LESSON 3 LET IT RAIN 下雨吧

Rose: See how it rains! Oh dear, dear, dear! how dull it is! Must I stay in doors all day?

Father: Why, Rose, are you sorry that you had any bread and butter for breakfast, this morning?

Rose: Why, father, what a question! I should be sorry, indeed, if I could not get any.

Father: Are you sorry, my daughter, when you see the flowers and the trees growing in the garden?

Rose: Sorry? No, indeed.Just now, I wished very much to go out and see them,—they look so pretty.

Father: Well, are you sorry when you see the horses, cows, or sheep drinking at the brook to quench their thirst?

Rose: Why, father, you must think I am a cruel girl, to wish that the poor horses that work so hard, the beautiful cows that give so much nice milk, and the pretty lambs should always be thirsty.

Father: Do you not think they would die, if they had no water to drink?

Rose: Yes, sir, I am sure they would.How shocking to think of such a thing!

Father: I thought little Rose was sorry it rained.Do you think the trees and fl owers would grow, if they never had any water on them?

Rose: No, indeed, father, they would be dried up by the sun.Then we should not have any pretty fl owers to look at, and to make wreaths of for mother.

Father: I thought you were sorry it rained.Rose, what is our bread made of?

Rose: It is made of flour, and the flour is made from wheat, which is ground in the mill.

Father: Yes, Rose, and it was rain that helped to make the wheat grow, and it was water that turned the mill to grind the wheat.I thought little Rose was sorry it rained.

Rose: I did not think of all these things, father.I am truly very glad to see the rain falling.

【中文閱讀】

羅絲：瞧，雨下得多大呀！唉，天哪，天哪，天哪！多么無聊??！難道我一整天都要呆在家里？

父親：羅絲，你是因為今天早餐吃了面包和黃油而不高興嗎？

羅絲：噢，爸爸，這是什么問題呀！如果我沒吃面包和黃油才不高興呢。

父親：那么，我的女兒，你是看見花園里盛開的鮮花和茂密的樹木而不高興嗎？

羅絲：為這不高興？不是的，的確不是的。剛才，我還非常想出去看看它們呢——它們實在太漂亮了。

父親：那么，你是因為看到溪邊的小馬、小牛、小羊喝水解渴而不高興嗎？

羅絲：得了，爸爸，您一定認為我是一個冷酷無情的小女孩，總希望辛苦干活的可憐小馬，產甜奶的漂亮小牛，可愛的小羊都渴著吧。

父親：如果沒有水喝，它們就會死去，你不這么認為嗎？

羅絲：是的，爸爸，我也是這么想的。一想到這樣的事，多么令人震驚呀！

父親：我猜到了，小羅絲是因為下雨而不高興。如果樹和花沒有雨水落到它們身上，你認為它們還會生長嗎？這些你想過沒有？

羅絲：不會，它們不會生長了，爸爸，它們會被太陽烤干的。那樣我們就看不到美麗的鮮花，沒法給媽媽編織花環了。

父親：我猜到了，你是因為下雨不高興。羅絲，我們的面包是用什么做的？

羅絲：是面粉做的，面粉是由麥子磨制而成的。

父親：說對了，羅絲，正是雨水使小麥生長，也是水使磨轉動將麥子磨碎的。我猜到了，小羅絲是因為下雨不高興。

羅絲：爸爸，剛才我沒有想這么多事情。現在，看見下雨我真的非常高興了。