英語故事
1. 英語童話故事
英語童話故事如下：
1、the wind and the sun
One day the wind said to the sun, 「Look at that man walking along the road. I can get his cloak off more quickly than you can.」
「We will see about that,」 said the sun. 「I will let you try first.」
So the wind tried to make the man take off his cloak. He blew and blew, but the man only pulled his cloak more closely around himself.
「I give up,」 said the wind at last. 「I cannot get his cloak off.」 Then the sun tried. He shone as hard as he could. The man soonbecame hot and took off his cloak.
漢語翻譯：有一天風跟太陽說: 「看看那個沿著路上走的人，我可以比你快讓他把披風脫下來。」
「我們等著看吧，」太陽說，「我讓你先試。」
因此風嘗試讓那個人把披風脫下來，他用力地吹，可是那個人把披風拉得更緊。
「我放棄了,」風最後說，「我無法讓他把披風脫下來。」然後由太陽試試看，他盡可能地曬他，不久，那個人很熱就把披風脫下來了。
2、Ajax
Ajax was a man of giant stature,daring but slow.When the Trojan War was about to break out he led his forces from Salamis to join the Greek army at Aulis.
As one of the trustiest champions of the Greek cause,he was given thejob of guarding one end of the Greek camp near Troy.He was noted in the battlefield for his bravery and courage.After Achilles' death he became one of the two hot contestants for the dead hero's
shield and armour,the other being Odysseus.When the weapons were finally judged to his rival,Ajax went mad for grief.Unable to get over the hardships,he took his own life.
When,in order to seek the advice of,Odysseus came to visit the lower world,the shade of Ajax frowned uponhim.In the lower world Ajax chose to be a lion,guided clearly by the bitter recollection of his former life.
漢語翻譯：埃傑克斯是位身材魁梧、驍勇善戰、但頭腦遲鈍的人。當特洛伊戰爭即將爆發時,他率領軍隊從薩拉米斯到達奧爾墨斯加入了希臘軍隊。
作為一名為希臘事業奮斗的最可信賴的鬥士,他被派去保衛靠近特洛伊的希臘軍營邊界。戰場上,他因作戰勇猛而出名。阿基里斯死後,他成為兩個最有可能獲得阿基里斯的盾甲的有力競爭對手之一。另一名對手是奧德修斯。最後，他的對手勝利了，並得到了盾甲。
埃傑克斯悲傷至極,無法自拔,最終結束了自己的生命。奧德修斯為了得到盲人底比斯的忠告而來到陰間;埃傑克斯的幽靈沖著他直皺眉頭。在陰間,由於受到前世痛苦記憶的折磨,埃傑克斯選擇了做一頭獅子。
3、袋鼠和籠子
One day the staff members of a zoo called a meeting to discuss the problem--how to deal with the kangaroos that were found out of the cage. They came to the conclusion that the cage was placed too low and decided to raise it from one to two meters high.
But the next day the kangaroos were still at large and they again raised the cage to three meters.Quite beyond their expectation the next morning they saw the kangaroos still free to go about.
They were alarmed and determined to go to all the length by raising the cage to the height of ten meters.Later a giraffe, while chatting with some kangaroos, asked them, 「Do you think they will go on raising your cage?」
「Hard to say,」 said a kangaroo, 「if they continue forgetting to fasten the cage door.」
漢語翻譯：有一天，動物園的管理員們發現袋鼠從籠子里跑出來了， 於是開會討論，一致認為是籠子的高度過低，所以他們決定將籠子的高度由原來的1米加高到2米。結果第二天他們發現，袋鼠還是跑到外面來，所以他們又決定再將高度加高到3米。
沒想到隔天居然又看到袋鼠全跑到外面，於是管理 員們大為緊張，決定一不做二不休，將籠子的高度加高到10米。
一天，長頸鹿和幾只袋鼠在閑聊，「你們看，這些人 會不會再繼續加高你們的籠子?」長頸鹿問。
「很難說。」袋鼠說，「如果他們再繼續忘記關門的話!」
4、小豬嚕嚕搬西瓜
In spring, the mother pig took the little pig LuLu to the foot of the mountain. They planted some watermelon.When summer came, there were many big round watermelons in the field.
