A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and lay around it every day. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.
很久很久以前，有一棵又高又大的蘋果樹。一位小男孩，天天到樹下來，他爬上去摘蘋果吃，在樹蔭下睡覺。他愛蘋果樹，蘋果樹也愛和他一起玩耍。

Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.
后來，小男孩長大了，不再天天來玩耍。一天他又來到樹下，很傷心的樣子。

“Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”
蘋果樹要和他一起玩，男孩說：“不行，我不小了，不能再和你玩，我要玩具，可是沒錢買。”

“Sorry, but I don’t have money...but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.” The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.
蘋果樹說：“很遺憾，我也沒錢，不過，把我所有的果子摘下來賣掉，你不就有錢了？”男孩十分激動，他摘下所有的蘋果，高高興興地走了。然后，男孩好久都沒有來。蘋果樹很傷心。

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. “Come and play with me,” the tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, but I don’t have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.”
有一天，男孩終于來了，樹興奮地邀他一起玩。男孩說：“不行，我沒有時間，我要替家里干活呢，我們需要一幢房子，你能幫忙嗎？”“我沒有房子，”蘋果樹說，“不過你可以把我的樹枝統統砍下來，拿去搭房子。”

So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
于是男孩砍下所有的樹枝，高高興興地運走去蓋房子。看到男孩高興樹好快樂。從此，男孩又不來了。樹再次陷入孤單和悲傷之中。

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. The tree was happy, but it was not true.
一年夏天，男孩回來了，樹太快樂了：“來呀！孩子，來和我玩呀。”男孩卻說：“我心情不好，一天天老了，我要揚帆出海，輕松一下，你能給我一艘船嗎？”蘋果樹說：“把我的樹干砍去，拿去做船吧！”于是男孩砍下了她的樹干，造了條船，然后駕船走了，很久都沒有回來。樹好快樂……但不是真的。

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you...” the tree said.
許多年過去，男孩終于回來，蘋果樹說：“對不起，孩子，我已經沒有東西可以給你了，我的蘋果沒了。”

“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the boy replied.
男孩說：“我的牙都掉了，吃不了蘋果了。”

“No more trunk for you to climb on.”
蘋果樹又說：“我再沒有樹干，讓你爬上來了。”

“I am too old for that now,” the boy said.
男孩說：“我太老了，爬不動了。”
“I really can’t give you anything... the only thing left is my dying roots,” the tree said with tears.
“我再也沒有什么給得出手了……，只剩下枯死下去的老根，”樹流著淚說。

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years.” The boy replied.
男孩說：“這么多年過去了，現在我感到累了，什么也不想要，只要一個休息的地方。”

“Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...
“好啊！老根是最適合坐下來休息的，來啊，坐下來和我一起休息吧！”男孩坐下來，蘋果樹高興得流下了眼淚……

This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad... When we grown up, we left them, and only came to them when we need something or when we are in trouble.
這就是我們每個人的故事。這顆樹就是我們的父母。小時候，我們喜歡和爸爸媽媽玩……長大后，我們就離開他們，只在需要什么東西或者遇到麻煩的時候，才回到他們身邊。

No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy. You may think that the boy is cruel to the tree but that’s how all of us are treating our parents.
無論如何，父母永遠都在那兒，傾其所有使你快樂。你可能認為這個男孩對樹很殘酷，但這就是我們每個人對待父母的方式。

微信公眾號：英語美文朗讀 孟叔的微博：孟飛Phoenix 孟叔的抖音：184302945