THE BUCKWHEAT

OFTEN,after a thunder-storm,when one passes a field in which Buckwheat is growing, it appears quite blackened and singed¹. It is just as if a flame of fire had passed across it; and then the countryman says,“It got that from lightning.”But why has it received that?I will tell you what the Sparrow told me about it, and the Sparrow heard it from an old Willow² Tree which stood by a Buckwheat field,and still stands there. It is quite a great venerable Willow Tree, but wrinkled and old:it is burst in the middle, and grass and brambles grow out of the cleft³; the tree bends forward, and the branches hang quite down to the ground, as if they were long,green hair.

On all the fields round about corn was growing, not only rye and barley⁴, but also oats, yes, the most capital oats,which when ripe look like a number of little yellow canary birds sitting upon a spray. The corn stood smiling,and the richer an ear was, the deeper did it bend in pious⁵ humility⁶.

But there was also a field of Buckwheat,and this field was exactly opposite to the old Willow Tree.The

Buckwheat did not bend at all,like the rest of the grain,but stood up proudly and stiffly.

“I'm as rich as any corn ear,”it said.“Moreover,I'm very much handsomer:my flowers are beautiful as the blossoms of the apple tree: it's quite a delight to look upon me and mine.Do you know anything more splendid than we are, you old Willow Tree?”

And the Willow Tree nodded his head, just as if he would have said,“Yes, certainly I do!”

But the Buckwheat spread itself out from mere⁷ vainglory,and said,

“The stupid tree! he's so old that the grass grows in his body.”

Now a terrible storm came on:all the field flowers folded their leaves together or bowed their little heads while the storm passed over them, but the Buckwheat stood erect⁸ in its pride.

“Bend your head like us,”said the Flowers.

“I've not the slightest cause to do so,”replied the Buck-wheat.“Bend your head as we do,”cried the corn.“Now the angel of the storm comes flying on. He has wings that reach from the clouds just down to the earth, and he'll cut you right in two before you can cry for mercy.”

“Yes,but I won't bend,”quoth the Buchwheat.

“Shut up your flowers and bend your leaves,”said the old Willow Tree.“Don't look up at the lightning when the cloud bursts:even men do not do that, for in the lightning one may look into heaven, but that sight dazzles even men; and what would happen to us, if we dared do so----we, the plants of the field, that are much less worthy⁹ than they?”

“Much less worthy!”cried the Buckwheat.“Now I'll just look straight up into heaven.”

And it did so, in its pride and vain-glory. It was as if the whole world were on fire, so vivid was the lightning.

When afterwards the bad weather had passed by, the flowers and the crops stood in the still, pure air, quite refreshed by the rain;but the Buckwheat was burned coalblack by the lightning, and it was now like a dead weed upon the field.

And the old Willow Tree waved its branches in the wind, and great drops of water fell down out of the green leaves just as if the tree wept.

And the Sparrows asked,“Why do you weep? Here everything is so cheerful:see how the sun shines, see how the clouds sail on.Do you not breathe the scent¹⁰ of flowers and bushes? Why do you weep, Willow Tree?”

And the Willow Tree told them of the pride of the Buckwheat,of its vain-glory,and of the punishment which always follows such sin.

I, who tell you this tale, have heard it from the Sparrows. They told it me one evening when I begged them to give me a story.

1 singed   

v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿]

参考例句：

• He singed his hair as he tried to light his cigarette. 他点烟时把头发给燎了。
• The cook singed the chicken to remove the fine hairs. 厨师把鸡燎一下，以便去掉细毛。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

3 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

4 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

5 pious   

adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
• Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

9 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

10 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。