One day, the sun was burning like a fire, it was terribly hot on the ground. The mother pig said to the little pig:"Lulu, go to the field to pick a watermelon back,ok?" Lulu said happily:"Ok! No problem."Then he ran to the watermelon field. When he got to the field,
he was happy to find so many big green watermelons. He chose one of the biggest watermelon and picked it from the vine. Then he held it with his hands trying to lift is on his shoulder to carry it home."Wow!It's so heavy!" Lulu tried several times, but he failed.
And he was socked with sweat. He wiped his sweat off and decided to have a rest.Suddenly he saw the monkey Pipi. He was playing with a hoop. Lulu patted his head and said:"I've got it." He thought,the round hoop can roll, the watermelon round too,then it can roll too.
He then put the big melon on the ground and rolled it forward quickly.At last he got home with the watermelon.The mother pig knew the story, she exclaimed:"My child, you're really clever!"
漢語翻譯：春天的時候，豬媽媽帶著小豬嚕嚕，在山坡下種了一大片西瓜。到了夏天，西瓜地里結滿了又圓又大的西瓜。有一天，太陽光火辣辣地照著大地，天啊，可熱了。豬媽媽對小豬說：「嚕嚕，你到咱們的地里摘個大西瓜回來解解渴吧！」小豬嚕嚕高興地說：「好吧！」
說完就往西瓜地里跑。到了地里一看。呵，到處躺著大西瓜，水靈靈的，真惹人喜愛！嚕嚕挑了個最大的摘了下來。它雙手摟著西瓜，想抱起來放在肩上扛回家。「喲，好重呀！」嚕嚕試著抱了幾次都沒有抱起來，還累得滿頭大汗。 它直起身來，擦了擦臉上的汗水想休息一下，再去試試抱西瓜。
突然，它看到小猴皮皮在山下邊的馬路上滾鐵環玩呢。小豬嚕嚕一拍後腦勺高興地說：「有了，我有辦法了。」什麼辦法呢？小豬嚕嚕心想：鐵環是圓的，可以滾動。西瓜也是圓的，不也可以滾動嗎？想到這兒啊，小豬嚕嚕顧不上休息，把大西瓜放在地上。
咕嚕嚕，咕嚕嚕地向前滾，一直把西瓜滾到家裡。豬媽媽看到小豬嚕嚕把又圓又大的西瓜搬回家，誇獎嚕嚕是個愛動腦筋的豬娃娃！
5、The Crow and The Pitcher
A crow felt very thirsty. He looked for water everywhere. Finally, he found a pitcher.
But there was not a lot of water in the pitcher. His beak could not reach it. He tried again and again, but still could not touch the water.
When he was about to give up, an idea came to him. He took a pebble and dropped it into the pitcher. Then he took another and dropped it in.Graally, the water rose, and the crow was able to drink the water.
漢語翻譯：口渴的烏鴉
一隻烏鴉口渴了，到處找水喝。終於，他找到了一個大水罐。然而，水罐裡面的水並不多，他的尖嘴夠不到水面，他試了一次又一次，都沒有成功。就在他想放棄的時候，他突然想到一個主意。
烏鴉叼來了一塊小石子投到水罐里，接著又叼了一塊又一塊石頭放進去。漸漸地，水面升高了。烏鴉高興地喝到了水。
寓意：有些東西雖然看起來微不足道，但如果積少成多，便會帶來很大變化。
2. 英語故事
The Thirsty Pigeon口渴的鴿子
A PIGEON, oppressed by excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. Not supposing it to be only a picture, she flew towards it with a loud whir and unwittingly dashed against the signboard, jarring herself terribly. Having broken her wings by the blow, she fell to the ground, and was caught by one of the bystanders.
Zeal should not outrun discretion.
