登陆注册
5245700000012

第12章 THE DEVOTED FRIEND(4)

"But somehow he was never able to look after his flowers at all, for his friend the Miller was always coming round and sending him off on long errands, or getting him to help at the mill. Little Hans was very much distressed at times, as he was afraid his flowers would think he had forgotten them, but he consoled himself by the reflection that the Miller was his best friend. 'Besides,' he used to say, 'he is going to give me his wheelbarrow, and that is an act of pure generosity.'

"So little Hans worked away for the Miller, and the Miller said all kinds of beautiful things about friendship, which Hans took down in a note-book, and used to read over at night, for he was a very good scholar.

"Now it happened that one evening little Hans was sitting by his fireside when a loud rap came at the door. It was a very wild night, and the wind was blowing and roaring round the house so terribly that at first he thought it was merely the storm. But a second rap came, and then a third, louder than any of the others.

"'It is some poor traveller,' said little Hans to himself, and he ran to the door.

"There stood the Miller with a lantern in one hand and a big stick in the other.

"'Dear little Hans,' cried the Miller, 'I am in great trouble. My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I am going for the Doctor. But he lives so far away, and it is such a bad night, that it has just occurred to me that it would be much better if you went instead of me. You know I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, and so, it is only fair that you should do something for me in return.'

"'Certainly,' cried little Hans, 'I take it quite as a compliment your coming to me, and I will start off at once. But you must lend me your lantern, as the night is so dark that I am afraid I might fall into the ditch.'

"'I am very sorry,' answered the Miller, 'but it is my new lantern, and it would be a great loss to me if anything happened to it.'

"'Well, never mind, I will do without it,' cried little Hans, and he took down his great fur coat, and his warm scarlet cap, and tied a muffler round his throat, and started off.

"What a dreadful storm it was! The night was so black that little Hans could hardly see, and the wind was so strong that he could scarcely stand. However, he was very courageous, and after he had been walking about three hours, he arrived at the Doctor's house, and knocked at the door.

"'Who is there?' cried the Doctor, putting his head out of his bedroom window.

"'Little Hans, Doctor.'

"'What do you want, little Hans?'

"'The Miller's son has fallen from a ladder, and has hurt himself, and the Miller wants you to come at once.'

"'All right!' said the Doctor; and he ordered his horse, and his big boots, and his lantern, and came downstairs, and rode off in the direction of the Miller's house, little Hans trudging behind him.

"But the storm grew worse and worse, and the rain fell in torrents, and little Hans could not see where he was going, or keep up with the horse. At last he lost his way, and wandered off on the moor, which was a very dangerous place, as it was full of deep holes, and there poor little Hans was drowned. His body was found the next day by some goatherds, floating in a great pool of water, and was brought back by them to the cottage.

"Everybody went to little Hans' funeral, as he was so popular, and the Miller was the chief mourner.

"'As I was his best friend,' said the Miller, 'it is only fair that I should have the best place'; so he walked at the head of the procession in a long black cloak, and every now and then he wiped his eyes with a big pocket-handkerchief.

"'Little Hans is certainly a great loss to every one,' said the Blacksmith, when the funeral was over, and they were all seated comfortably in the inn, drinking spiced wine and eating sweet cakes.

"'A great loss to me at any rate,' answered the Miller; 'why, I had as good as given him my wheelbarrow, and now I really don't know what to do with it. It is very much in my way at home, and it is in such bad repair that I could not get anything for it if I sold it. I will certainly take care not to give away anything again.

One always suffers for being generous.'"

"Well?" said the Water-rat, after a long pause.

"Well, that is the end," said the Linnet.

"But what became of the Miller?" asked the Water-rat.

"Oh! I really don't know," replied the Linnet; "and I am sure that I don't care.""It is quite evident then that you have no sympathy in your nature," said the Water-rat.

"I am afraid you don't quite see the moral of the story," remarked the Linnet.

"The what?" screamed the Water-rat.

"The moral."

"Do you mean to say that the story has a moral?""Certainly," said the Linnet.

"Well, really," said the Water-rat, in a very angry manner, "Ithink you should have told me that before you began. If you had done so, I certainly would not have listened to you; in fact, Ishould have said 'Pooh,' like the critic. However, I can say it now"; so he shouted out "Pooh" at the top of his voice, gave a whisk with his tail, and went back into his hole.

"And how do you like the Water-rat?" asked the Duck, who came paddling up some minutes afterwards. "He has a great many good points, but for my own part I have a mother's feelings, and I can never look at a confirmed bachelor without the tears coming into my eyes.""I am rather afraid that I have annoyed him," answered the Linnet.

"The fact is, that I told him a story with a moral.""Ah! that is always a very dangerous thing to do," said the Duck.

And I quite agree with her.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 猎户家的空间小娇娘

    猎户家的空间小娇娘

    新书《六零医妻有空间》已发布,求支持。末世高级女药师叶兰魂穿异世,成为了父母不爱,继妹欺负的小可怜,好在遇到了一个老实憨厚,但是超级护短的好男人。可惜好好的日子就是不让好好过,因此夫妻二人奋起反抗,过起了一边斗极品,一边行医种植药材发家致富的日子。“当家的,你娘亲要打我。”叶兰扭头满是委屈的说道。杨志刚快速的闪到了她的面前,如母鸡护小鸡一样把她的护到了身后。“当家的,有人要杀我。”叶兰一脸惊慌的说道。“别怕有我。”杨志刚抱着她安慰道。第二天,想杀的她的人横尸荒野。
  • Moonshot!

