100个儿童英语小故事: The Bell 钟声

 

064 The Bell

A church bell tolled¹ and its echo² reached the streets. The sound of the bell seemed to be from a forest.

 The Bell

The people thought the bell sounded strange and went into the forest to find the bell. One day, the king said to his people, "Anyone who finds out where the sound of the bell comes from, I will give a high position."

A lot of people went into the forest. No one could find out where it came from. Then, one man found where the sound came from. It came when a giant owl³ hit its body against a tree. But he didn't know which tree it was.

He got a prize from the king, but nothing had changed. One day, a group of children went into the forest. They all wanted to find the sound of the bell.

All the children went into the forest, but three children didn't. After a short while, some of them were exhausted⁴. Many of them went back to the town. The rest of the children in the forest said, "We've been searching everywhere, but there is no 'bell'."

At that moment, a bell sound came from deep in the forest. They went deeper into the woods. Then, they heard water flowing. "Hey! What do you think is that sound?

The boys were all curious about the sound. "No, this is not the sound we heard." One of the boys answered. He was a prince. The rest of them all went back to town. The prince started to go into the forest all by himself from then on.

But one day, a poor boy came up in front of him. "I'll go with you. But I can't walk as fast as you, because of my wooden shoes." The poor boy walked toward the forest. The prince walked as fast as the poor boy did. "I will find the bell in the end!"

Around sunset, the forest became peaceful and quiet. The prince went deeper in to the woods. He climbed up a cliff. He got to the top of it before sunset. He looked down at the broad sea. It was very beautiful.

Then, the tune⁵ of the forest came from somewhere. He also could hear the tune of the sea. He stretched his arms toward the sky, sea and forest. As soon as the poor boy held the prince's hand, the holy sound of the bell echoed⁶ all around.

1 tolled   

鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Bells were tolled all over the country at the King's death. 全国为国王之死而鸣钟。
• The church bell tolled the hour. 教堂的钟声报时。

2 echo   

n.回音，共鸣；vi.发出回声；vt.模仿，附和

参考例句：

• She shouted on the mountaintop and listened for the echo.她在山顶上大声喊着，然后聆听着回声。
• I should like to echo the words of the previous speaker.我想重复前面一位发言者的话。

3 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

6 echoed   

重复，随声附和( echo的过去式和过去分词 )； 类似； 发射（声音等）； 发出回声

参考例句：

• Their shouts re-echoed through the darkness. 他们的喊声回荡在黑暗中。
• Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。