有隻鴿子口渴得很難受，看見畫板上畫著一個水瓶，以為是真的。他立刻呼呼地猛飛過 去，不料一頭碰撞在畫板上，折斷了翅膀，摔在地上，被人輕易地捉住了。
這是說，有些人想急於得到所需的東西，一時沖動，草率從事，就會身遭不幸。
The Raven and the Swan烏鴉和天鵝
A RAVEN saw a Swan and desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swan's splendid white color arose from his washing in the water in which he swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living, and took up residence in the lakes and pools. But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food he perished.
Change of habit cannot alter Nature.
烏鴉非常羨慕天鵝潔白的羽毛。他猜想天鵝一定是經常洗澡，羽毛才變得如此潔白無 瑕。於是，他毅然離開了他賴以生存的祭壇，來到江湖邊。他天天洗刷自己的羽毛，不但一 點都沒洗白，反而因缺少食物飢餓而死。
這故事是說，人的本性不會隨著生活方式的改變而改變。
The Goat and the Goatherd 山羊與牧羊人
A GOATHERD had sought to bring back a stray goat to his flock. He whistled and sounded his horn in vain; the straggler paid no attention to the summons. At last the Goatherd threw a stone, and breaking its horn, begged the Goat not to tell his master. The Goat replied, "Why, you silly fellow, the horn will speak though I be silent."
Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hid.
很多山羊被牧羊人趕到羊圈裡。有一隻山羊不知在吃什麼好東西，單獨落在後面。牧羊 人拿起一塊石頭扔了過去，正巧打斷了山羊的一隻角。牧羊人嚇得請求山羊不要告訴主人， 山羊說：「即使我不說，又怎能隱瞞下去呢？我的角已斷了，這是十分明顯的事實。」
這故事說明，明顯的罪狀是無法隱瞞的。
The Miser守財奴
A MISER sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The Miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it."
有個守財奴變賣了他所有的家產，換回了金塊，並秘密地埋在一個地方。他每天走去看 看他的寶藏。有個在附近放羊的牧人留心觀察，知道了真情，趁他走後，挖出金塊拿走了。 守財奴再來時，發現洞中的金塊沒有了，便捶胸痛哭。有個人見他如此悲痛，問明原因後， 說道：「喂，朋友，別再難過了，那塊金子雖是你買來的，但並不是你真正擁有的。去拿一 塊石頭來，代替金塊放在洞里，只要你心裡想著那是塊金子，你就會很高興。這樣與你擁有 真正的金塊效果沒什麼不同。依我之見，你擁有那金塊時，也從沒用過。」
這故事說明，一切財物如不使用等於沒有。
The Wolf and the Lamb 狼與小羊
WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus addressed him:"Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me." "Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born." Then said the Wolf , "You feed in my pasture." "No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well." "No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations."
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.
一隻小羊在河邊喝水，狼見到後，便想找一個名正言順的借口吃掉他。於是他跑到上游，惡狠狠地說小羊把河水攪渾濁了，使他喝不到清水。小羊回答說，他僅僅站在河邊喝水，並且又在下游，根本不可能把上游的水攪渾。狼見此計不成，又說道：「我父親去年被你罵過。」小羊說，那時他還沒有出生。狼對他說：「不管你怎樣辯解，反正我不會放過 你。」
這說明，對惡人做任何正當的辯解也是無效的。
The Bat and the Weasels蝙蝠與黃鼠狼
A BAT who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life. The Weasel refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of all birds. The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, and thus was set free. Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel, whom he likewise entreated not to eat him. The Weasel said that he had a special hostility to mice. The Bat assured him that he was not a mouse, but a bat, and thus a second time escaped.
It is wise to turn circumstances to good account.
