甜菜阿姨
The Ugly Duckling Long ago, in a farmyard many miles away, a Mother Duck sat on her nest. She was waiting for her eggs to hatch. Each day she proudly looked at them. There were six eggs, which meant six little ducklings to teach to swim. One sunny spring morning, the first egg began to crack.. \'Tap, tap, tap,\' went the duckling inside, trying to get out. Mother Duck watched as the egg cracked open and out popped a fluffy duckling. "One," said Mother Duck proudly. The next day, the second egg hatched and out popped another fluffy duckling. "Two," said Mother Duck proudly. On the third day, duckling number three hatched. "That leaves just three," said Mother Duck. On the fourth and fifth day, ducklings number four and five hatched. "That leaves just one," said Mother Duck, as she settled on her nest. Her ducklings gathered around her. But on the sixth day nothing happened. Nor on the seventh. "How strange," said Mother Duck on the seventh day. "It should have hatched by now." One of the farmyard chickens wandered by. "Oh," she said. "You\'re still there I thought you\'d be on the pond by now." "It\'s this last egg," said Mother Duck. "It hasn\'t hatched yet." "Let me see," said the chicken. "Well no wonder. It looks like a goose egg to me. You\'ll be here for a long time." "Oh dear," said Mother Duck. "I have my five little ducklings to teach to swim. What shall I do? I can\'t leave it." "Aah well," said the chicken, and she wandered off. The goose heard that one of her eggs was in Mother Duck\'s nest. "Is it true?" she asked, as she puffed up to the nest. "Do you have one of my eggs?" "I think so," said Mother Duck. They both looked in the nest. "Huh," said the goose. "That\'s not mine. It looks more like that absent-minded turkey\'s egg." As they looked, they suddenly heard the faint tapping. The shell was breaking. "We\'ll soon see," said the goose. They watched and waited. "Oh," said the goose. "Oh, dear," said Mother Duck, as she looked at the sixth duckling. It looked most strange, it was straggly and grey where its brothers and sisters were fluffy and yellow. It was also bigger than them. It quacked as it saw its mother. "Well, if it\'s a turkey," said the goose, "it won\'t swim." Mother Duck hurried her ducklings to the pond. She waddled in and listened. Splash! Splish! Splosh! Splash! Splish! She turned and looked. All six ducklings followed her in the water. "Oh, well," she said. "He can swim. He is definitely not a turkey." The sixth duckling was very good at swimming, and was soon swimming better than his brothers and sisters. Back at the farmyard, things did not go well for the little duckling. Everyone called him an ugly duckling. The chickens laughed at him, the turkeys chased him and the geese hissed at him. Soon even his brothers and sisters would not talk to him, but when his mother turned away, he was very sad. He decided to leave the farmyard. One sunny morning, he walked out of the farmyard and didn\'t look back. He wandered away, looking for somewhere new to live. When he\'d been walking a while he came to a large lake. There were some ducks swimming on it. He swam up to them. "May I stay on this lake?" he asked. "Of course," said the ducks. "We\'ll be moving on soon. Why don\'t you join us, if you\'re on your own?" "Thank you," said the duckling. The duckling stayed on the lake and day by day he grew bigger. One day he looked up to see some large white birds flying gracefully over the lake. "They\'re beautiful," he whispered, and then sighed. "I wonder who they are?" One day the ducks came to see him. "It\'s autumn, and we\'re going now," they told him, "join us if you want to." Some ducks began to fly up to leave, but suddenly loud bangs were heard. Two of the ducks fell from the sky. Others flew up in fright, and more fell as more bangs were heard. The duckling ran and hid. He found a bush and stayed there until the noise had died down. When it was quiet he sadly left the lake and headed away over the fields. He came to another lake and there he stayed. Winter was coming and he was alone. As the days grew colder, he found that it was harder to find food. The one morning he woke and found that he couldn\'t move. The lake had frozen and he was stuck in the ice. The day passed and the duckling was giving up hope of being found. But late in the afternoon a man walking his dog saw him. He broke the ice, and the duckling was free. He ran across the ice and hid. He didn\'t dare to go on the ice again. Winter passed, spring came, and the ice melted. The duckling stretched his wings and found that they were strong enough to carry him. He flew upon and over the lake, high above the trees and fields. He should have been very happy, but he was not because he felt so lonely. A few days later, he looked up to see the large white birds he had seen in the autumn. They looked beautiful as they landed on the lake. The duckling admired their glossy white feathers and long necks. He swan over to take a closer look at them. "Please," he said shyly. "Will you tell me who you are. You are so beautiful and I am so ugly. I\'ve never seen anybody like you." "Ugly," cried one of the white birds. "How silly!" "We\'re swans," said another. "Why do you think you\'re ugly? Look at yourself in the water." The duckling looked and caught sight of his own reflection. He gasped in surprise, for instead of seeing a fat, grey duckling he saw a swan with a long elegant neck and a bright orange bill. "I\'m like you," he cried. "I\'m a swan, too." "Definitely," said the swan, with a smile. "Does that mean I can stay with you, and not live alone?" "Of course," said the swans. At that moment two children ran down to the lake. "Ooh, look!" they cried. "The swans are back and there\'s a new one, too. Isn\'t he beautiful!" The ugly duckling stretched his neck and ruffled his feathers with pride. Then it was time to go flying with all of the other swans and, as the duckling took off from the lake, he could see his new beautiful reflection in the water.
