25.宝葫芦的秘密

Lesson Twenty-five

The Magic Gourd

1.I’m going to tell you a story.

2.But first let me introduce myself: I’m Wang Pao.

3.This is going to be a true story about myself and my adventures with a magic gourd.

4.You may ask, “What! A magic gourd? Like the ones in fairy tales?”

5.Yes, that’s exactly the kind I mean.

6.I must make it clear, though, that I’m not a fairy or ogre or anything.

7.I’m an ordinary person just like you.

8.See, I’m a Young Pioneer.And, just like you, I enjoy listening to stories.

9.I knew about magic gourds from the time I was very small.

10.My grandmother told me.

11.Every time granny wanted me to do anything, she had to tell me a story.

12.That was our rule.

13.“Come along, there’s a good boy, and let granny wash your feet.”

14.She would run after me, beckoning.

15.“I won’t.The water’s too hot.”

16.I would try to escape.

17.“It’s not hot.It’s been cooling for some time.”

18.“It’ll be too cold, then.”

19.Granny would catch me and say the water was exactly right, neither too hot nor too cold.There was no getting out of washing.

20.I would have to give in.But only on one condition, “All right, then.But you must tell me a story.”

21.Then granny would tell a story about a magic gourd.

22.“Don’t move, Pao!”

23.After washing my feet, granny would suddenly want something else.“Let me cut your nails....”

24.What! Cut my nails? Certainly not!

25.I would start to run away, barefoot.

26.But granny would catch hold of my arm.

27.There was nothing I could do.Still I would make the same condition, “You must tell me a story, then.”

28.Then granny would tell me another story about the magic gourd.

29.So, from the time I was very small until I was ten.Granny used to tell me stories.

30.Every single one was different.

31.The first time, Chang San bumped into a fairy one day who gave him a magic gourd.

32.The second time, Li Ssu went off on a long journey and swam to a dragon’s palace where he found a magic gourd.

33.Wang Wu got one because he was a good boy and let his grandmother change his clothes.

34.Chao Liu found one by digging in the ground.

35.But whoever it was, once he had the magic gourd he was in luck, because all his wished came true.

36.Chang San thought, “I’d like some peaches,” and at once a plate of juicy peaches was before him.

37.Li Ssu wished for a big spotted dog and one just appeared out of nowhere—

38.it rushed up wagging its tail and licked his hand.

39.What happened afterwards? Why, that goes without saying, they lived happily ever after.

40.These stories often made me think of myself.Supposed I had a magic gourd? What should I wish for?

41.I used to think like that even when I was quite big.

42.Sometimes I’d be sitting staring at a sun, not knowing how to do it, and the figure “8” would remind me of the magic gourd—

43.an, if only I had that! “That would save heaps of trouble.”

44.When the boys in our form tried to see who could grow the best sunflower, mine came up long and thin with a miserable little flower, the worst of the lot.

45.“If I had a magic gourd,” I thought, “I’d wish for the very best sunflower, the finest ever seen.”

46.That was just a dream, though.Still, I often used to think that way.

47.I did that day when I quarreled with the Science Group.

48.“Now if I had a magic gourd….”