蝙蝠掉落在地上，被黃鼠狼叼去，他請求饒命。黃鼠狼說絕不會放過他，自己生來痛恨鳥類。蝙蝠說他是老鼠，不是鳥，便被放了。後來蝙蝠又掉落了下來，被另一隻黃鼠狼叼住，他再三請求不要吃他。這只黃鼠狼說他恨一切鼠類。蝙蝠改口說自己是鳥類，並非老 鼠，又被放了。這樣，蝙蝠兩次改變了自己的名字，終於死裡逃生。
這故事說明，我們遇事要隨機應變方能避免危險。
The Ass and the Grasshopper 驢子與蚱蜢
AN ASS having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, "The dew." The Ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger.
驢子聽見蚱蜢唱歌，被美妙動聽的歌聲所打動，自己也想能發出同樣悅耳動聽的聲音，便 羨慕地問他們吃些什麼，才能發出如此美妙的聲音來。蚱蜢答道：「吃露水。」驢子便也只吃露水，沒多久就餓死了。
這個故事告訴人們不要企望非份之物。
The Lion and the Mouse 獅子與報恩的老鼠
A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." The Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came and gnawed the rope with his teeth and set him free, exclaiming:
"You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to con benefits on a Lion."
獅子睡著了，有隻老鼠跳到了他身上。獅子猛然站起來，把他抓住，准備吃掉。老鼠請求饒命，並說如果保住性命，必將報恩，獅子輕蔑地笑了笑，便把他放走了。不久，獅子真的被老鼠救了性命。原來獅子被一個獵人抓獲，並用繩索把他捆在一棵樹上。老鼠聽到了他 的哀嚎，走過去咬斷繩索，放走了獅子，並說：
「你當時嘲笑我，不相信能得到我的報答， 現在可清楚了，老鼠也能報恩。」 這故事說明，時運交替變更，強者也會有需要弱者的時候。
3. 英語故事大全
Story 1 Three Good Friends
One day, a monkey rides his bike near the river. This time he sees a lion under a tree. The lion runs at him. He is afraid and falls into the river. He can』t swim. He shouts. The rabbit hears him. He jumps into the river. The rabbit swims to the monkey, but he can』t help him. Luckily, an elephant comes along. He is very strong. He helps the rabbit and monkey. Three friends are very happy. They go to the elephant』s home. Then, three of them become good friends.
4. 英語故事
English Story
Fox and cock One morning a fox sees a cock.He think,"This is my breakfast.'' He comes up to the cock and says,"I know you can sing very well.Can you sing for me?''The cock is glad.He closes his eyes and begins to sing.The fox sees that and caches him in his mouth and carries him away. The people in the field see the fox.They cry,"Look,look!The fox is carrying the cock away.''The cock says to the fox,"Mr Fox,do you understand?The people say you are carrying their cock away.Tell them it is yours.Not theirs.'' The fox opens his mouth ang says,"The cock is mine,not yours.''Just then the cock runs away from the fox and flies into the tree.
狐狸和公雞 一天早上，一隻狐狸看到了一侄?耀雞。他想：這是我的早餐。 他朝公雞走來，對他說：「我知道，你能唱得很好聽，你能唱給我聽么？」公雞特別開心。他閉上眼睛開始唱歌。狐狸看到這些抓住它放到自己的嘴裡走了。 在田地里的人們看到了狐狸。大喊大叫：「看，看！狐狸抓住公雞逃走了。」公雞對狐狸說：「狐狸先生，你能理解么？人們認為你叼走了公雞。告訴他們這是你的，不是他們的。」 狐狸張開她的嘴說：「公雞是我的，不是你們的。」就在那時，。公雞跑到了樹底下。
5. 英語故事～
Little Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else; so she was always called 'Little Red Riding Hood.'
One day her mother said to her: 'Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you go into her room, don't forget to say, "Good morning", and don't peep into every corner before you do it.'
'I will take great care,' said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, and gave her hand on it.
The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her. Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
'Good day, Little Red Riding Hood,' said he.
'Thank you kindly, wolf.'
'Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'To my grandmother's.'
'What have you got in your apron?'
'Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger.'
'Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,' replied Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolf thought to himself: 'What a tender young creature! what a nice plump mouthful - she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.'
So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he said: 'See, Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here - why do you not look round? I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing; you walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry.'
