The Selfish Giant

自私的巨人

Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant's garden.

每天下午，孩子們放學回來，總會去巨人的花園里玩耍。

It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. "How happy we are here!" they cried to each other.

這是一個可愛的大花園，長滿了柔嫩的青草。草叢間到處盛開著美麗的鮮花，如繁星點點。花園里還有十二棵桃樹，每到春天，粉紅色和珍珠色的花朵姣美誘人，到了秋天樹上果實累累。鳥兒棲息在枝頭動聽地唱著，孩子們都禁不住停止游戲，細心聆聽。“我們在這兒多么快樂!”他們互相歡叫。

One day the Giant came back. 1-1e had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle.When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.

有一天巨人回來了。他去拜訪康沃爾的怪物朋友，和他一起住了七年。七年結束了，巨人說完了想說的話，因為他的話總有個盡頭，他決定回到自己的城堡。當他到家的時候，看見孩子們正在花園里玩耍。

"What are you doing here?" he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.

“你們在這兒做什么‘!”他非常粗暴地喊道，孩子們跑開了。

"My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself." So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.

“我自己的花園就是我自己的，”巨人說道，“隨便什么人都明白。除了我以外，我不允許任何人在花園里玩。”于是他在花園的四周砌起了高高的圍墻，支起一塊告示牌。

 TRESPASSERS

越界者

WILL BE

將會 

 PROSECUTED

受到重懲

He was a very selfish Giant.

他是一個非常自私的巨人。

The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. "How happy we were there," they said to each other.

可憐的孩子們沒有玩的去處了。他們試著在公路上玩.但是公路上塵土飛揚，到處是堅硬的石子.他們并不喜歡那里。功課結束之后，他們常常在高高的城墻外徘徊，互相談論著墻內漂亮的花園。“我們從前在那里多么快樂呀!”他們互相說著。

Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. "Spring has forgotten this garden," they cried, "so we will live here all the year round." The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. "This is a delightful spot," he said, "we must ask the Hail on a visit." So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go.He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.

春天到了，整個村莊到處盛開著小花，到處都有氣小鳥歡唱。只有自私的巨人的花園里依然是冬天。鳥兒們不愿意去那兒歌唱，因為那里沒有孩子們的蹤跡，樹木也忘了開花。一次，一朵美麗的花兒從草間伸出頭來，可是當它看到告示牌的時候，它為孩子們感到難過，又把頭縮回到地里，繼續沉睡。唯一高興的是白雪和霖降。“春天忘記了這座花園，”他們嚷道，“那么我們可以常年住在這里了。”雪用她厚重的白色外衣覆蓋住草地，霜降給所有的樹木刷上了銀色的外衣。之后他們還邀請北風來和他們同住，北風來了。他裹在毛皮里，整日在花園里呼嘯，還吹掉了煙囪管帽。“這是一個讓人愉悅的地方，”他說，‘我們一定要叫冰雹來做客。”于是冰雹也來了。每天他都要在城堡的屋頂連續不斷地敲打三個小時，直到大部分瓦片被砸破為止，然后他又以最快的速度繞著花園奔跑。他穿著一身灰衣，氣息如冰一般。

I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the selfish Giant,as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather."

“我不懂為什么春天遲遲不來，”自私的巨人說，他坐在窗邊，看著寒冷的雪白的花園，“我希望天氣會變好一些。”

But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. "He is too selfish," she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.

但是春天始終沒來，夏天也沒有降臨。秋天給每座花園送去了金色的果實，卻沒有給巨人的花園送來什么。“他太自私了，”秋天這樣說。所以，巨人的花園里總是嚴冬，北風、冰雹、霜凍和雪花紛紛在樹木間舞蹈。

課堂筆記：
1."there be”句型中包含一個由“that”引導的定語從句，修飾先行詞“peach-trees".定語從句的謂語成分“break out into blossoms”和“bear rich fruit”由連詞“and”連接。
2."so ... that”句型是英語中最常用的句型之一，表示“如此……以至于”。副詞“so"后加形容詞或副詞，"that”從句表示結果。此處“that”從句中的常用短語“in order to"表示“為了，目的在于”，同義詞組還有:"so as to, for the purpose of, for the sake of”等。
3.這是一則英語公示語,起告誡和警示的作用。英語公示語一般言辭簡短，語義明確.生活中常見的英語公示語還有:Please keep off the grass.(請勿踐踏草坪.)No Access.(不得進入.)No Trespassing.(不得擅自闖入.)No Littering.(不得亂扔垃圾.)
4.擬人(personification)是童話的常用寫作手法.全文中的花草、北風、白雪、霜降和冰雹都被賦予人的特征.此處作者非常生動地把雪和霜刻畫成冷酷無情、四處肆虐的形象，與天真無邪、充滿生氣的孩子們形成了鮮明的對照.
5.這是一個由連詞“and”連接的并列句.第一個句子為主從復合句，由連詞“till”引導，"till'’表示“直到…才;直到…為止”，用于強調主句的謂語動詞“rattle”動作的持續性，該詞的使用非常成功地塑造了一個肆意破壞的冰雹的形象。第二個句子中的句型結構“as……as”在英語中極為常用，表示“和......一樣”。

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