小學(xué)英語閱讀之第九篇

　　Thumbelina

　　Once upon a time, there lived a woman who had no children. The woman went to a sorcerer and begged, "I want to raise a pretty baby." The sorcerer then gave her a flower seed. As soon as the seed was planted, a tulip blossomed forth. From the floral leaf, a lovely baby girl who was as short as a thumb was born.

　　"Mother, how are you?" The baby girl who came out from the flower said hello to her mother with a beautiful voice. The woman was very happy and wanted to give her a pretty name. "A baby who is as short as a thumb...I will name her as Thumbelina."

　　Thumbelina led a happy life sailing her ship across a pond filled with flowers. But one night, there appeared a horrible-looking toad when Thumbelina was asleep. "She is really a pretty girl. I am going to make her my bride." The toad carried the sleeping girl on his warty back and went to his pond. Thumbelina woke up in the morning, and was so surprised that she could do nothing but weep silently.

　　She thought that she would rather die than become the wife of a toad. The fish who saw this unhappy event were sympathetic towards the poor girl, and said, "Thumbelina is pitiful. Let's help her." The fish cut the leaf of a lotus flower on which Thumbelina was riding, so that she could run away from the toad. She was roaming around the riverside riding on the leaf of a lotus flower. At that time, a beetle came flying about and spied the top of the head of Thumbelina.

　　"Uh! She is a very pretty girl. Okay, I am going to make her my friend." The beetle grabbed Thumbelina and flew into the forest. "How about that? She is my friend. Isn't she very pretty?" The beetle bragged about her to his other beetle friends, but they all thought that she was an odd creature. "What? She only has two legs but has no wings like we do. It is really strange."

　　With his friends making fun of him, the beetle began to dislike Thumbelina. He went away with his friends, leaving the girl alone in the branches. She spent many lonely days eating tree fruits and flowers. "Dear God, ase send me to my mother." Thumbelina wandered around the forest shivering from cold and hunger.

　　After some time, it began to snow. Thumbelina was looking for a place to take shelter when she finally saw a twinkling light. "I am Thumbelina. Please allow me to take a rest in your house." A field mouse woman greeted the girl warmly saying, "Oh my dear, ase come in."

　　The field mouse woman loved Thumbelina as if she were her own daughter. One day, a rich mole from a neighboring burrow came to the house for a holiday. He said, "She is a really pretty girl. It would be good if she became the wife of my son." The field mouse woman was very happy about what the rich mole said. But Thumbelina did not like that haughty fellow. Yet she was unable to reject what the field mouse woman wanted.

　　Thumbelina was taking a walk sadly in an underground passage, which was actually the house of the mole. At that time, she found a swallow that had fallen on the ground. "Ah, poor swallow. Please gain your strength." Thumbelina nursed the swallow earnestly. Finally, spring came, and the swallow gained strength and was about to leave the underground passage. He said, "Dear Thumbelina, come with me to the flower country where there is nothing but sun and flowers."

　　She agreed and rode on the back of the swallow to the flower land, where the Prince of the country greeted her saying, "Welcome, Thumbelina! I was waiting for you." There began a great party to welcome the happy girl. The Prince said, "Dear Thumbelina, would you ase marry me and become the Queen of the flower country?"

　　She said, "Yes, I will!" The Prince then gave his royal crown and wings to Thumbelina. To her bird companion she said, "Dear swallow, ase deliver this news to my mother." Thereafter, the Prince and Thumbelina led a very happy life in the flower country.

　　拇指姑娘

　　從前，有一個沒有孩子的女人。女人去找一個巫師，乞求道:“我想要一個漂亮的孩子。”于是，巫師給了她一朵花籽。種子一種，一種郁金香就開花了。從花葉上，一個可愛的小女孩，她的拇指就像拇指一樣短。

　　“媽媽,你好嗎?那個從花里出來的小女孩用一個美麗的聲音向她媽媽問好。那個女人很高興，想給她一個漂亮的名字。“一個像拇指一樣短的嬰兒……”我會給她起名叫拇指姑娘。”

　　Thumbelina過著幸福的生活，她的船在一個裝滿鮮花的池塘里航行。但有一天晚上，當(dāng)Thumbelina睡著的時候，出現(xiàn)了一只可怕的蟾蜍。“她真是個漂亮的姑娘。”我要把她嫁給我的新娘。蟾蜍把那個睡著的姑娘抱在他的背上，走到他的池塘邊。拇指姑娘早上醒來，驚訝的是，她什么也不做，只是默默地哭泣。

　　她認(rèn)為她寧愿死也不愿成為癩蛤蟆的妻子�？吹竭@一不幸事件的魚對可憐的女孩表示同情，說:“拇指姑娘很可憐。讓我們幫助她。“這條魚切掉了Thumbelina正在騎的一朵蓮花葉，這樣她就可以從蟾蜍身上跑開了。”她在河邊漫步，騎在一朵蓮花的葉子上。那時候，一只甲蟲飛來飛去，發(fā)現(xiàn)了拇指姑娘的頭頂。

　　“呃!她是一個非常漂亮的女孩。好吧，我要讓她成為我的朋友。金龜子抓住了拇指姑娘，飛進(jìn)了森林。“你覺得怎么樣?她是我的朋友。她不是很漂亮嗎?這只甲蟲向他的其他甲蟲朋友吹噓她的朋友，但是他們都認(rèn)為她是一個奇怪的生物。“什么?她只有兩條腿，但沒有像我們這樣的翅膀。真的很奇怪。”

　　隨著他的朋友們?nèi)⌒λ�，甲殼蟲開始不喜歡拇指姑娘了。他和他的朋友們走了，把那個女孩單獨留在了樹枝上。她在許多孤獨的日子里吃著樹的果實和花朵。“親愛的上帝，請把我送到我母親那里。”Thumbelina在森林里徘徊，在寒冷和饑餓中顫抖。

　　過了一段時間，它開始下雪了。當(dāng)她終于看到一盞閃爍的光時，Thumbelina正在尋找一個避難所。“我是拇指姑娘。請允許我在你的房子里休息一下。一位田鼠婦女熱情地對女孩說:“哦，親愛的，請進(jìn)來吧。”

　　田野老鼠的女人愛Thumbelina，就像她自己的女兒一樣。一天，附近的一個洞穴里的一名富有的鼴鼠來到這所房子里度假。他說，“她是一個非常漂亮的女孩。如果她能成為我兒子的妻子，那就太好了。“田鼠的女人對富鼴鼠說的話很高興。”但Thumbelina不喜歡那個傲慢的家伙。然而，她卻無法拒絕這個“老鼠女”想要的東西。

　　Thumbelina在一段地下通道里悲傷地走了一段路，這實際上是鼴鼠的房子。那時候，她發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只落在地上的燕子。“啊,可憐的燕子。請增加你的力量。Thumbelina認(rèn)真地照顧著燕子。 后，春天來了，燕子開始了力量，準(zhǔn)備離開地下通道。他說:“親愛的拇指姑娘，和我一起去花國吧，那里除了陽光和鮮花，什么也沒有。”

　　她同意了，騎在燕子的背上，來到了花地，在那里，王子對她說:“歡迎，拇指姑娘！”我在等你。“開始有一個盛大的晚會歡迎這個快樂的女孩。王子說:“親愛的拇指姑娘，你愿意嫁給我，成為花國的女王嗎?”

　　她說,“是的,我會!于是，王子把他的皇家王冠和翅膀給拇指姑娘。她對她的同伴說:“親愛的燕子，請把這條消息告訴我媽媽。”此后，王子和Thumbelina在花國里過著幸福的生活。