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Little Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing here and there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she thought: 'Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay; that would please her too. It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time.'
So she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers. And whenever she had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.
Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the door.
'Who is there?'
'Little Red Riding Hood,' replied the wolf. 'She is bringing cake and wine; open the door.'
'Lift the latch,' called out the grandmother, 'I am too weak, and cannot get up.'
The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he went straight to the grandmother's bed, and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes, dressed himself in her cap, laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.
Little Red Riding Hood, however, had been running about picking flowers, and when she had gathered so many that she could carry no more, she remembered her grandmother, and set out on the way to her.
She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself: 'Oh dear! how uneasy I feel today, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much.' She called out: 'Good morning,' but received no answer; so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.
'Oh! grandmother,' she said, 'what big ears you have!'
'All the better to hear you with, my child,' was the reply.
'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.
'All the better to see you with, my dear.'
'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'
'All the better to hug you with.'
'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'
'All the better to eat you with!'
And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red Riding Hood.
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When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud.
The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself: 'How the old woman is snoring! I must just see if she wants anything.' So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it.
'Do I find you here, you old sinner!' said he. 'I have long sought you!' But just as he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf.
When he had made two snips, he saw the little red riding hood shining, and then he made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying: 'Ah, how frightened I have been! How dark it was inside the wolf.'
After that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe. Red Riding Hood, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf's belly, and when he awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell dead.
Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went home with it; the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Red Riding Hood had brought, and revived. But Red Riding Hood thought to herself: 'As long as I live, I will never leave the path by myself to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.'
It is also related that once, when Red Riding Hood was again taking cakes to the old grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Red Riding Hood, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said 'good morning' to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up.
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'Well,' said the grandmother, 'we will shut the door, so that he can not come in.'
Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: 'Open the door, grandmother, I am Little Red Riding Hood, and am bringing you some cakes.'
But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Red Riding Hood went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness. But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts.
In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child: 'Take the pail, Red Riding Hood; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which I boiled them to the trough.'
Red Riding Hood carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was drowned. But Red Riding Hood went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again.
6. 英語故事
AND THE EVENING
by Michael McNeilley
Realizing he was almost running Jovah slowed to a walk, then stopped and looked out over the sea. There was nowhere to run. Ahead of him stretched an endless nowhere. And home was a long warp away.
Sunlight gleamed off the silver of his special-issue exploration suit. Across the sea the sun was setting in a blaze of red and orange over puffy white clouds in a light azure sky, darkening into deep blue above. The landscape would have been beautiful, but he could barely stand to look at it.
Another one just like all the others. Still many light-years distant, he had told his co-pilot, "If this isn't one, then damn it there isn't one... anywhere." You shouldn't speak your fears aloud, he thought. Even a child knows that. It makes it so much easier for them to come true. For some reason he thought of his mother, her belief in him. 20 years....
They had tested exhaustively, then run each test again. In disgust he cranked off his helmet, disengaged the air connections from his suit, pulled the helmet off and threw it onto the sand. The helmet rolled to a stop against a rock. He shook out his blonde hair, months past his last haircut. He'd be getting a haircut soon enough.
"You shouldn't have taken that off," his helmet spoke to him from its spot in the sand, in the voice of Gaia, from the ship.
"What difference does it make." Jovah answered. "I'm not going to catch any diseases now, am I." He could hear her sigh in the speaker, then click off without comment.
Despite standing orders to the contrary, taking off the helmet made no difference, and there lay the problem. The atmosphere was full of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen. There was enough methane and ammonia to stink the place up a bit but breathing was not difficult.
He didn't mean to be rude to Gaia, but she knew him well enough to know that. These months working together had not been bad ones, except for the one obvious problem, a problem Gaia had accepted more readily than Jovah. Gaia was an engineer, and engineering remained a challenge she could lose herself in... that she could look forward to, as far into the future as she cared to imagine. For Jovah, the situation was different.
