100个儿童英语小故事: Rapunzel 莴苣姑娘

 

070 Rapunzel

Once upon a time, there lived an old couple in a village. The old couple prayed every day that they might have a baby. One day, an old woman moved into the house next door. The Old woman raised lettuce¹ that looked very tasty and delicious.

The old wife wanted to eat the lettuce from next door, and she constantly pestered² her husband to let her eat that mouth-watering lettuce. "Dear, I want to have that lettuce." Without knowing what else to do, the husband crept³ next door and stole the old woman's lettuce.

However, the woman next door was a witch, and she noticed that the husband of her neighbor had stolen the lettuce. The witch said, "You dare to steal another's lettuce. You deserve⁴ to be punished." The husband said, "I am sorry, but my wife wants to have the lettuce very much."

The witch said, "Is that so? Then you can take as much as you want. But there is a condition." The husband asked, "What is it?" The witch said, "If a baby is born, you have to give me the child." After a while, his wife got pregnant⁵ and gave birth to a pretty girl. The witch swiftly⁶ crept off with the baby girl and disappeared into the forest.

She gave the name Rapunzel to the girl, and this child grew up fast to become a beautiful lady. Yet the witch was afraid of losing Rapunzel, so she locked her up in a tower.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, please let down your golden hair." When Rapunzel dropped down her long hair, the witch would climb up in order to prevent Rapunzel from meeting other people.

One day, a Prince happened to pass by the tower. The Prince lost his heart to the beautiful singing voice of Rapunzel. "How can I climb up to the tower?" The Prince decided⁷ to wait under the tower until he saw an opportunity.

On the next day, the Prince saw that the witch climbed up to the tower on the lovely yellow hair of Rapunzel. After the witch left the tower, the Prince imitated the witch. He said, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, please let down your golden hair." Then the long hair was dropped from the inside of the tower.

Upon seeing Rapunzel, the Prince fell instantly⁸ in love with her. He said, "You are the most beautiful lady in the world." Rapunzel also lost her heart to the handsome prince. The two lovers⁹ met each other every night, hiding from the eyes of the witch.

However one day, the witch found out about these secret meetings, cut off the hair of Rapunzel, and sent her to a desert. Then the witch dropped down the cut hair to the Prince, as he came to see Rapunzel. When the Prince climbed up the tower, holding the cut hair, the witch cast off the ladder sending the Prince crashing to the ground.

He fell heavily on the earth at the base of the tower and became blind. The Prince gained strength by wandering around the land in order to find Rapunzel, and finally met her in the heart of the desert. Rapunzel recognized the Prince at once. Upon realizing that the Prince had become blind, Rapunzel's eyes filled with tears, which trickled¹⁰ down into the eyes of the Prince.

At that moment, the Prince gained his eyesight again with the power of love. Then the two people returned to the royal palace and lived happily ever after.

1 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

2 pestered   

使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Journalists pestered neighbours for information. 记者缠着邻居打听消息。
• The little girl pestered the travellers for money. 那个小女孩缠着游客要钱。

3 crept   

v.蹑手蹑足地走( creep的过去式和过去分词 )；缓慢地行进；爬行；匍匐

参考例句：

• I crept up the stairs, trying not to wake my parents. 为了尽量不吵醒父母，我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• He had crept up on his unsuspecting victim from behind. 他从背后悄悄逼近了那毫无戒备的受害者。

4 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

5 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

6 swiftly   

adv.快地，迅速地

参考例句：

• He came in swiftly and placed the child in my arms.他匆忙走进来把孩子放到我怀里。
• The police must be able to react swiftly in an emergency.警方在面对紧急情况时必须能迅速作出反应。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 instantly   

adv.立即，立刻

参考例句：

• She was used to having her orders instantly obeyed.她习惯了让人即刻服从她的命令。
• Though he slept soundly,he awoke instantly.他虽然睡得很香，但是马上就醒了。

9 lovers   

爱好者( lover的名词复数 )； 情人； 情夫； 情侣

参考例句：

• They were off-screen lovers. 他们是真实生活中的情侣。
• Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet 罗密欧和朱丽叶这一对莎士比亚笔下命运多舛的恋人

10 trickled   

v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Blood trickled down his face. 血从他脸上一滴滴流下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tears trickled down her cheeks. 热泪一滴滴从她脸颊上滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》