THERE were once five peas in one shell（殼，豆莢）, they were green, the shell was green, and so they believed that the whole world must be green also, which was a very natural conclusion（結(jié)論）. The shell grew, and the peas grew, they sat all in a row. The sun shone outside and warmed the shell, and the rain made it clear; it was mild and agreeable in broad daylight, and dark at night, as it generally is; and the peas grew bigger and bigger, they felt there must be something else for them to do.

　　“Are we to sit here forever?” asked one; “shall we not become hard by sitting so long? It seems to me there must be something outside, and I feel sure of it.”

　　And as weeks passed by, the peas became yellow, and the shell became yellow.

　　“All the world is turning yellow, I suppose,” said they ――and perhaps they were right.

　　Suddenly they felt a pull at the shell; it was torn out by a boy , then slipped into the pocket of a jacket with other full pods(豆莢).

　　“Now we shall soon be opened,” said one ―just what they all wanted.

　　“I should like to know which of us will travel furthest（最遠(yuǎn)）,” said the smallest of the five; “we shall soon see now.”

　　“What is to happen will happen,” said the largest pea.

　　The shell burst（裂開）, and the five peas rolled out（滾出） into the bright sunshine. There they lay in a child's hand. The little boy said they were fine peas for his pea-shooter（彈弓類的玩具）. And immediately he put one in and shot it out.

　　“Now I am flying out into the wide world,” said the pea; “catch me if you can;” and he was gone in a moment.

　　“I,” said the second, “want to fly straight（一直） to the sun.” And he went away.

　　“We will go to sleep wherever we find ourselves,” said the two next, “we shall still be rolling onwards（向前）;” They fell on the floor, and roll about before they got into the pea-shooter; but they were put in it. “We shall go farther than the others,” said they.

　　“What is to happen(發(fā)生) will happen,” said the last, as he was shot out of the pea-shooter; and as he spoke he flew up against an old board under a window of an old house, and fell into a little crevice（裂縫）. The moss closed round him, and there he lay.

　　“What is to happen will happen,” said he to himself.

　　A poor woman lived in the house, who went out to clean stoves(爐子), chop（砍，劈） wood into small pieces and do such-like hard work, for she was strong and industrious（吃苦的，刻苦的）. Yet she was always poor, and at home lay her only daughter, who was young and very weak. For a whole year she was in bed, and it seemed as if she could neither live nor die.

　　“She is going to her little sister,” said the woman; “I had two children, but it was not an easy thing to support（撫養(yǎng)） both of them; but the good God(上帝) helped me and took one of them to Himself. Now I would gladly keep the other that was left to me, but I suppose they are not to be separated（分開）, and my sick girl will very soon go to her sister above.” But the sick girl lay all the day long, while her mother was away from home at her work.

　　Spring came, and one morning early the sun shone brightly through the little window, and threw its rays（光線） over the floor of the room. Just as the mother was going to her work, the sick girl looked at the window-“Mother,” she cried, “what is the little green thing in the wind?”

　　The mother went to the window and opened it. “Oh!” she said, “There is a little pea which has taken root（生根） and is putting out its green leaves. How could it get into this crack（裂縫）? Well now, here is a little garden for you.” So she moved the bed of the sick girl nearer to the window, that she might see the budding（發(fā)芽的） plant. Then the mother went out to her work.

　　“Mother, I think I shall get well,” said the sick child in the evening, “the sun was shining here so brightly and warmly today, and the little pea is growing so well: I shall be better, too, and go out into the warm sunshine again.”

　　“God grant it!” said the mother, but she did not believe it would be so. But she set a little stick（木棒）for the green plant which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life, so that it might not be broken by the winds; she tied the piece of string（細(xì)線） to the window, so that the pea-tendrils（藤） might twine（纏繞） round it when it grew up. And it almost was seen to grow from day to day.

　　“Now really here is a flower,” said the old woman one morning, and now at last she began to encourage the hope that her sick daughter might really recover（恢復(fù)健康）. She remembered that for some time the child had spoken more cheerfully（高興地）, and during the last few days she got up in the morning to look with sparkling（閃亮的） eyes at her little garden. A week after, she sat up for the first time a whole hour, feeling quite happy by the open window in the warm sunshine, while outside grew the little plant, and on it a pink pea-blossom（豌豆花） in full bloom. The little girl bent down and gently kissed the leaves. This day was to her like a festival.

　　“Our God has planted that pea, and made it grow and flourish（興旺,繁茂）, to bring joy to you and hope to me, my blessed child,” said the happy mother, and she smiled at the flower, as if it had been an angel（天使） from God.

　　But what happened to the other peas? The one who flew out into the wide world and said, “Catch me if you can,” fell into a gutter（水槽） on the roof of a house, and eaten by a pigeon（鴿子）. The two lazy ones were carried quite as far, for they also were eaten by pigeons, so they were at least of some use; but the fourth, who wanted to reach the sun, fell into a sink（下水道） and lay there in the dirty water for days and weeks, till he had swelled（膨脹） to a great size.

　　“I am getting beautifully fat,” said the pea, “I expect I shall burst at last; no pea could do more that that, I think; I am the most remarkable（不平凡的） of all the five which were in the shell.” And the sink confirmed the opinion.

　　But the young maiden stood at the open window, with sparkling eyes and the happy smiles on her face, she folded（折疊，交叉） her thin hands over the pea-blossom, and thanked God for what He had done.

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