The sea of this medium-young planet was full of perfectly good water, not too salty yet but that was as it should be at this stage of planetary development. The rocks on the shoreline retained some of the jagged shapes that would not be found on an ocean beach in a mature planet of this size. But one could find plenty of rounded and worn rocks as well, for unfortunately for Jovah and his theories this planet was not all that young.
Based on the fossil record of the world back home, at this stage in the planet's life there should be a profusion of mature plant growth here in the equatorial regions. The seas should be teeming with life, the skies filled with... flying somethings... anything. But there was nothing, not even the smallest, most primitive life forms. Not anything. As far as could be determined... as always... there never would be. Nothing.
20 years of ecation, for what. Jovah's specialty was interstellar space travel and exploration, but without a return on their investment the politicians would not continue to fund much of an interstellar space program. After all, there were planets suitable for colonization within a few light years of home. That there was nothing organic to discover on any of them made no difference to politicians.
Exobiology and Exobotany: Jovah's major fields of study. A lot of good those would do him on a job application. There was no way around the truth; his specialties didn't exist. His highest-level scientific graate work had been in... fantasy. The thought was worse than appalling. After months of attempting to get used to it, he still could not hold the thought in his head. Exobiology and Exobotany, theories without application. Crackpot, quack science. No, he couldn't think of it.
He wished he could remove the suit as well but it took two to manage it reasonably. Squatting, trying not to think, he used the suit toilet functions... pushed the button and listened to the sound of the flush mechanism voiding into the waste packet, the hum of the ultrasonic cleaner tidying up. Everything so neat and tidy... so civilized. So useless. You could take a shit in space and not even have to wipe. Suit functions could weld or cut most metals, burn wood if there were any wood, provide protection and defense from nonexistent aliens, protect the wearer from disease... but there was no disease. I'll probably never wear this suit again, he thought. The thought made him feel faint and he wiped his brow with his hand, then stood again.
He looked at the helmet, silver against the golden sand. Of course a secondary purpose of the helmet was to protect its wearer from contamination, but there was no contamination... not the slightest chance of contamination. On this planet, as on more than fifty others they'd walked upon, throughout all but endless exploration by their team and countless others the thing for which they had searched was again missing. Again.
"No damned life. Impossible, but no life. Never any life." He sank to his knees, ripping at his suit, pulling his hair. "No damned, damned life."
He pulled the waste packet off its mounting and flung it into the sea. He ripped at the cables and valves of the air system, pulled off his sampling kit, threw it down then jumped up and stomped on it, kicking collection vessels in every direction.
The anger wore off eventually, but he left the sampling kit where it fell. No one would be coming along to discover it, and with this the last stop he wouldn't be needing it again.
Everything was perfectly in place. A more ideal planetary candidate for life could not be imagined. Carbon-based organic chemicals galore. Long string molecules, aliphatic acids, urea, amino acids, the base structures found in nucleic acids and proteins. All the building blocks of life in the sea.
Everything had been in place, as best they could determine, for many millions of years, perhaps a billion years. But no life. Never, never any life. No greenery on the hills, in the valleys. Nothing again like all the other planets, like every other time, not a microbe, not a virus, just nothing.
"Jovah," Gaia spoke again into the communicator. "Jovah. Come on. Let's leave. There's nothing more to do here. We're past schele already."
Nothing more to do. As if that weren't the problem. Everything was here. Everything was here and nothing was here, and that was the problem, the usual problem... the insoluble endgame problem. Now nothing more to do here... nothing more to do... anywhere. Too choked up to speak, he clicked the communicator lever twice with his thumb, the signal for "affirmative," with nothing but negative feelings in his heart. Hat in hand he trudged back down the beach the way he had come.
Retracing his steps to the ship Jovah looked up as he neared the vehicle, surprised to see how small it appeared against the rocky cliffs above the sands. For all its technology the ship's rounded exterior looked much older than the angular cliffs that rose to one side.
