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The Star Dipper
星之勺
Many, many years ago, there lived a little girl who was very kind. She and her mother lived in a small house near a big woods.
很多很多年以前，有一個非常善良的小女孩。她和她的媽媽住在大森林附近的小房子里。
One very warm night her mother was sick.
在一個非常暖和的夜晚，她的媽媽生病了。
"How I wish I had a drink of fresh, cool water." said the sick woman.
那個生病的女人說：“我多么希望能喝到清涼的水啊。”
"I will get you some water, mother," said the little girl. So she took a dipper from the kitchen and ran to the well.
小女孩說：“媽媽，我會為你取來的。”于是，她從廚房拿了一個長柄勺，跑到井邊。
But she could not get any water. The well was dry.
但她得不到水。井干了。
"What shall I do?" said the little girl. "If my poor sick mother does not have a cool drink, she cannot go to sleep. I will run to the spring in the woods. It is very dark tonight, but I will not be afraid."
“我該怎么辦？”小女孩說：“如果我那生病的媽媽喝不到清涼的水，就不能入睡。我要跑到樹林的泉水那里取水。雖然今晚很黑，但我不會害怕的。”
Down the road she ran to the woods. There was no moon and she could hardly see where she was going. It was not easy to find the path among the trees.
她沿著路跑到了樹林里。今晚沒有月亮，她幾乎看不到她要去的地方。在樹中間找到路很不容易。
Once the little girl fell down, but she jumped up quickly. The stones hurt her feet but she ran on and on.
小女孩一摔倒，就馬上跳起來。石頭弄傷了她的腳，但她繼續不停地跑。
"I must not think about myself now," she said. "I must find the spring."
“我現在不能想自己，”她說，“我必須找到泉水。”
At last she found the spring and filled her dipper. Then she started back through the woods.
最后她找到了泉水，裝滿了長柄勺。然后她又穿過樹林回來。
On the way home she met a little dog. He looked at the dipper of water and began to bark. The little girl knew that he wanted a drink. "Come, little dog," she said. "I'll give you a fresh, cool drink."
她在路上遇到了一只小狗。它看著長柄勺里的水開始叫喚。小女孩知道它想喝水。“小狗，過來，”她說，“我給你一點兒涼水。”
She poured part of the water into her hand, and the little dog quickly drank every drop.
她在手里倒了一點兒水，小狗迅速地喝光每一滴水。
Then a strange thing happened. The old dipper changed to shining silver. It was as bright as the silver moon.
然后奇怪的事發生了。舊長柄勺變成了閃閃發光的銀勺。它像銀白的月亮一樣明亮。
Now the little girl could see the path through the dark woods.
現在小女孩可以看到漆黑樹林里的路了。
She hurried on, and soon she met an old, old man.
她急忙趕路，不久遇到一位非常老的人。
"Little girl, can you tell me where I can get a drink of nice, cool water?" he asked. "I have walked a long way to find some, but all the wells are dry."
“小女孩，你能告訴我哪里能喝到甘甜的涼水嗎？”他問，“我走了很長的路想要找水，但所有的井都是干的。”
"I got some water from a spring," said the little girl. "I was taking it to my sick mother, but I will give it to you. I can go back and get more."
“我取了一些泉水，”小女孩說，“我正要帶它回去給我生病的媽媽喝，但我先把它給你吧。我回去再取一些。”
The old man drank all the water from her dipper, and as he drank, the silver dipper changed to shining gold.
老人把她勺里的水全部喝光，在他喝水時，銀勺變成了閃閃的金勺。
It was as bright as the sun, and made a great light among the dark shadows in the woods.
它像太陽一樣明亮，照亮了樹林中黑暗的陰影。
Then the little girl could see the path back to the spring. She filled the golden dipper and hurried home.
然后小女孩可以看到通往泉水的路了。她把金勺裝滿水，匆忙回家。
"Here is a cool drink." she said, as she gave the golden dipper to her mother.
“涼水來了！”她說，把金勺遞給了她媽媽。
"Oh, how good this water is!" said her mother. She drank and drank until there was not a drop left in the dipper.
“噢，這水多么甘甜啊！”她的媽媽說。她喝啊喝，把勺子里的水喝得一滴不剩。
"Thank you, my dear," said the sick woman. "I can go to sleep now!"
“親愛的，謝謝你，”這個生病的女人說。“我現在可以睡覺了！”
Suddenly a wonderful thing happened. The golden dipper changed to diamonds! Then the diamonds went high up into the sky and turned into seven bright stars. They looked just like a big dipper.
突然，奇妙的事發生了。金勺變成了鉆石！這些鉆石飛到天上，變成了7顆明亮的星星。它們看起來像一個大勺子。
That was a long, long time ago, but the star dipper is still in the sky.
這個故事發生很久很久了，但星星勺子仍在天上。
