文本内容:
The HappyFamily幸福的家庭The biggestleaf we have inthis countryis certainlythe burdockleaf.If youhold onein frontofyour littlestomach,its justlike areal apron;and inrainy weather,if youlay iton yourhead,it does almost aswell asan umbrella.Its reallyamazingly large.Now,a burdocknevergrows alone;no,when yousee oneyou,11always seeothers aroundit.Its asplendid sight;andall thissplendor isnothing morethan foodfor snails-the bigwhite snailswhich thefine peopleinolden daysused tohave madeinto fricassees.When they had eatenthem,they wouldsmack theirlipsand say,〃My!How goodthat is!”For somehowthey had the ideathat thesnails tasteddelicious.You see,these snailslived on the burdock leaves,and thatswhy the burdock wasfirst grown.There was a certainold manor house wherethe peopledidn,t eatsnails anymore.The snailshadalmost diedout,but theburdock hadn,t.These grewand grewon all the walksand flowerbeds-theycouldn,t bestopped-until the whole placewas aforest ofburdocks.Here and there stoodan appleora plumtree,but exceptfor that,people wouldn,t havethought therehad everbeen agardenthere.Everywhere wasburdock,and amongthe burdockslived thelast twoincredibly old snails!They themselvesdidn,t knowhow oldthey were,but they could remembervery clearlythat oncetherehad beena greatmany moreof them,that they had descendedfrom aprominent foreignfamily,and theyknew perfectlywell that thewholeforest hadbeen plantedjust for them and their family.They hadnever beenaway fromhome,but theydid knowthat somewherethere wassomething calledamanor house,and that there youwere boileduntil youturned black,and werelaid on a silverdish;but whathappened afterwardsthey hadn,ttheleast idea.Furthermore,they couldn,t imaginewhatit wouldbe liketo be boiled and laid ona silver dish,but everyonesaid it must beverywonderful anda greatdistinction.Neither thecockchafer nor the toadnortheearthworm,whomthey askedabout it,could givethem anyinformation.None of their familieshad everbeen boiledorlaid onsilver dishes.So the old whitesnails knewthey wereby farthe mostimportant people in the world.The forestwas there just for theirsake,andthe manor houseexisted justso thatthey couldbeboiled andlaid onsilver dishes!The two oldsnailsledaquiet andhappy life,and sincethey werechildless theyhad adoptedalittle orphansnail,which theywere bringingup astheir ownchild.He wouldn,t growvery large,for hewas onlya commonsnail;but thetwooldsnails-and especiallythe mothersnail-thoughtit waseasy tosee howwell hewas growing.And shebegged thefather snailto touchthe littlesnaiTs shell,if hecouldn,t seeit,and sohe feltit andfound thatshe wasright.One dayit rainedvery hard.“Just listento itdrum ontheburdockleaves!z/cried Father Snail.〃Rum-dum-dum!Rum-dum-dum!〃“Drops arealso comingdown here”!said themother.〃Its comingstraight downthe stalks,and it,11be wetdown herebefore youknow it.Im certainlyglad wehave our own goodhousesand thelittle onehas hisown.We,re betteroff thanany othercreatures;its quiteplain thatwerethe mostimportant peoplein the world.We haveourownhouses fromour verybirth,andthe burdockforest hasbeen plantedjustfor us.I wonderhow farit extends,and whatlies beyondit.〃“There can,t beanything beyond,〃said FatherSnail,thats anybetter thanwehavehere.I havenothing in theworldto wishfor.〃“Well,I have,〃said themother.〃Id liketo be taken tothe manor house andboiled andlaidon asilver dish.All ourancestors hadthat doneto them,and,believe me,itmust be somethingquiteuncommon!“Maybe themanorhousehas fallento pieces,/z suggestedFatherSnail.〃0r perhapsthe burdockforesthas grownover it,so thatthe peoplecan,t getout atall.Don,tbein sucha hurry-butthen you,re alwayshurrying so.And thelittle oneis beginningto dothe samething.Why,hes beencreeping upthat stalkfor threedays.It reallymakes myhead dizzyto watchhim go!〃〃Dont scoldhim,〃said Mother Snail.〃He crawlsvery carefully.He,11bring usmuch joy,and weold folkdon,t have anything elseto livefor.But haveyou everthought wherewe canfinda wife for himDon,t youthink theremight besome moreof ourkind ofpeople fartherback intheburdock woods”〃I supposethere maybe blacksnails backthere,,z said the oldman.“Black snailswithout houses!Much toovulgar!And they,re conceited,anyway.But let,s ask theants to find out forus;theyre alwaysrunning aroundas if theyhadimportant business.They*re sureto knowof awifeforour little snail.〃Certainly,I knowa verybeautiful bride,〃said oneoftheants.But Idon,t thinkshe,d do,because she,saqueen!”“That doesn,t matter,said MotherSnail emphatically.Does shehaveahouse”“She has acastle!”replied theant.The mostbeautiful antscastle,with sevenhundred corridors!,z“Thank youvery much,〃said MotherSnail,“but ourboy shallnot gointo ananthill!If youdon,t knowof anythingbetter,we11askthewhite gnatstofindoutforus.They flitaroundin therain andsunshine,and theyknow thisforest insideand out.〃〃We havejust thewifefor him,〃said the gnats.〃A hundred man-steps fromhere alittlesnailwith ahouse issittingon agooseberry bush.She isall alonein theworld,and quiteold enoughto marry.Its onlyahundredman-steps fromhere!”“Fine,but shemust cometo him,〃saidtheold couple.〃0ur childhasawhole burdockforest,and shehas onlya bush.〃And sothegnatshad thelittle maidensnail comeover.It tookher eightdays toget there,butthat wasthe wonderfulpart ofit-for itshowed she hadtheright sortof dignity.And thentheyhada finewedding!Six glow-worms lightedup theplace aswell astheycould,butaside fromthat itwasavery quietceremony,fortheold peopledid notcare forfeasting ormerriment.A charmingspeech wasmade byMotherSnail,but FatherSnail couldn,t saya word;hewas toodeeply moved.And soshe gavethe young couple thewhole burdockforest fora dowry,andrepeated whatshehadalways said-that itwasthefinest placeintheworld,and thatthe youngpeople,iftheylived honorablyand hadmany children,would somedaybetakenwith theiryoungones tothemanorhouse,to beboiled blackandlaidonasilverdish.And whenMother SnaiTsspeech wasfinished,theoldpeople creptinto theirhouses andnever cameout again,for theywentto sleep.Now theyoungcoupleruled the forest anddid havemany children.But sincenone ofthem wereeverboiled andlaid insilver dishes,they decidedthatthemanorhousemust havefallen intoruinsand thatallthepeopleintheworldhad diedout.And sincenobody contradictedthem,Ithink theymust havebeen right.So therain beatontheburdockleaves,to playthe drumforthem,andthesun shone,to colortheforestfor them;and theywere veryhappy.The wholefamilywas happy-extremely happy,indeed theywere.。