睡前英语故事 | The Old, Rough Stone and the Gnarled 老顽石和大树

A great rough stone lay beneath a gnarled old tree.

       一块粗糙的大石头躺在一棵盘根错节的老树下。

Years ago a tiny squirrel had climbed upon the stone to nibble some nuts, but before he had finished he was startled away.

         很多年以前，一只小松鼠曾经爬到这块石头上去啃松子，但是还没吃完，它就被吓跑了。

"There!" thought the stone to himself as he saw a nut roll to the ground,

         “那里！”当他看到一颗松子滚落在地上时，在心中想到，

"Now that nut will take root and grow into a tree and I will have to lie here for ages beneath its branches.

      “既然这颗松子会扎根然后长成一棵树，那我必将一直躺在它的树枝下。

I wish the silly squirrel had gone some other place to eat the nuts!"

      我宁愿这只蠢松鼠到别的什么地方吃松子！”

When the little nut took root and sent its tiny shoots up in the air, the old, rough Stone said, "There! I knew it!" and he disliked the tree from that time on.

        当这颗小松子扎下根，在空中伸出幼嫩的枝芽，这颗老顽石嚷嚷道：“看吧，我就知道！“从那时起，它就不喜欢这棵树。

The old, rough Stone watched the tiny green shoot grow and grow until it grew into an enormous tree.

       老顽石看着这根小树苗长啊长，一直长成一棵参天大树。

"Just see how he pushes me up in the air with his roots!" the old, rough Stone said to himself.

        “看看他是如何用它的根把我推到外面的！“老顽石自言自语道。

When the gnarled tree was covered with leaves in the summer time, the old, rough Stone said, "Just see how he hides the blue sky from my view!"

      夏天到了，大树上长满了叶子。老顽石又说，“看看它是怎么遮挡了我欣赏蓝天的视线！”

And in the winter time when the limbs of the tree were bare, the old, rough Stone said, "Just see how he lets the snow and the cold rain fall right on me!"

      冬天到了，大树的枝干变得光秃秃的，老顽石又说，“看看它是怎么让大雪和冷雨直接摔到我身上的！”

One night during a heavy storm the old, rough Stone heard a crash, and in the morning he saw the gnarled tree lying upon the ground.

        一个暴风雪的夜里，老顽石听到一阵轰隆声。第二天早上一看，它发现大树倒在了地上。

"Now I shall be all by myself again!" he said.

      “现在我终于又能单独待着了！”它心情大好。

Then he counted the rings in the trunk of the gnarled tree until he came to three hundred, which was as far as he could count.

      接下来，它开始数老树树干上的年轮，费尽力气才数到300。

"More than three hundred years have passed since that silly little squirrel dropped the nut from which this tree grew!" said the old, rough Stone to himself.

       “从松子被那只蠢松鼠丢下、逐渐长大开始算起，已经超过三百年了！“老顽石又开始自言自语。

Then men came with axes and cut up the tree and carried all of it away.

        后来，带着斧子的人们来了，把树锯成几段，全部运走。

When the hot summer days came the sun beat down upon the old, rough Stone and he missed the shade of the gnarled tree.

   炎热的夏天来了，当太阳火辣的光直直地照在这块老顽石上时，它开始想念大树的绿荫。

"My! It's hot!" said the old, rough Stone, "I wish the gnarled tree with its pretty rustling leaves were here again to shade me and keep me cool!"

       “天呐，太热了！”老顽石抱怨道，“我多希望大树能用它茂密的树荫再次遮住我，让我凉快一点！”

When winter came the old, rough Stone missed the leaves which fell around him and kept him warm.

      寒冷的冬天来了，老顽石又怀念起落在它身边、带来温暖的叶子，

"Oh dear! How cold it is!" he cried, "I wish the gnarled tree would come back and scatter his leaves about me to protect me from the cold!"

       “哦，简直太冷了！”它哭诉道，“我多么希望大树能回来撒下它的叶子，以使我不挨冻！”

So years and years and years passed, and the great old, rough Stone lay all alone.

     一年又一年过去了，老顽石一直独自躺在那里。

"I wish another squirrel would come to eat nuts upon me!" he thought.

      “我多希望再来一只松鼠来到我身上吃松子啊。”它想。

"Squirrels are such knowing little creatures, I am sure another might drop a nut which would grow into a lovely tree to keep me company."

         松鼠是如此狡猾的小生物，我确信这只也会留下松子，松子又会长成可爱的小树，来陪伴我。”

But, many more years passed, and never again did a tiny squirrel sit upon the old, rough Stone and eat nuts.

       然而，很多很多年过去了，再也没有哪怕一只小松鼠来到老顽石上吃松子。

And never again did another tree grow above the old, rough Stone to keep him company.

      因此也再也没有一棵树长在石头上，陪伴着它。

"Ah me!" sighed the old, rough Stone, "We never know how well off we are until we lose something we really need!"

       “唉！”这块老顽石叹息着，“我们从来不知道自己多么多么幸福，直到失去了真正需要的东西！“