An I can read(Level 2) Frog and Toad Are Friends 12 the garden

12-The Garden
Frog was in his garden.
Toad¹ came walking by.
“What a fine garden you have, Frog,” he said.
“Yes,” said Frog. “It is very nice, but it was hard work.”
“I wish I had a garden,” said Toad.
“Here are some flower seeds². Plant them in the ground,” said Frog.
“And soon you will have a garden.”

“How soon?” asked Toad.
“Quit soon.” Said Frog.
Toad ran home. He planted the flower seeds.

“Now seeds,” said Toad, “Start growing,”
Toad walked up and down a few times.
The seeds did not start to grow.
Toad put his head close to the ground and said loudly,
“Now seeds, start growing!”
Toad looked at the ground again.
 
The seeds did not start to grow.
Toad put his head very close to the ground and shouted,
“NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!”
Frog came running up the path³.
“What is all this noise?” he asked.
“My seeds will not grow,” said Toad.
“You are shouting too much,” said Frog.
“These poor seeds are afraid to grow.”
“My seeds are afraid to grow?” asked Toad.

“Of course.” said Frog.
“Leave them alone for a few days, let the sun shine on them, let the rain fall on them.
Soon your seeds will start to grow.”
That night Toad looked out of his window.
“Drat!” said Toad.
“My seeds have not started to grow. They must be afraid of the dark.”
Toad went out to his garden with some candles.
“I will read the seeds a story.” said Toad.
“Then they will not be afraid.”
Toad read a long story to his seeds.
 
All the next day Toad sang songs to his seeds.
And all the next day Toad read poems to his seeds.
And all the next day Toad played music for his seeds.
Toad looked at the ground.
 
The seeds still did not start to grow.
“What shall⁴ I do?” cried Toad.
“These must be the most frightened seeds in the whole world!”
Then Toad felt very tired, and he fell asleep.

“Toad, Toad, wake up,” said Frog.
“Look at your garden!”
Toad looked at his garden.

Little green plants were coming up out of the ground.
“At last,” shouted Toad,
“My seeds have stopped being⁵ afraid to grow!”
“And now you will have a nice garden too,” said Frog.
“Yes,” said Toad,
“But you were right, Frog. It was very hard work.”
 

1 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

2 seeds   

n.种子( seed的名词复数 )；子孙；起源；（尤指网球比赛）种子选手

参考例句：

• During the winter the seeds lie dormant in the soil. 冬天种子在土壤中休眠。
• a packet of wild flower seeds 一包野花籽

3 path   

n.路线，轨道，路程，小路，小径；abbr.(=pathological)；

参考例句：

• A path lies through the woods.一条小路穿过树林。
• She walked along the path.她沿着小路走去。

4 shall   

v.aux.（主要用于第一人称）将

参考例句：

• I shall always love you.我将永远爱你。
• Which club shall we join?我们要参加哪个社团？

5 being   

n.存在；生存；生命存在，生命，人， 本质；art.在，有，是

参考例句：

• Can you explain to me the purpose of being?你能对我解释一下存在的目的吗？
• What is the purpose of our being?我们生存的目的是什么？