lonely.Squeak,squeak!said a little mouse just then.He crept across the floor,andanother one followed him.They sniffed the fir tree,and rustled in and out amongits branches.It is fearfully cold,one of them said.Except for that,it would be very nicehere,wouldnt it,you old fir tree?I

39、m not at all old,said the fir tree.Many trees are much older than I am.Where did you come from?the mice asked him.And what do you know?They weremost inquisitive creatures.Tell us about the most beautiful place in the world.Have you been there?Were youever in the larder,where there are cheeses on she

40、lves and hams that hang from therafters?Its the place where you can dance upon tallow candles-where you can dartin thin and squeeze out fat.I know nothing of that place,said the tree.But I know the woods where the sunshines and the little birds sing.Then it told them about its youth.The littlemice h

41、ad never heard the like of it.They listened very intently,and said,My!How much you have seen!And how happy it must have made you.5I?the fir tree thought about it.Yes,those days were rather amusing.And hewent on to tell them about Christmas Eve,when it was decked out with candies andcandles.Oh,said t

42、he little mice,how lucky you have been,you old fir tree!I am not at all old,it insisted.I came out of the woods just this winter,andIm really in the prime of life,though at the moment my growth is suspended.How nicely you tell things,said the mice.The next night they came with four othermice to hear

43、 what the tree had to say.The more it talked,the more clearly it recalledthings,and it thought,Those were happy times.But they may still come back-theymay come back again.Humpty-Dumpty fell downstairs,and yet he married the Princess.Maybe the same thing will happen to me.It thought about a charming

44、little birchtree that grew out in the woods.To the fir tree she was a real and lovely Princess.Who is Humpty-Dumpty?the mice asked it.So the fir tree told them the whole story,for it could remember it word by word.The little mice were ready to jump to thetop of the tree for joy.The next night many m

45、ore mice came to see the fir tree,and on Sunday two rats paid it a call,but they said that the story was not veryamusing.This made the little mice to sad that they began to find it not so veryinteresting either.Is that the only story you know?the rats asked.Only that one,the tree answered.I heard it

46、 on the happiest evening of my life,but I did not know then how happy I was.Its a very silly story.Dont you know one that tells about bacon and candles?Cant you tell us a good larder story?No,said the tree.Then good-by,and we wont be back,the rats said,and went away.At last the little mice took to s

47、taying away too.The tree sighed,Oh,wasnt itpleasant when those gay little mice sat around and listened to all that I had tosay.Now that,too,is past and gone.But I will take good care to enjoy myself,once they let me out of here.When would that be?Well,it came to pass on a morning when people came up

48、 to cleanout the garret.The boxes were moved,the tree was pulled out and thrown-thrownhard-on the floor.But a servant dragged it at once to the stairway,where therewas daylight again.Now my life will start all over,the tree thought.It felt the fresh air and thefirst sunbeam strike it as if it came o

49、ut into the courtyard.This all happened soquickly and there was so much going around it,that the tree forgot to give evena glance at itself.The courtyard adjoined a garden,where flowers were blooming.Great masses of fragrant roses hung over the picket fence.The linden trees werein blossom,and betwee

50、n them the swallows skimmed past,calling,Tilira-lira-lee,my loves come back to me.But it was not the fir tree of whom they spoke.Now I shall live again,it rejoiced,and tried to stretch out its branches.Alas,they were withered,and brown,and brittle.It was tossed into a corner,among weedsand nettles.B