最新21世纪大学实用英语综合教程(第一册)5-6-7课文及其翻译

第五课

The Treasure in the Orchard

An old gardener who was dying sent for his two sons to come to his bedside, as he wished to speak to them. When they came in answer to his request, the old man, raising himself on his pillows, pointed through the window towards his orchard.

"You see that orchard?" said he.

"Yes, Father, we see the orchard."

"For years it has given the best of fruit - golden oranges, red apples, and cherries bigger and brighter than rubies!"

"To be sure, Father. It has always been a good orchard!"

The old gardener nodded his head, time and time again. He looked at his hands - they were worn from the spade that he had used all his life. Then he looked at the hands of his sons and saw that their nails were polished and their fingers as white as those of any fine lady's.

"You have never done a day's work in your lives, you two!" said he. " I doubt if you ever will! But I have hidden a treasure in my orchard for you to find. You will never possess it unless you dig it up. It lies midway between two of the trees, not too near, yet not too far from the trunks. It is yours for the trouble of digging - that is all!

Then he sent them away, and soon afterwards he died. So the orchard became the property of his sons, and without any delay, they set to work to dig for the treasure that had been promised them.

Well, they dug and dug, day after day, week after week, going down the long alleys of fruit trees, never too near yet never too far from the trunks. They dug up all the weeds and picked out all the stones, not because they liked weeding and cleaning, but because it was all part of the hunt for the buried treasure. Winter passed and spring came, and never were there such blossoms as those which hung the orange and apple and cherry trees with curtains of petals pale as pearls and soft as silk. Then summer threw sunshine over the orchard, and sometimes the clouds bathed it in cool, delicious rain. At last the time of the fruit harvest came. But the two brothers had not yet found the treasure that was hidden among the roots of the trees.

Then they sent for a merchant from the nearest town to buy the fruit. It hung in great bunches, golden oranges, red apples, and cherries bigger and brighter than rubies. The merchant looked at them in open admiration.

"This is the finest crop I have yet seen," said he, " I will give you twenty bags of money for it!"

Twenty bags of money were more than the two brothers had ever owned in their life. They struck the bargain in great delight and took the money - bags into the house, while the merchant made arrangements to carry away the fruit.