小英子0113
Once upon a time there were a fisherman and his wife who lived together in a filthy shack near the sea. Every day the fisherman went out fishing, and he fished, and he fished. Once he was sitting there fishing and looking into the clear water, and he sat, and he sat. Then his hook went to the bottom, deep down, and when he pulled it out, he had caught a large flounder.Then the flounder said to him, "Listen, fisherman, I beg you to let me live. I am not an ordinary flounder, but an enchanted prince. How will it help you to kill me? I would not taste good to you. Put me back into the water, and let me swim.""Well," said the man, "there's no need to say more. I can certainly let a fish swim away who knows how to talk."With that he put it back into the clear water, and the flounder disappeared to the bottom, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.Then the fisherman got up and went home to his wife in the filthy shack."Husband," said the woman, "didn't you catch anything today?""No," said the man. "I caught a flounder, but he told me that he was an enchanted prince, so I let him swim away.""Didn't you ask for anything first?" said the woman."No," said the man. "What should I have asked for?""Oh," said the woman. "It is terrible living in this shack. It stinks and is filthy. You should have asked for a little cottage for us. Go back and call him. Tell him that we want to have a little cottage. He will surely give it to us.""Oh," said the man. "Why should I go back there?""Look," said the woman, "you did catch him, and then you let him swim away. He will surely do this for us. Go right now."The man did not want to go, but neither did he want to oppose his wife, so he went back to the sea.When he arrived there it was no longer clear, but yellow and green. He stood there and said:Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I willThe flounder swam up and said, "What does she want then?""Oh," said the man, "I did catch you, and now my wife says that I really should have asked for something. She doesn't want to live in a filthy shack any longer. She would like to have a cottage.""Go home," said the flounder. "She already has it."The man went home, and his wife was standing in the door of a cottage, and she said to him, "Come in. See, now isn't this much better?"There was a little front yard, and a beautiful little parlor, and a bedroom where their bed was standing, and a kitchen, and a dining room. Everything was beautifully furnished and supplied with tin and brass utensils, just as it should be. And outside there was a little yard with chickens and ducks and a garden with vegetables and fruit."Look," said the woman. "Isn't this nice?""Yes," said the man. "This is quite enough. We can live here very well.""We will think about that," said the woman.Then they ate something and went to bed.Everything went well for a week or two, and then the woman said, "Listen, husband. This cottage is too small. The yard and the garden are too little. The flounder could have given us a larger house. I would like to live in a large stone palace. Go back to the flounder and tell him to give us a palace.""Oh, wife," said the man, "the cottage is good enough. Why would we want to live in a palace?""I know why," said the woman. "Now you just go. The flounder can do that.""Now, wife, the flounder has just given us the cottage. I don't want to go back so soon. It may make the flounder angry.""Just go," said the woman. "He can do it, and he won't mind doing it. Just go."The man's heart was heavy, and he did not want to go. He said to himself, "This is not right," but he went anyway.When he arrived at the sea the water was purple and dark blue and gray and dense, and no longer green and yellow. He stood there and said:Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will"What does she want then?" said the flounder."Oh," said the man sadly, "my wife wants to live in a stone palace.""Go home. She's already standing before the door," said the flounder.Then the man went his way, thinking he was going home, but when he arrived, standing there was a large stone palace. His wife was standing on the stairway, about to enter.Taking him by the hand, she said, "Come inside."He went inside with her. Inside the palace there was a large front hallway with a marble floor. Numerous servants opened up the large doors for them. The walls were all white and covered with beautiful tapestry. In the rooms there were chairs and tables of pure gold. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings. The rooms and chambers all had carpets. Food and the very best wine overloaded the tables until they almost collapsed. Outside the house there was a large courtyard with the very best carriages and stalls for horses and cows. Furthermore there was a magnificent garden with the most beautiful flowers and fine fruit trees and a pleasure forest a good half mile long, with elk and deer and hares and everything that anyone could possibly want."Now," said the woman, "isn't this nice?""Oh, yes" said the man. "This is quite enough. We can live in this beautiful palace and be satisfied.""We'll think about it," said the woman. "Let's sleep on it." And with that they went to bed.The next morning the woman woke up first. It was just daylight, and from her bed she could see the magnificent landscape before her. Her husband was just starting to stir when she poked him in the side with her elbow and said, "Husband, get up and look out the window. Look, couldn't we be king over all this land?""Oh, wife," said the man, "why would we want to be king? I don't want to be king.""Well," said the woman, "even if you don't want to be king, I want to be king.""Oh, wife," said the man, "why do you want to be king? I don't want to tell him that.""Why not?" said the woman, "Go there immediately. I must be king."So the man, saddened because his wife wanted to be king, went back."This is not right, not right at all," thought the man. He did not want to go, but he went anyway.When he arrived at the sea it was dark gray, and the water heaved up from below and had a foul smell. He stood there and said:Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will"What does she want then," said the flounder."Oh," said the man, "she wants to be king.""Go home. She is already king," said the flounder.
