有声书 | American Folk Tales （美国传奇故事）1.1
今日书目
书名：
American
Folk Tales
《美国传奇故事》
作者：
William Gibson
今日连载 | The Legend of Johnny Appleseed 1.1
1.1
Part 1:
Johnny and his Apple Seeds
Johnny Apple Seed was born near Boston in 1775. His real name was John Chapman.
When he was a child he played in the forest and in the fields. His best friends were animals. He loved all animals. He played with them and talked to them! His family was very religious①.
Johnny's first book was the Bible, but he also liked Aesop's Fables. Johnny loved the tales about animals and their adventures.
When Johnny was a teenager he worked as a missionary② with the Indians. He converted③ many Indians to Christianity④. He taught them about the Bible. The Indians were his friends. When he was 26 years old he had a vision⑤. An angel appeared to him! The angel said, "Go and plant apple seeds across America. The settlers of the new frontier want good apples to eat."
Johnny was surprised but he was happy. He was a kind person and he wanted to help others. He took a big sack⑥ and filled it with apple seeds. He carried this sack on his back. In one hand he carried the Bible, Aesop's Fables and other religious books. Now he was ready to cross the continent and plant America's favorite fruit: the apple.
Johnny was an unusual⑦ man. He was tall and thin. He had long hair and a beard. He never bought new clothes. He wore an old coffee sack and the old clothes people gave him. He didn't usually wear any shoes. He wore a saucepan⑧ on his head. One of Johnny's friends said, "God bless you, Johnny. We are happy for you. You are similar to⑨ St. Francis of Assisi. He loved animals and lived a simple life."
Johnny said, "I want to plant apple seeds across America. Every American family will have apple trees with good apples to eat."
In 1800 Johnny began his long journey across America. At that time America was a very young country. The American continent was a wilderness⑩. It was unexplored⑪. There were no roads and few maps. This immense⑫ land was called the American frontier. Many settlers wanted to explore the frontier.
Johnny walked from Massachusetts to New York, From New York he walked to Pennsylvania. Then he crossed Ohio, Indiana and a big part of the Midwest. Every day he moved west.
He travelled across America and planted apple seeds. He built fences around the fields and then continued his journey.
Settlers traveled to the frontier and found the apple orchards. They ate the delicious⑬ fruit: green, red and yellow apples. When the settlers found an apple orchard, they built a home there.
Other settlers dug up⑭ the apple trees and took them to new lands. Some of Johnny's trees travelled to the West Coast on the Pacific Ocean⑮.
When Johnny found a family of settlers he visited their log cabin. He helped them with their work. He told the children stories and sang songs.
One day Johnny visited a family of settlers in the Midwest. This family loved books. He gave them a few pages from his books. "You can read them and give them to me when I return in a few months," he said. The family was very happy.
In this way, Johnny created the first library on the frontier. Many children learned to read thanks to Johnny and his library.
Words
① religious: 笃信宗教的，虔诚的
② missionary：传教的
③ converted：转变，转换
④ Christianity：基督教
⑤ vision: 幻想，异象
⑥ sack：大口袋
⑦ unusual：异乎寻常的
⑧ saucepan：勺子
⑨ similar to：与……相似
⑩ wilderness：荒野
⑪ unexplored：未经勘察的
⑫ immense：极大的
⑬ delicious：美味的
⑭ dug up：从地下挖掘出某物
⑮ The Pacific Ocean：太平洋
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图片 | 网络
编辑 | 孟一凡
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