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第
五课
The Treasure in the Orchard
An old gardener who was dying sent for his two sons to come to his bedside, as he
wished
to
speak
to
them.
When
they
came
in
answer
to
his
request,
the
old
man,
raising
himself on his pillows, pointed through the window towards his orchard.
cherries bigger and brighter than rubies!
The old gardener nodded his head, time and time again. He looked at his hands
- they were worn from the spade that he had used all his life. Then he looked at
the hands of his sons and saw that their nails were polished and their fingers as
white as those of any fine lady's.
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if you ever will! But I have hidden a treasure in my orchard for you to find. You
will
never
possess
it
unless
you
dig
it
up.
It
lies
midway
between
two
of
the
trees,
not
too
near,
yet
not
too
far
from
the
trunks.
It
is
yours
for
the
trouble
of
digging
- that is all!
Then he sent them away, and soon afterwards he died. So the orchard became
the property of his sons, and without any delay, they set to work to dig for the
treasure that had been promised them.
Well,
they
dug
and
dug,
day
after
day,
week
after
week,
going
down
the
long
alleys of fruit trees, never too near yet never too far from the trunks. They dug
up all the weeds and picked out all the stones, not because they liked weeding and
cleaning, but because it was all part of the hunt for the buried treasure. Winter
passed and spring came, and never were there such blossoms as those which hung the
orange and apple and cherry trees with curtains of petals pale as pearls and soft
as
silk.
Then
summer
threw
sunshine
over
the
orchard,
and
sometimes
the
clouds
bathed
it
in
cool,
delicious
rain.
At
last
the
time
of
the
fruit
harvest
came.
But
the
two
brothers
had
not
yet
found
the
treasure
that
was
hidden
among
the
roots
of
the
trees.
Then they sent for a merchant from the nearest town to buy the fruit. It hung
in
great
bunches,
golden
oranges,
red
apples,
and
cherries
bigger
and
brighter
than
rubies. The merchant looked at them in open admiration.
is
the
finest
crop
I
have
yet
seen,
said
he,
I
will
give
you
twenty
bags of money for it!
Twenty
bags
of
money
were
more
than
the
two
brothers
had
ever
owned
in
their
life. They struck the bargain in great delight and took the money - bags into the
house, while the merchant made arrangements to carry away the fruit.
this. How you must have dug and weeded and worked to get it!
He went away, and the brothers sat eyeing each other over the tops of the
money- bags. Their hands were rough and toil-worn, just as the old gardener's had
been when he died.
)
than
rubies,
have been digging for all year, the very treasure our father meant!
一个老园丁快死了，叫人把两个儿子叫到床边来，因为他想要对他们说话。两个
儿子应他的要求来了，老人坐直身子靠在枕头上，指向窗外的果园。
“你们看到果园了吗”他说。
“是的，父亲，我们看到果园了。
”
“多年来，它一直生产最好的水果——金黄的橘子、红艳艳的苹果和比红宝石
还要大还要晶莹鲜亮的樱桃！
”
“的确是这样，父亲。它一直是个好果园！
”
]
老园丁一次又一次地点头。他看看自己的双手——用了一辈子的铲子把他的手
都磨出了老茧。然后又看看儿子们的手，只见他们的指甲都修得光光的，他们的
手指像闲雅女士的手指一样白皙。
“你们一生从没有干过一天活，你们俩！
”他说。
“我怀疑你们以后会不会干活！
但我已经在果园里藏了一笔金银财宝让你们去找。除非你们把它挖出来，否则你
们永远也不会拥有它。它就放在两棵树的中间，距离树干既不太近，也不太远。
只要花力气去挖它就是你们的——就这些！
”
然后他就打发他们走了，之后不久他就死了。于是，果园就成了他两个儿子的财
—
产。他们毫不迟延，立即开始工作，挖找已经答应给他们的财宝。
他们挖呀，挖呀，一天又一天地挖，一周又一周地挖。沿着果树间长长的小径向
前挖，距离树干既不太近也不太远。他们掘起所有的野草，拣出所有的石块；不
是因为他们喜欢除草和清理石块，而是因为这是寻找埋藏的财宝必须做的事情。
冬去春来，橘子树上、苹果树上和樱桃树上开出了花，花瓣淡雅如珍珠，柔软如
丝绸，像窗帘一般挂在树上，那花从来没有这样盛开过。随后夏天把阳光洒满果
园，有时阴云又使果园沐浴在清凉可口的雨水中。终于，水果收获的季节到了，
但两兄弟还没有找到藏在树根之间的财宝。
、
后来他们派人从最近的镇上叫来了一个商人来购买这些水果。金黄色的橘子，红
艳艳的苹果和比红宝石还要大、还要晶莹鲜亮的樱桃一大串一大串地挂在果树
上。那商人看着那些水果毫不掩饰地大加赞赏。
“这是我见过的最好的收成，
”他说。
“我愿意给你们
20
袋钱买下它！
”
20
袋钱比两兄弟一辈子有过的钱还要多。他们非常高兴地达成协议成交，拿着
钱袋进了屋，而那位商人则安排把水果运走。
“我明年还来，
”他说。“我总是高兴买这样的水果的。你们肯定花了大力气刨地、
除草、干活才种出这样的水果吧！
”
】
26
商人走了。两兄弟坐在那儿，目光越过钱袋顶看着对方。他们的双手变得粗糙，
磨出了老茧，正像老园丁临死时的手那样。
“金黄色的橘子，红艳艳的苹果和比红宝石还要大、还要晶莹鲜亮的樱桃，
”一
个兄弟轻声地说。
“我想这就是我们整整一年来一直挖找的财宝，也就是我们父
亲所指的财宝。
”
第六课
Tracking Down My Dream
It was the district track meet
—
the one we had been training for
all season. My foot still hadn’t
healed
from an earlier injury. As a
matter of fact, I had
debated
whether or not I should attend the meet.
But there I was, preparing for the 3,200-meter run.
》
“Ready… set…” The gun popped and we were
off. The other girls
darted
ahead
of
me.
I
realized
I
was
limping
and
felt
humiliated
as
I
fell
farther and farther behind.
The first place runner was two laps ahead of me when she crossed the
finish
line.“Hooray!”
shouted
the
crowd.
It
was
the
loudest
c
heer
I
had
ever heard at a meet.
“Maybe
I
should
quit,”I
thought
as
I
limped
on.“Those
people
don’t
want to wait for me to finish this race.” Somehow, though, I decided to
keep going. During the last two
laps
, I ran in pain and decided not to
compete
in
tr
ack
next
year.
It
wouldn’t
be
worth
it,
even
if
my
foot
did
heal. I could never beat the girl who had lapped me twice.
When I finished, I heard a cheer
—
just as enthusiastic as the one
I’d heard when the first girl passed the finish line. “What was that
all about” I asked myself. I turned around and, sure enough, the boys
were preparing for their race. “That must be it; they’re cheering for
the boys.”
I went straight to the bathroom where a girl bumped into me. “Wow,
you’ve got courage!” she told me.
I
th
ought,“Courage
She
must
be
mistaking
me
for
some
one
else.
I
just
lost a race!”
“I would never have been able to finish those two miles if I were
you. I would have quit on the first lap. What happened to your foot We
were cheering for you. Did you hear us”
I couldn’t believe it. A complete stranger had been cheering for
me
—
not
because
she
wanted
me
to
win,
but
because
she
wanted me
to
keep
going and not give up. Suddenly I regained hope. I decided to
stick with
track next year. One girl saved my dream.
~
That day I learned two things:
First, a little kindness and confidence in people can make a great
difference to them.
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