2018初中英語課外閱讀之睡美人

　　睡美人

 

　　A long time ago and far away there lived a King and a Queen.They were very happy,for their first child,a girl,had been born.

 

　　"We must have a grand christening for her,"said the King,who was delighted to have a daughter.

 

　　"We must invite all the fairies of the kingdom to bless her,"said the Queen.

 

　　"How many are there now?"asked the King.

 

　　"Twelve or thirteen,"said his wife."Send the invitations.We'll soon find out."

 

　　There were twelve fairies,and they were all sent invitations.A thirteen fairy had not been heard of for so long that it was presumed that she was dead.No invitation was sent.The day of the christening was sunny and bright.The Princes was named Briar Rose,and the fairies began to give their gifts.

 

　　"She shall be beautiful,"said the first.

 

　　"She shall be wise,"said the second.

 

　　"She shall be good,"said the third.

 

　　"She shall be kind,"said the fourth.

 

　　The gifts continued in this way,wishing all that was good for Briar Rose.Eleven of the twelve fairies had given their gifts when the room suddenly went dark.After a great flash of light a small dark figure stood in front of the King and Queen.

 

　　It was the thirteenth fairy.

 

　　"why wasn't I invited to the christening?"she screamed.

 

　　She was furious at being left out.

 

　　"All the fairies of the kingdom have given their blessings.Well,here's mine for the Princess.On her sixteentth birthday she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die."

 

　　Another flash of light and the fairy was gone.

 

　　"But we thought she was dead,"said the King."What can we do?"

 

　　The Queen was in tears.

 

　　The twelfth fairy stepped forward.

 

　　There is still my gift for Briar Rose,"she said."The fairy's curse cannot be undone,but I can change it a little.She will fall into a deep sleep that will last one hundred years,"There was a great hubbub in the hall as everyone discussed the events.

 

　　The following day the King issued a proclamation,ordering that all spinning wheels and spindles were to be destroyed.Throughout the land there were great fires as the spinning wheels were burned.

 

　　很久很久以前，在一個遙遠的地方，住著一位國王和一位王后，他們因為第一個孩子，一個女兒的誕生非常開心。

 

　　國王非常高興有了一個女兒，說，“我們一定要給她舉行一個盛大的洗禮儀式。”

 

　　王后說，“我們要邀請王國里所有的仙女來祝福她。”

 

　　國王問：“我們有多少仙女呢?”

 

　　他的妻子說，“十二個也不十三個。把邀請發(fā)出去我們很快就知道了。”

 

　　一共有十二位仙女，她們都收到了邀請。第十三位仙女早就沒有消息了所以大家都認為她已經(jīng)死了，沒有邀請她。洗禮的那天陽光燦爛。這位公主被取名為布瑞爾?羅絲，仙女們開始送上禮物。

 

　　第一位仙女說，“她會非常漂亮的。”

 

　　第二位說，“她將非常聰明。”

 

　　第三位說，“她的一切將很美好。”

 

　　第四位說，“她將很善良。”

 

　　仙女們陸續(xù)送上禮物，把世上所有的美好的東西都送給了布萊爾?羅絲。第十一位仙女剛剛送上祝福后，房間突然變黑了。一道閃電之后，一個小黑人站在國王和王后面前。

 

　　正是第十三位仙女。

 

　　她尖叫道，“為什么我沒有收到洗禮邀請?”

 

　　她因為被排除在外非常生氣。

 

　　“所有的仙女都已經(jīng)給出了祝福，下面是我的，在16歲生日的時候，公主將會被紡錘刺到手然后死去。”

 

　　又一道閃電之后，仙女離開了。

 

　　國王說，“我們還以為她已經(jīng)死了，我們現(xiàn)在能怎么辦呢?”

 

　　王后開始哭泣。

 

　　第十二位仙女走出來了。

 

　　她說，“我的祝福還沒有送出，這位仙女的詛咒會實現(xiàn)的，但是我能做出一點改變。她會陷入沉睡，睡上一百年。”大廳里每個人都在談?wù)撨@件事情，非常吵鬧。

 

　　第二天國王頒布一項公告，命令毀掉所有的紡車和紡錘。整個大地都是紡車被燒毀的火焰。