LESSON 45

THE MOUNTAIN SISTER

山妹子

1．The home of little Jeannette is far away, high up among the mountains. Let us call her our mountain sister.

2．There are many things you would like to hear about her, but I can only tell you now how she goes with her father and brother, in the autumn, to help gather nuts for the long winter.

3．A little way down the mountain side is a chestnut^〔1〕 wood. Did you ever see a chestnut tree? In the spring its branches are covered with bunches of creamy flowers, like long tassels^〔2〕. All the hot summer these are turning into sweet nuts, wrapped^〔3〕 safely in large, prickly^〔4〕, green balls.

4．But when the frost of autumn comes, these prickly balls turn brown, and crack open. Then you may see inside one, two, three, and even four, sweet, brown nuts.

5．When her father says, one night at supper time, "I think there will be a frost tonight," Jeannette knows very well what to do. She dances away early in the evening to her little bed, made in a box built up against the wall.

6．Soon she falls asleep to dream about the chestnut wood, and the little brook that springs from rock to rock down under the tall, dark trees. She wakes with the first daylight, and is out of bed in a minute, when she hears her father's cheerful call, "Come, children; it is time to be off."

7．Their dinner is ready in a large basket. The donkey stands before the door with great bags for the nuts hanging at each side. They go merrily over the crisp^〔5〕, white frost to the chestnut trees. How the frost has opened the burs^〔6〕! It has done half their work for them already.

8．How they laugh and sing, and shout to each other as they fill their baskets! The sun looks down through the yellow leaves; the rocks give them mossy seats; the birds and squirrels wonder what these strange people are doing in their woods.

9．Jeannette really helps, though she is only a little girl; and her father says at night, that his Jane is a dear, good child. This makes her very happy. She thinks about it at night, when she says her prayers. Then she goes to sleep to dream of the merry autumn days.

10．Such is our little mountain sister, and here is a picture of her far-away home. The mountain life is ever a fresh and happy one.

【中文阅读】

1．小珍妮特的家很远，在大山里高高的地方，我们就叫她山妹子吧！

2．关于她的许多故事你一定很想听，可是在这里我只告诉你，她帮着父亲和哥哥在秋天里采集栗子以备长冬之用的情形。

3．往山下走一点点路，是一片栗子林。你是否见过栗子树呢？春天里，栗子树的枝干被奶油一样的花朵密密麻麻地覆盖着，像长长的流苏。夏天，这些花儿会变成甜美的板栗，完好无损地包裹在多刺的绿色大球球里。

4．到了秋天雾起的时候，这些带刺的球球就变成褐色，爆裂开来，这时你会看见里面有一个、两个、三个，甚至四个褐色的甜栗子。

5．有一天，晚饭时分，珍妮特的父亲说：“我想今天晚上会起雾。”珍妮特很清楚地知道将要做什么。当天晚上，她轻快地跳着舞步回到自己的小床边。

6．很快她就沉入了梦乡，梦见栗子树林，还有林间的小溪，在高大而浓密的树林间，漫流在岩石上。伴随着第一缕晨光醒来，她马上起床，就听到父亲高兴地呼唤：“来吧，孩子们，是时候出发了。”

7．他们的午餐已经备好，放在一个大篮子里。驴子已经站立在门前等候，两侧驮着用来装栗子的大袋子。他们轻快地踏过易脆的白霜，向栗子林进发。秋霜把刺果打开了那么多！已经帮他们干了一半的活儿。

8．他们又笑又唱，一边互相喊话，一边把栗子往袋子里装，多么快乐啊！太阳穿过金黄的叶子之间俯视着他们；岩石为他们准备好铺满青苔的座位；小鸟和松鼠好奇地看着他们，不知道这些奇怪的人在它们的树林里做什么。

9．虽然珍妮特只是一个小姑娘，但却是个好帮手；晚上她的父亲说，小珍是个让人疼爱的乖孩子。这让她很高兴。晚上祈祷的时候，她想到了这些，然后上床睡觉，做起了愉快的秋天之梦。

10．这就是我们的山妹子，这就是她那遥远的家的一个画面。山里的生活永远是新鲜而快乐的。

注释

〔1〕Chestnut, a tree valuable for its timber and its fruit.

〔2〕Tassels, hanging ornaments, such as are used on curtains.

〔3〕Wrapped, completely covered up, inclosed.

〔4〕Prickly, covered with sharp points.

〔5〕Crisp, brittle, sparkling.

〔6〕Burs, the rough coverings of seeds or nuts.