经典英文绘本

柳林风声｜The Wind in the Willows

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原著作者｜肯尼斯·格雷厄姆
  • The Wind in the Willows

  • When you're feeling down
  • go read those classic fairy tales that heal the world

  • For more than a hundred years
  • countless adults crushed by life
  • have found their long-lost peace
  • in this book about rivers
  • forests
  • and friendship

  • It is a gift Kenneth Grahame left to all humanity
  • The Wind in the Willows
  • crown jewel of British children's literature

  • The story begins
  • just like every one of us who doesn't want to go to work

  • The protagonist is a mole
  • who has lived in darkness for too long

  • His days never change
  • sweeping
  • painting walls
  • moving things
  • dust covering his shoulders

  • Until one day
  • a tremor came from deep within the earth
  • Like someone gently knocking
  • saying come out
  • it's different outside now

  • He dropped his tools
  • and rushed toward the light for the first time

  • Sunlight poured down like a waterfall
  • He squinted his eyes
  • tears streaming down
  • When he could finally see clearly
  • he saw a river

  • The river was so wide
  • wide as the whole world
  • The river sang
  • the willows danced
  • the wind carried flower scents

  • New here
  • A head poked out from the grass on the bank
  • It was a water rat
  • brown fur gleaming
  • eyes holding the gentleness of the entire river

  • Come aboard
  • Let me teach you to know this river

  • The boat pushed through the ripples
  • like cutting through a piece of green silk
  • The mole's hands trembled
  • the rat's hands held the oars steady

  • Don't rush
  • This river doesn't like anxious people
  • Learn to listen to its voice
  • and it will take you anywhere

  • They drifted for an entire afternoon
  • No destination
  • no to-do list
  • Only water lapping the boat
  • only dragonflies skimming the surface

  • Doesn't this
  • count as wasting time
  • the mole asked softly

  • The rat smiled
  • Look at that cloud
  • how long does it take to drift by
  • No one knows
  • no one cares
  • The cloud doesn't care
  • the river doesn't care
  • Why should you

  • In that moment
  • something loosened in the mole's heart

  • After that they often did this
  • The rat would produce all kinds of food
  • wild berries
  • honey cakes
  • smoked fish wrapped in lotus leaves
  • They lay on the grass
  • watching the sky turn from blue to purple

  • The mole learned to recognize every sound of the water
  • Rapids were warnings
  • whirlpools were jokes
  • calm depths hid schools of fish

  • But he hadn't yet learned
  • how to face his own past

  • One winter evening
  • they passed through a village
  • The mole suddenly stopped

  • There was a scent in the wind
  • The scent of old wood
  • the scent of fireplace ashes
  • the scent of some night many years ago

  • His feet rooted to the ground
  • I want to go home and see
  • his voice trembled
  • but I'm afraid

  • He didn't finish
  • His home was small
  • broken
  • without even a proper teacup

  • The rat said nothing
  • He simply accompanied the mole
  • walking through snow for a long time
  • until they saw that low doorway

  • Inside was even more humble than imagined
  • Thick dust
  • cobwebs in the corners

  • The mole's face burned
  • Let's go
  • there's nothing worth staying for

  • But the rat had already rolled up his sleeves
  • He wiped the table
  • built a fire
  • spread the blanket he brought on the bed

  • You know
  • the rat looked at the low ceiling
  • This slanted roof is cleverly designed
  • rainwater flows off by itself
  • And this fireplace
  • positioned just right
  • the whole room will be warm

  • He turned around
  • eyes sparkling
  • This is the coziest house I've ever seen

  • The mole's tears fell into the fire
  • making a soft sizzling sound

  • Some friends
  • have seen you at your best
  • yet are still willing to crouch down
  • and embrace you at your most wretched moments

  • But the rat had his moments of being lost too

  • A traveler came to the bank
  • He wore a sea-blue coat
  • speaking with a salty flavor

  • He spoke of a harbor
  • where the moon was especially large
  • where the wine was especially strong
  • where girls sang songs in languages you couldn't understand

  • The rat listened
  • entranced
  • His oar stopped mid-air
  • the boat spinning in place

  • That night
  • he began packing his bag

  • The mole stood at the door
  • are you really leaving
  • I must go
  • or I'll regret it for the rest of my life

  • The mole didn't stop him
  • He simply pressed a piece of paper into the rat's hand
  • Write these down first
  • write them down
  • and if you still want to go
  • I'll see you to the dock

  • The rat wrote all night
  • He wrote of purple seas
  • ancient clock towers
  • sailors waiting at the harbor

  • When he reached the last line
  • he found himself crying
  • Not from longing
  • but from not wanting to leave

  • He folded the paper
  • put it in a drawer
  • Some distant places
  • are enough when left on paper
  • The real distant place
  • is where someone waits for you to come home to dinner

  • And the toad
  • the toad was lost more completely

  • He was the richest animal on the riverbank
  • also the easiest to tire of things
  • This spring he loved rowing
  • summer he loved carriages
  • autumn he saw an automobile

  • That red machine was like a fire
  • burning away all his reason

  • This is living
  • he crashed one car
  • This is freedom
  • he stole two cars

  • Until the handcuffs clicked on his wrists
  • he was still shouting
  • you don't understand
  • I just want to feel alive

  • The judge counted the charges
  • theft
  • reckless driving
  • contempt of court
  • nineteen years

  • Someone suggested
  • let's make it a round number
  • twenty years
...more
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经典英文绘本By 多吉绘本屋