The Mango Tree

by Stephen 翻譯：范婕

The Mango Tree

無私的芒果樹

by Stephen 翻譯：范婕

“愛有多深人生就有多沉。”本文關于芒果樹的故事改編自謝爾·希爾弗斯坦（Shel Silverstein）的著名繪本《愛心樹》（The Giving Tree），看似簡單的繪本故事，卻能觸及人心，甚至讓人淚目。讀完這個故事，你不禁想起了誰？

Once upon a time, there lived a big mango tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it.

He climbed to the top, ate the mangoes, took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by. The little boy grew,and he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree with a sad look.

“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.”

“Sorry, I don’t have money…but you can1)pickall my mangoes and sell them.”

The boy was so excited. He picked all the mangoes and left happily.

One day, the boy grown into a man returned. 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 for2)shelter. Can you help me?”

“Sorry, I don’t have a house, but you can chop off my3)branchesto build your house.”

So the man cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The man didn’t come back afterward. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the man returned.

“Come and play with me!” the treesaid4)delightedly.

“I am getting old. I want to go sailing and relax myself. Can you give me a boat?”

“Use my5)trunkto build your boat.”

So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and didn’t come back for a long time.

Finally, the man returned after many years.

“Sorry, my boy, but I don’t have anything for you anymore. The only thing left is my dying roots,” the tree said with sadness.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,”the old man replied.

“The old tree roots are the best place to rest. Come sit down with me and rest,” the tree said.

The man sat down, and the tree was glad and smiled.

詞組加油站

take a nap 睡午覺，小睡一下

chop off 砍掉

go sailing 去遠航

1) pick [pΙk] v. 采，摘

2) shelter ['?elt?] n. 遮蔽

3) branch [brα?nt?] n. 樹枝

4) delightedly [dΙ'laΙtΙdlΙ] adv. 欣喜地，高興地

5) trunk [tr??k] n. 樹干

參考譯文

很久以前，曾有一棵繁茂的芒果樹，有個小男孩總喜歡在樹的周圍玩耍。

他一會兒爬到樹頂，一會兒摘芒果吃，一會兒又在樹陰下睡覺。小男孩愛這棵樹，樹也喜歡和他一起玩兒。

時光流逝，小男孩慢慢長大，他不再喜歡在樹旁玩耍了。

一天，男孩表情憂傷地來到樹旁。

“來和我玩吧，”樹對男孩說。

“我不再是個孩子了，不會再在樹周圍跑跑跳跳了，”男孩答道，“我想要玩具，我需要買玩具的錢。”

“對不起，我沒有錢……但你可以摘下我身上所有的芒果，拿去賣了換錢。”

男孩很興奮，他摘下所有芒果，高興地離開了。

一天，已經長大成人的男孩回來了，樹非常開心。

“來和我玩吧，”樹說。

“我沒有時間玩，我得工作養家。我們需要一幢房子遮風擋雨，你能幫我嗎？”

“對不起，我沒有房子，但你可以砍下我的樹枝，給你自己搭幢房子。”

于是男人砍下了所有的樹枝，高興地離開了。那之后男人沒有再回來。樹又一次變得孤單難過。

在一個炎炎夏日，男人回來了。

“來和我玩吧！”樹開心地說。

“我年紀越來越大了，想揚帆遠行，放松一下。你能給我一艘船嗎？”

“用我的樹干造船吧。”

于是男人砍下樹干，造了一條船。他下水遠航，很長時間都沒有再出現。

多年后，男人終于回來了。

“對不起，我的孩子，我已再沒有什么可以給你了，只剩下奄奄一息的樹根，”樹哀傷地說。

“我現在不再需要什么了，只想有一個休息的地方。這么多年下來，我累了，”老人回答。

“老樹根最適合讓人休息了。來我身邊坐下歇歇吧，”樹說道。

男人坐了下來，樹開心地笑了。