英语故事：CRISTOPHER WEBTOE AND THE GREAT POND

One warm spring day, in the quiet little frog village of Ribbitt Ridge¹, on the edge of Green Forest, a young frog named Christopher Webtoe woke from a good night's sleep. He saw that the day was perfect for an adventure and decided² to make the most of it.

Christopher Webtoe is a good little frog with loving parents and lots of friends. Christopher has very proper manners, and all the villagers love him, too. But, Christopher is also a very curious little frog. He forgets to listen to his parents, sometimes, and does not look before he leaps. This day was no different.

After he ate a breakfast fit for a bullfrog, Christopher took a hop³ out of the forest and the safety of Ribbitt Ridge. He hopped⁴ across Big Meadow and stopped on the shore of the place all frog villagers fear to go; Great Pond! Christopher was going to find what was so frightening.

As Christopher stood on the shore, he looked back to see how far he had come. Big Meadow was very big, now, and he couldn't even see Ribbitt Ridge. He swallowed nervously⁵ with a gulp⁶ as he thought about the village rules.
In Ribbitt Ridge, there are three rules which all frogs obey. First, never croak⁷ when Samuel Slither, the snake, is nearby (Who is Samuel Slither? Well, that is another story.). Second, never eat flies just before bedtime. And Third, never, ever, swim in Great Pond.

Christopher ignored the third rule as he sprang into the air and gracefully⁸ splashed into Great pond, as gracefully as a young frog could. Once in the water, Christopher thought about the rule, but wondered what all the fuss was about. Great Pond seemed perfectly⁹ safe, and, since he was an excellent swimmer, Christopher was not afraid of going out too far.

As he swam along, doing his best frog kick, Christopher began to notice how odd it was that there were no lily pads, no plants, no rocks, not even any fish in Great Pond. In fact, there was nothing but water. This place was very different than Frog Lake, where Christopher usually swam. Christopher realized he was very alone, and that made him a little worried.

Shortly, Christopher decided he had enough adventure for one day. He turned to go back. When he started to swim back, however, he did not go anywhere. In fact, he began to go backward. He was really worried, now. He swam faster.

Suddenly, everything got dark, and Christopher was swept into a giant whirlpool, where he twirled, spun¹⁰ and tumbled around and around. Now he knew why all frogs feared Great Pond. He wished he had never tried to find out why.

Just as he lost all hope of ever seeing Ribbitt Ridge again, light rushed back like a flood. A giant hand lifted Christopher to safety. From high above, Christopher got a view of his adventure that no other frog has ever seen.

He saw that Great Pond was actually a swimming pool, in which people swim!

The whirlpool was actually the pool's skimmer, which cleans the pool and sucks in leaves, bugs¹¹ and curious little frogs. And the giant hand belonged to a friendly child who saw Christopher fall into the skimmer and saved him.

The child placed Christopher safely down on the edge of Green Forest. Christopher was thankful, but he could not wait to tell everyone of his great adventure, although his parents would not be very happy. They would not have to worry, however. Christopher planned to obey the Great Pond rule and do a lot more looking before leaping after his great adventure there.

Do you think he remembers the other rules?

We'll see.

The End