初级故事5 风中奇缘

Chapter One: The Sailing Ship

May was a beautiful month in the land of the Algonquin Indians. There were tall trees and colorful flowers everywhere. The sky and the sea were deep blue.

Pocahontas was the favorite daughter of Chief Powhatan. She was an Indian princess. Chief Powhatan was a powerful chief of the Algonquin tribe.

Pocahontas was eleven years old. She was a lovely young girl with black hair and dark eyes. She wore a buckskin dress and moccasins . She had a feather in her hair. Pocahontas was always happy. She ran in the forest and danced in the fields. She sat on the hill and looked at the blue sea.

On May 6, 1607, Pocahontas sat on the hill and she saw something strange in the bay. It was a big sailing ship! She was very surprised. The sailing ship was something new. It had big white sails and flags. She looked at it for a long time. Where did it come from? Why was it there? She was very excited.

Pocahontas ran to her village to tell her father and brother the news.

"Father, father!" she said. "There's a big sailing ship in the bay! It has white sails and colored flags!"

Her father, Chief Powhatan, was outside his longhouse. He was a tall man, with long black hair. He wore the feathers of an Indian chief on his head. He listened to the news, but he was not happy.

"The white men are here," Powhatan said sadly. "This is bad news for our people. There is no peace with the white men here."

Nantaquas was Pocahontas' brother. He was eighteen years old. He was a strong Indian warrior . He looked at his sister and said, "In the past the white people killed the Indians. They want to take our land."

"Oh, Nantaquas, let's go to see the white people. Let's go to see their big ship!" said Pocahontas.

"You can go to see them, but don't go near the ship. Stay far away! Be careful!" said Powhatan. "Remember, Pocahontas, white men are dangerous."

Nantaquas and Pocahontas went to the river. There were many canoes near the river. They got into a small canoe. Then Nantaquas paddled down the river to the bay. In the bay they saw the big sailing ship. There was a tall, white man on the ship. He smiled at them. There were other white men too.

They all looked at the small canoe and at the two Indians.

Pocahontas smiled at the white man. "Let's go to the ship," she said.

"No," said Nantaquas. "It's dangerous. We don't know who these white men are. We can look and then go home. We must obey our father."

The white man on the ship smiled again. "Look, Nantaquas," said Pocahontas, "that man has red hair and white skin! He's smiling at us. Look at his clothes! They are strange."

Nantaquas turned the canoe and paddled up the river. When they arrived home, Nantaquas said, "I saw a big sailing ship. There were many white men on the ship." Powhatan talked to his medicine men and tribe advisers .

They all sat inside the longhouse for a long time.

He said, "White men bring us problems. They have a strange magic. They carry thunder sticks to kill our people. They want to take our land, our lakes, our rivers and our forests. They can stay for a short time but they cannot stay here forever. Let's watch them and see what they do!"

中级 我的秘密花园

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Chapter One: A Spoiled Little Girl

Mary Lennox was spoiled, rude and had a bad temper . Because she was often ill she was thin, with a sad face. She complained a lot. No one liked her at all.

This was not really Mary's fault. She lived in India with her mother and father, but she did not see her parents very often. Mary's father was busy with his work and her mother was a very beautiful woman who loved parties and was not interested in her small daughter. She left Mary in the care of an Indian nanny , called an ayah. Her ayah let Mary do what she wanted because she didn't want Mary to cry and irritate her mother. Mary soon became a spoiled and unpleasant young girl.

When Mary was nine years old she woke up one hot morning and felt that there was something wrong. She heard strange cries and shouts and the sound of feet outside her door, but no one came to see her. She went back to sleep.

Later, when Mary woke up, the house was silent.

She heard nothing. Mary was angry because no one came to bring her food or to dress her. Suddenly her door opened and two Englishmen entered.

Mary looked at them angrily.

'Why has everyone forgotten me?' she asked. 'Where is my ayah? Why does no one come?'

'Poor little kid,' said one of the men. 'There is nobody here.'

That is how Mary discovered that her mother and father were dead and that the servants were dead too, because of a terrible disease. That was why the house was so silent. Mary Lennox was completely alone.

There was no one in India to look after Mary, so she went to England to live with her uncle, Mr Craven, who lived in a big house in Yorkshire, called Misselthwaite Manor.

Mrs Medlock, her uncle's housekeeper, met Mary in London. Mary disliked Mrs Medlock immediately. But this was nothing new, because Mary disliked everyone.

Mrs Medlock did not like Mary. She thought that the little girl was bad-tempered, rude and plain— and she was right.

During the long train journey to Yorkshire, Mrs Medlock told Mary about the house where she was going to live. It seemed very large and gloomy,and it was near the edge of a moor.

'There's nothing for you to do there, and your uncle is not interested in you,' said Mrs Medlock. 'He's got a crooked back. He was a Sour young man until he married.'

Mary listened more carefully now. She did not know that her uncle was married.

'His wife was very pretty, and he loved her very much. When she died he became even stranger,' Mrs Medlock said.

'Oh, did she die?' asked Mary.

'Yes, and now he likes nobody. He's away most of the time, so you must look after yourself.'

It was dark and raining when they got out of the train. They travelled to the house by horse and carriage, but Mary could see nothing outside because of the rain and the darkness of the night.

'What is a moor?' Mary asked.

'It's miles and miles of land,' replied Mrs Med Jock. 'Very little grows on it, and nothing lives on it except: ponies and sheep.'

The carriage stopped at last in a courtyard. A butler opened a heavy wooden door.

'Take her to her room,' he said to Mrs Medlock. 'The Master doesn't want to see her. He's going to London tomorrow.'

Mrs Medlock took Mary upstairs, along many corridors to a room with a fire burning in it and food on the table.

'Well, here you are,' said Mrs Medlock. 'This is where you'll live. This room and the next is where you must stay. You can't go into the other parts of the house. Don't forget that.'

Mary Lennox felt terribly alone.