The Best Nourishment of Life

生命最好的養料

A little boy almost thought of himself as the most unfortunate child in the world because poliomyelitis made his leg lame and his teeth uneven and protrudent. He seldom played with his classmates; and when the teacher asked him to answer questions, he always lowered his head without a word.

一個小男孩幾乎認為自己是世界上最不幸的孩子，因為小兒麻痹癥使他腿腳行動不便，牙齒參差不齊。他很少跟同學們玩耍，老師叫他回答問題時，他也總是低著頭一言不發。

One spring, the boy's father asked for some saplings from the neighbor. He wanted to plant them in the front of the house. He told his children to plant a sapling each person. The father said to the children, "Whose seedling grows best, I will buy him or her a favorite gift." The boy also wanted to get his father's gift. But seeing his brothers and sisters carrying water to water the trees bouncily, anyhow, he hit upon an idea: he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So watering it once or twice, he never attended to it.

一年春天，小男孩的父親從鄰居家討了些樹苗，他想把它們栽在房前。他叫孩子們每人種一棵。父親對孩子們說:“誰栽的樹苗長得最好，我就給誰買一件最喜歡的禮物。”小男孩也想得到父親的禮物，但是看到兄弟姐妹們快活地提著水去澆樹，不知怎么回事，他萌生了一個想法:他希望自己栽的樹苗早日死去。因此他澆水一兩次后，就再也沒去照管小樹苗了。

A few days later, when the little boy went to see his tree again, he was surprised to find it not only didn't wilt, but also grew some fresh leaves, and compared with the trees of his brother and sister, his appeared greener and more vital. His father kept his promise,bought the little boy his favorite gift and said to him: from the tree he planted, he would become an outstanding botanist when he grew up.

幾天后，小男孩再去看他種的樹苗時，驚奇地發現它不僅沒有枯萎，而且還長出了一些新葉，顯得更加翠綠、更有生氣。父親兌現了他的諾言，為小男孩買一了件他最喜歡的禮物，并對他說:從他栽的樹來看，他長大后一定能成為一名出色的植物學家。

Since then, the little boy slowly became optimistic. One day, the little boy lay on the bed but couldn't sleep. Looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, he suddenly  recalled what the biology teacher once said, plants general grow at night. Why not go to see the tree? When he came to the courtyard on tiptoe, he found his father was splashing
something under his tree with a ladle. All of a sudden, he understood: his father had been secretly fertilizing his small tree! He returned to his room, tears running down his face without restraint.

從那以后，小男孩慢慢變得樂觀起來。一天晚上，小男孩躺在床上睡不著，望著窗外明亮的月光，突然想起生物老師說過植物一般都在晚上生長。何不去看看自己種的那棵小樹呢?他輕手輕腳地來到院子里的時候，卻看見父親正用勺子在自己栽種的那棵樹下潑灑著什么。頓時，一切他都明白了，原來父親一直在為自己栽種的樹苗偷偷地施肥!他返回房間，止不住淚流滿面。

Decades passed. The little boy didn't become a botanist, but he was elected President of the United States. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.

幾十年過去了，小男孩并沒有成為植物學家，卻成為美國總統，他的名字叫富蘭克林·羅斯福。

Love is the best nourishment of life; even if it is just one ladleful of clear water, it can make the tree of life thrive. Maybe that tree is inconspicuous; perhaps that the tree is so thin, and even some withered, but as long as there is nourishment of love, it can flourish and even grow into towering trees.

愛是生命最好的養料，哪怕只是一勺清水，它都能使生命之樹茁壯成長。也許那棵樹是那樣不起眼，甚至還有些枯萎，但只要有愛的養料孕育，它就能枝繁葉茂，甚至長成參天大樹。

課堂筆記：
1.此處的兩個“water”詞性不同，前者為名詞，后者為動詞.表示“澆水”.
2.該部分為動詞“find"的賓語從句。賓語從句前面的“that”常被省略。
3.英語中表述普遍真理的語句使用一般現在時態，故而此處謂語動詞的時態與上下文使用的過去時不一致
4.富蘭克林·羅斯福(Franklin Roosevelt,1882-1945，美國第32任總統，美國歷史上唯一一位蟬聯四屆的總統。羅斯福在20世紀的經濟大蕭條和第二次世界大戰中扮演了重要的角色。被學者評為是美國最偉大的三位總統之一，同華盛頓和林肯齊名。
5."some"在此處的詞性為副詞，表示程度，意思為“稍稍，有幾分”.

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