100个儿童英语小故事: Ingel who Trod on the Loaf 谁踩面包

 

023 Ingel who Trod on the Loaf

Once, there was a little baby girl. Her name was Ingel. Ingel's family was very poor, so her parents adopted her out to a rich family.

Fortunately, the mistress loved and treated Ingel like her own daughter. Ingel grew up not only beautifully but also she had too much vanity. 

One year later after Ingel came to the house, the mistress called Ingel and spoke¹ to her in a soft voice. "Ingel, go and visit your own mother and father in your old house." "Yes, ma'am." Ingel prepared herself for the visit and left her house.

She put on her best clothes and best shoes. She who had prettied beyond recognition wanted to boast herself. When Ingel reached the entrance to the village, a woman who bore firewood was taking a rest sitting on a rock by a roadside. She was Ingel's mother. 'I can't believe that woman with such a shabby outfit² is my mother.' Ingel passed by the woman turning her head to another side and pretended as if she did not see her. 

A mud puddle³ came in sight after walking further. "Oh! How can I pass this? My shoes and dress will get dirty. Oh, I have a good idea." Ingel threw a big white loaf of bread in the middle of the puddle. It was a gift from the mistress to give her parents. She thought that she could pass the puddle by stepping on the bread, keeping her shoes clean. 

When she stepped one foot on the bread and lifted the other foot, the bread sank in the puddle. "Oh, help me!" Ingel was swamped by the puddle.

After sinking for a long time, she arrived at the bottom of the deep swamp. There was an old evil lady in the swamp. When the old evil lady saw Ingel, she giggled⁴ creepily and said, "Welcome. A human like you is my favorite, ha, ha, ha."

The old evil lady forced Ingel to help her in her work. The old evil lady worked for the destruction of mankind. She was making shoes, which if one wore them, one soon wanted to steal something. Hats, which when one put it on, one wanted to be cruel to other people, and vests which made one lie once one wore them.

Ingel was hungry, but the old evil lady did not give food to Ingel at all. On the bottom of her shoe, some of the bread was still stuck on it. Ingel stretched out her hands and tried to grab the bread on the bottom of her shoe. But her body was hard as rock, and she could not reach there. 

It was painful, so she shed tears. "I was such a fool!" She thought she got punished because she pretended that she did not know her own mother and tried to step on the bread. She regretted her silly behavior for the first time.

When her warm tears began to fall down to the bread under her shoe, the bread came off from it like magic. Ingel took the hard bread off and she lived barely by eating the bread little by little everyday. Ingel was determined⁵ to stop the old evil lady's work at any cost.

At that time, a ray of light appeared from somewhere and shone through the dark swamp. "Oh!" When the light shone on Ingel's head, she turned into a bird and flew up to the sky in the twinkling of an eye. Even the old evil lady could not stop her.

Ingel who became a bird now, flew in the sky happily and sang merry songs. Ingel flew around the house of her mother and father. She did not go anywhere but just stayed there.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

3 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

4 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。