    Moonshot!

    "The future belongs to those who see the possibilities before they become obvious… This is the most exciting time ever to be part of the business world."Throughout history, there are some events that stand out as so groundbreaking that they completely change life as we know it. The Apollo moon landing of 1961 was one of those events—the invention of the Apple personal computer was another. In this book, John Sculley—former CEO of both Pepsi and Apple—claims we are in an era that is giving birth to numerous groundbreaking events and inventions—moonshots—that will change the way we live and work for generations to come.
  • 穿越成神棍:我只骗财不骗色

    穿越成神棍:我只骗财不骗色

    假枪当真枪,别人的头没爆着反被人爆了头,一朝穿越,杀手成了神棍,画起了花妆跳大绳。神秘的白衣少年,邪恶的痞子将军,是他的阴谋,又或是他的诡计,她都不在乎,她只想陪着自己喜欢的人一起血雨江湖,天涯海角……
  • 番薯升官记

    番薯升官记

    番薯不是地瓜,番薯是一个人的小名,这个人的大名叫方曙。方曙最近接受一项庄严的任务:当省纪委5104专案组办公室联络员。听说这是一个大案,事关龙州市前市委某副书记,这位副书记姓牛,就是股市上常说的牛市那个牛。牛副书记几年前是本省一颗政治明星,呼声很高,传闻要升市委书记的,龙州是本省重要的沿海开放城市,前几任市委书记都升了省委常委,有一位如今还当着省委副书记,分管组织。但是不知怎么的,就调到省里去了,职务是林业厅长,按理也算升官的,但就有议论,说他出了一点问题,这种调整实际上是明升暗降,权力大大地缩水了。
  • 仙侣缘梦

    仙侣缘梦

    生性跳脱的叶风,与深爱的人流落在异世,爱人不知在何方?叶风如何从弱小变为强大,如何生存,如何找到爱人,对抗在这个世界里遇到的敌人。没有大陆争霸,没有登基为帝,有的只是逍遥世间,快活的生活在这个世界上。有战争,有友情,有爱情,有背叛,主角没有王八之气,没有一呼百应能者云从之气,有的只是挣扎与挑战。
  • 血殇录

    血殇录

    上古洪荒,神魔大战,六界隔绝。枯荣轮转,千年流逝,战乱再起······龙血染:“吾非人族,却具人之情愫,若是……吾族大业难成!”轩辕逸坤:“阿染,我知你有苦衷,我等你亲口向我述说的那一天。”龙血染:“陛下,对不起,我失约了……”龙桀:“去吧,莫染将军。”--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 金银岛(世界文学名著典藏)

    金银岛(世界文学名著典藏)

    《金银岛》是一个令人难忘的描写背叛行为的故事,反映了善与恶之间的尖锐斗争。为争夺财宝而展开你死我活争斗的双方,其实谁也不是财宝的真正主人。只不过在作者看来,既然是乡绅雇佣了包括西尔弗在内的那批水手,那么全体船员就都该像斯莫利特船长那样,对乡绅忠心耿耿,而不该有非分之想。不过,从行为动机来看,乡绅及忠于乡绅的那些人都是诚实、本分、善良的,而西尔弗及他手下的那帮海盗基本上都是虚伪、非分、邪恶的。这场斗争围绕着反派角色西尔弗这个杀人不眨眼的海盗头子来展开,经过激烈的较量,“善”最终战胜了“恶”。
  • 林老板的枪

    林老板的枪

    杨少衡,祖籍河南省林州市。1953年12月生于福建省漳州市。1969年上山下乡当知功夫青,1977年起,分剐在乡镇、县、市机关部门工作。于西北大学中文系毕业。现在福建省文联工作。1979年开始发表小说,已发表小说二百余万字。出版有长篇小说《相约金色年华》《金瓦》,儿童文学长篇小说《危险的旅途》,中短篇小说集《彗星岱尔曼》《西风独步》《红布狮子》《秘书长》等。为中国作家协会会员。本刊曾转栽过他的《亚健康》《尼古丁》。徐启维到任之初领教过林奉成一梭子弹。
  • 月中情

    月中情

    只是为了生存,可以去欺骗任何人,可以伤害任何人,只是没感情的杀手,但是看到你的那一刻,我觉得害怕,我开始挣扎,我发现自己爱上了不该爱的人,我到底该如何抉择,我为什么会爱上你,我明明知道你只是一个潜伏在我身边的杀手,我到底该拿你怎么办
  • 会表达成就最优秀的孩子

    会表达成就最优秀的孩子

    本书告诉父母会表达对孩子一生的重要性。对于孩子而言,培养他的表达能力会让他受益一生,好的表达能力,能增加孩子的情商,帮助他表述自己的思想,有助于孩子树立自信的人格。本书通过经典有趣的案例教父母如何才能快速、有效的培养孩子的表达能力,让父母在日常生活中就可以带着孩子一起说、一起训练,为孩子的成功打开第一扇门!