河流與巖石

The River and the Rock

A river was running towards the valley and the plain, but when it came to a rock, it was afraid and started trembling.

The rock said: “Hi, where are you going?”

The river said timidly, “I’m going to the valley and the plain. They are waiting for me.”

The rock made fun of the river and said, “You are still very young. Go back to the hill immediately, and don’t come back here again!”

Startled, the river said, “I can only go forwards. There is no river that goes backwards.”

The rock became angry and said, “Speak no more! If you don’t go back, you will have to change your direction!”

The river helplessly asked, “Where should I go?”

“Go anywhere you like, just don’t come close to me!”

More and more water gathered as the river hesitated. Then it began to get out of control. The river surged over the rock. When it saw the rock being tossed about pitifully, it said, “Only a weak person will make a detour. A person who is strong will only go ahead, and nothing will stop him!”

【助讀詞匯】

◇timidly adv. 膽小地，羞怯地

◇startle vt. 使人（或動(dòng)物）驚嚇，使嚇一跳

◇surge vi.（波濤般）洶涌，（波濤、洪水等）洶涌；奔騰

◇toss vi. 上下?lián)u晃，搖動(dòng)，顛簸，翻來(lái)覆去

◇detour n. 便道，繞路 vi. 繞路而行 vt. 使繞道

【參考譯文】

河流與巖石

一條河流向山谷和平原，但當(dāng)流到一塊巖石邊時(shí)，它因害怕而開(kāi)始顫抖。

巖石說(shuō)：“喂！你要去哪里？”

河羞怯地說(shuō)：“我要去山谷和平原那里，它們?cè)诘戎�我。�?/FONT>