THE FLOWERS AND THE WATER DROPS.

 DOWN in an earth garden were some flowers all drooping¹ and sad. Father Sun saw them, and calling his little children, the sunbeams, to him, said, “To-day, my little helpers, I need you to do some work for me. Go down to the big, round earth far below, and bring back to the sky country all the water dust that you can carry.”

 

The little sunbeams started, and although it was a long, long journey, they were so bright and merry that it seemed like play to them. By and by they drew near to Mother Earth, and before long saw myriads² of tiny drops of water, some taking hold of hands forming part of the great ocean, others rushing along in a strong, deep river, while some were dancing and tumbling³ in a merry little brook⁴, singing sweet songs. But how could the sunbeams coax⁵ the water drops to come up into the sky country? Surely the ocean, or the river, or even the little laughing brooks⁶ could not be carried up so high!

 

But the little workers were not a bit discouraged, and they began at once to shake the water drops apart. The little particles of water no sooner felt the sunbeams shaking them than they said to each other, “Come, now for a long ride.” And sure enough, up, up, up they sailed in the boats of air, helped on by the sunbeams. But as they rose higher in the air suddenly they began to shiver, for just then Mr. North Wind came rushing along. How the poor little vapor⁷ mass shook, and then suddenly began once more to form into drops! And some little children, far down on the earth below, looked up at the sky and exclaimed, “See the dark clouds up there!” while their mamma said, “It is going to rain.”

 

In a few minutes the little drops felt as if they were being pulled back to earth, and starting from the cloud which was holding them, they said to one another, “Now for a race!” And soon, patter, patter, patter, came the sound of the rain, and the little drops once more were back in their earth home.

 

Ah! how the flowers lifted their drooping heads and smiled then. If you had been very close, you might almost have heard them sing, “God is good! God is good!”

1 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

2 myriads   

n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each galaxy contains myriads of stars. 每一星系都有无数的恒星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sky was set with myriads of stars. 无数星星点缀着夜空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 tumbling   

n.摔跤，翻跟头，翻筋斗adj.歪斜状的v.倒塌( tumble的现在分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟

参考例句：

• His eyes were fastened on the boiling, tumbling waves. 他的眼睛凝视着汹涌的波涛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The earthquake sent buildings tumbling into one another like failing dominoes. 地震使大楼哗啦啦倒塌，就像正在倾倒的骨牌一般。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

5 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

6 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。