有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第7章

The third sister’s turn followed,and she was the boldest of them all, for she swam up a broad river that emptiedinto the sea. On the banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines,and palaces and castles peeping out from amid the proud trees of the forest.She heard birds singing and felt the rays of the sun so strongly that she was obligedoften to dive under the water to cool her burning face. In a narrow creek shefound a large group of little human children, almost naked, sporting about inthe water. She wanted to play with them, but they fled in a great fright; andthen a little black animal—it was a dog, but she did not know it, for she hadnever seen one before—came to the water and barked at her so furiously that shebecame frightened and rushed back to the open sea. But she said she shouldnever forget the beautiful forest, the green hills, and the pretty children whocould swim in the water although they had no tails.

The fourth sister was more timid.She remained in the midst of the sea, but said it was quite as beautiful thereas nearer the land. She could see many miles around her, and the sky abovelooked like a bell of glass. She had seen the ships, but at such a greatdistance that they looked like sea gulls. The dolphins sported in the waves,and the great whales spouted water from their nostrils till it seemed as if a hundredfountains were playing in every direction.