His tour was all but over. He would not be going out again... chances were no one would go out again. Back home the pressures for government funding were not lessening. Money for chasing off across the cosmos after something that had been all but proven nonexistent would not remain in the budget for long. He thought of the conditions back home... of the pollution and crowding and corruption... of his disappointments with his own kind... of the type of welcome awaiting this final failure, and the memory made him want to turn and walk back down the beach, just walk on.
But to what, he thought and to where, and he entered the ship helmet in hand, never to meet that alien being he'd dreamed of since his childhood; never to shake that strange and wonderful hand. He laughed at himself, within, then out loud. He could help found a colony... there would still be challenges. But not the discoveries... his dreams had been a mirage. Acceptance began to set within him, darkening graally like the sunset on this unnamed sea.
It was only a few minutes before the contrail blazed its final message across the sky, a thin and searing yellow line that left a spreading white trail behind as the ship blasted away toward the end of its voyage, certain never to return.
As the sun moved below the horizon a last gleam died on the beach, reflected from the lid of a specimen container. Nearby, solid in the heavy motion of the waves the still-sharp rocks of the young planet battered against a small plastic pouch. The pouch remained hermetic for a time, the lid tightly threaded, the connections self-sealing but tiny cracks began to form in the hard plastic material of the cap. It was not long before the cap cracked apart, and at the apogee of a particularly peristaltic wave shattered, and the packet emptied into the sea.
As the solid waste sank slowly, tiny intestinal bacteria swam off into the primordial soup. Amid a floating yellow stain, viral nucleoprotein chains, endospores and protozoans floated free.
Miniscule organisms washed upon the rocks, lodging in tiny crevices where the sea waves pouring over them would bring the protein chains and chemicals they could break down for their food. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria poured out of the packet and gathered in shallow tidal pools with E. coli and fungi. Conjugation and recombination began among some, with the exchange of genes; transction exchanged chromosomal material among others. All around cell division spread the news of new arrivals.
Bacteria was everywhere... chemosynthetic bacteria began to break down chemicals into bite-sized morsels... photosynthetic bacteria awaited the dawn of light. With a whip of their flagella diminutive organisms washed out to sea.
Microbial cells followed their metabolic pathways, spinning and turning in the ocean currents on a voyage of their own: past now through tomorrow and into forever. By morning, as the first rays of sun warmed them, already there were more.
They would evolve first in greens and browns, then cross the spectrum in sudden rainbows. Fill the planet, the seas, the heavens. They would name the rocks, the peaks, the rivers, the winds... this very sea. Fight wars, make peace, teach one another, create technology. Engage in interstellar exploration, exobiology and exobotany. Learn patience, diligence and frustration.
But for now they would be fruitful. They would multiply.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
7. 英語故事
A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. He said, "I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away into the st.
He went on and came to a river. The river had become very big; so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said, "I cannot go to the rich man's house today, for I cannot get over the river."
He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the st and eat them.
【譯文】
一個人正朝著一個富人的房子走去，當他沿著路走時，在路的一邊他發現一箱好蘋果，他說：「我不打算吃那些蘋果，因為富人會給我更多的食物，他會給我很好吃的東西。」然後他拿起蘋果，一把扔到土裡去。
他繼續走，來到河邊，河漲水了，因此，他到不了河對岸，他等了一會兒，然後他說：「今天我去不了富人家了，因為我不能渡過河。」
他開始回家，那天他沒有吃東西。他就開始去找吃的，他找到蘋果，很高興地把它們從塵土中翻出來吃了
8. 英語哲理小故事
讓孩子閱讀一些簡單的幼兒英語故事，確實是一個很不錯的補充學習，也能夠極大的提高孩子的學習興趣，讓幼兒時期的孩子能夠有一個英語方面很好的啟蒙。下面給大家分享一則幼兒英語故事簡單閱讀的小故事，家長們可以讀給孩子們聽一下。
分享阿卡索的免費試聽課，你可以試聽試聽：
這時兔子知道狐狸並沒有死，他就以最快的速度跑開啦。
幼兒英語故事簡單分享到這里。當然有趣的故事還有很多，家長們可以去阿卡索外教網了解更多的故事。