THE LITTLE TRAVELER

 MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER

Love is a bridge that links us heart to heart

Mother and child can never live apart

Once upon a time there was a little boy who had a long journey to go. He had a very dear mother, and she did not want her little son to leave her; but she knew he must go, so she put her arms around him and said: "Now, don't be afraid, for I shall be thinking of you, and God will take care of you."

 

Then the little boy kissed her goodbye and ran away, singing a merry song. As long as he could see her he would turn and wave his hand to her; but by and by she was out of sight. Just then he came to a stream of water that ran across his path.

 

"How can I get over?" thought the little boy; but a white swan swam up to greet him, and said:—

 

"There is always a way to get over the stream. Follow me! follow me!"

 

So the little boy followed the swan till he came to a row of great stepping stones, and he jumped from one to another, counting them as he went.

 

When he reached the seventh he was safe across, and he turned to thank the white swan. And when he had thanked her, he called:—

 

"White swan, white swan, swimming so gay!

Carry a message for me to-day:

My love to my mother, wherever she be;

I know she is always thinking of me."

Then the white swan swam back to carry the message, and the little boy ran on his way.

 

Oh! there were so many beautiful things to hear,—the birds singing and the bees humming; and so many beautiful things to see,—the flowers and butterflies and green grass! And after a while he came to a wood, where every tree wore a green dress; and through the wood, under the shade of the trees, flowed a babbling¹ creek².

 

"I wonder how I can get over?" said the little boy; and the wise wind whispered:

 

"There is always a way to get over the stream. Follow me! follow me!"

 

Then he followed the sound of the wise wind's voice, and the wind blew against a tall pine tree, and the pine tree fell across the creek, and lay there, a great round foot-log, where the little boy might step. He made his way over, and thanked the wise wind; and he asked:—

 

"Wise wind, wise wind, blowing so gay!

Carry a message for me to-day:

My love to my mother, wherever she be;

I know she is always thinking of me."

The wind blew back to carry the message, and the little boy made haste on his journey. His way lead through a meadow³, where the clover grew and the white sheep and baby lambs were feeding together in the sunshine.

 

On one side of this meadow flowed a silver shining river, and the child wandered up and down the bank to find some way to cross, for he knew that he must go on.

 

As he walked there, a man called a carpenter found him, and said to him:—

 

"There is always a way to get over the stream. Follow me! follow me!"

 

Then the little boy followed the carpenter, and the carpenter and his men built a bridge of iron and wood that reached across from bank to bank. And when the bridge was finished, the child ran over in safety; and after he had thanked the carpenter, he said:—

 

"Carpenter, carpenter, on your way!

Carry a message for me to-day:

My love to my mother, wherever she be,

I know she is always thinking of me."

The carpenter gladly consented; and after he had turned back to carry the message, the little boy followed the path, which led up hill over rocks and steep places, through brambles and briars, until his feet grew weary⁴; and when he came down into the valley again, he saw a river that was very dark and very deep.

 

There was no white swan or wise wind to help him. No tree in the forest could bridge it over, and the carpenter and his men were far away.

 

"I must get over. There is a way," said the little boy bravely; and, as he sat down to rest, he heard a murmuring sound. Looking down, he spied a tiny boat fastened to a willow⁵ tree.

 

"I am the boat with a helping⁶ oar⁷,

To carry you over from shore to shore,"

repeated the boat; and when the little boy had unfastened it, he sprang in, and began to row himself over the dark water.

 

As he rowed, he saw a tiny bird flying above him. The bird needed no boat or bridge, for its wings were strong; and when the little boy saw it, he cried:—

 

"Little bird, little bird, flying so gay!

Carry a message for me to-day:

My love to my mother, wherever she be;

I know she is always thinking of me."

The little bird flew swiftly back to carry the message, and the boy rowed on till he reached the opposite shore. After he had thanked the boat with its helping oar, he tied it to a tree as he had found it, and then hastened away, singing his happy song again.

 

By and by he heard an answer to his song, and he knew that it was the great sea, calling "Come! Come! Come!" And when he reached the shore where the blue waves were dancing up to the yellow sands, he clapped his hands with delight; for there, rocking on the billows, was a beautiful ship with sails as white as a lady's hands.

 

"I knew there would be a way!" said the little boy, as he sprang on deck and went sailing over the deep blue sea,—sailing, sailing, sailing, day after day, night after night, over the beautiful sea.

 

At night the stars would look down, twinkling and blinking⁸; and as the little boy watched them, he would say:—

 

"Little stars, little stars, shining so bright!

Carry a message for me to-night:

My love to my mother, wherever she be;

I know she is always thinking of me."

The little boy went on sailing, sailing, day and night, until he came to a land beyond the sea,—a land so full of delight that the little boy felt that his journey was ended, until one day when a great storm came.

 

The wind blew, the thunder crashed, the lightning flashed, the rain came pouring down, and the little boy wanted to go home.

 

"I will find a way!" he cried at last; and, just as he spoke⁹, the sun came bursting out, the storm clouds rolled away, and there in the sky was a rainbow bridge that seemed to touch both sky and earth.

 

Then the little boy's heart leaped for joy, and he ran with feet as light as feathers up the shining bow; and when he reached the highest arch¹⁰, he looked down on the other side and saw home and his mother at the rainbow's end.

 

"Mother! Mother!" he called, as he ran down into her arms. "Mother, I've always been thinking of you, and God has taken care of me."

该作者的其它作品
《A Story Garden for Little Children》

1 babbling   

n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

2 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

3 meadow   

n.草地，牧草地

参考例句：

• The children ran free across the meadow.孩子们在草地里自由地奔跑。
• The meadow is peopled with wild flowers.草地长满了野花。

4 weary   

adj.疲劳的，使人疲劳的；vi.厌烦，不耐烦

参考例句：

• He has laid out all his strength and is weary.他使出了全部气力，非常疲倦。
• I am weary of his constant complaints.我对他不断发牢骚感到厌烦。

5 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

8 blinking   

a.(英俚)该死的，讨厌的；十足的

参考例句：

• Shut the blinking door! 关上那扇该死的门！
• Her ring is an odd little concern fitted with blinking diamonds. 她的戒指是装有许多闪光钻石的小玩意儿。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 arch   

n.拱门，桥洞；v.拱起，成为弓形

参考例句：

• Dip your head under the low arch.在低矮的门拱下要低头。
• The trees arch overhead.树木在头顶上弯成拱形。