The Shroud

There was once a mother who had a little boy of seven years old, who was so handsome and lovable that no one could look at him without liking¹ him, and she herself worshipped him above everything in the world. Now it so happened that he suddenly became ill, and God took him to himself; and for this the mother could not be comforted, and wept² both day and night. But soon afterwards, when the child had been buried, it appeared by night in the places where it had sat and played during its life, and if the mother wept, it wept also, and when morning came it disappeared. As, however, the mother would not stop crying, it came one night, in the little white shroud³ in which it had been laid in its coffin⁴, and with its wreath⁵ of flowers round its head, and stood on the bed at her feet, and said, “Oh, mother, do stop crying, or I shall never fall asleep in my coffin, for my shroud will not dry because of all thy tears, which fall upon it.” The mother was afraid when she heard that, and wept no more. The next night the child came again, and held a little light in its hand, and said, “Look, mother, my shroud is nearly dry, and I can rest in my grave⁶.” Then the mother gave her sorrow⁷ into God’s keeping, and bore it quietly and patiently, and the child came no more, but slept in its little bed beneath the earth.

1 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

2 wept   

（通常因悲伤）哭泣( weep的过去式和过去分词 )； 流泪； 悲哀； 哀悼

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears, and wept freely. 她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• She wept bitter tears over the loss of her lover. 她为失去了恋人而哭泣。

3 shroud   

n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏

参考例句：

• His past was enveloped in a shroud of mystery.他的过去被裹上一层神秘色彩。
• How can I do under shroud of a dark sky?在黑暗的天空的笼罩下，我该怎么做呢？

4 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

5 wreath   

n.花环，花圈，花冠

参考例句：

• She is weaving the flowers into a wreath.她把花编成花环。
• She made a wreath for head.她编了一个花冠。

6 grave   

n.墓穴，坟墓，雕刻工，抑音；adj.庄重的，严肃的，重大的，低沉的；vt.雕刻

参考例句：

• Marriage is the grave of love.婚姻是爱情的坟墓。
• This is a very grave matter indeed.这问题的确非常严重。

7 sorrow   

n.悲哀；悲痛

参考例句：

• It helps to share your sorrow with someone else.向他人诉说你的痛苦对你是有益的。
• I think she did it more in sorrow than in anger.我觉得她这样做更多是出于悲哀而不是愤恨。