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THE MAGIC HILL
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ONCE upon a time there was a King who had seven children. The first three were boys, and he was glad about this because a King likes to have three sons; but when the next three were sons also, he was not so glad, and he wished that one of them had been a daughter. So the Queen said, “The next shall be a daughter.” And it was, and they decided1 to call her Daffodil.
 
When the Princess Daffodil was a month old, the King and Queen gave a great party in the Palace for the christening, and the Fairy Mumruffin was invited to be Godmother to the little Princess.
 
“She is a good fairy,” said the King to the Queen, “and I hope she will give Daffodil something that will be useful to her. Beauty or Wisdom3 or Riches or—”
 
“Or Goodness4,” said the Queen.
 
“Or Goodness, as I was about to remark,” said the King.{86}
 
So you will understand how anxious they were when Fairy Mumruffin looked down at the sleeping Princess in her cradle5 and waved her wand.
 
“They have called you Daffodil,” she said, and then she waved her wand again:
 
“Let Daffodil
The gardens fill.
Wherever you go
Flowers shall grow.”
There was a moment’s silence while the King tried to think this out.
 
“What was that?” he whispered6 to the Queen. “I didn’t quite get that.”
 
“Wherever she walks flowers are going to grow,” said the Queen. “I think it’s sweet.”
 
“Oh,” said the King. “Was that all? She didn’t say anything about—”
 
“No.”
 
“Oh, well.{87}”
 
He turned to thank the Fairy Mumruffin, but she had already flown away.
 
It was nearly a year later that the Princess first began to walk, and by this time everybody had forgotten about the Fairy’s promise. So the King was rather surprised, when he came back from hunting one day, to find that his favourite courtyard7, where he used to walk when he was thinking, was covered with flowers.
 
“What does this mean?” he said sternly8 to the chief gardener.
 
“I don’t know, your Majesty9,” said the gardener, scratching10 his head. “It isn’t my doing.”
 
“Then who has done it? Who has been here to-day?”
 
“Nobody, your Majesty, except her Royal Highness, Princess Daffodil, as I’ve been told, though how she found her way there, such a baby and all, bless her sweet little{88}—”
 
“That will do,” said the King. “You may go.”
 
For now he remembered. This was what the Fairy Mumruffin had promised.
 
That evening the King and the Queen talked the matter over very seriously before they went to bed.
 
“It is quite clear,” said the King, “that we cannot let Daffodil run about everywhere. That would never do. She must take her walks on the beds. She must be carried across all the paths. It will be annoying in a way, but in a way it will be useful. We shall be able to do without most of the gardeners.”
 
“Yes, dear,” said the Queen.
 
So Daffodil as she grew up was only allowed to walk on the beds, and the other children were very jealous11 of her because they were only allowed to walk on the{89} paths; and they thought what fun it would be if only they were allowed to run about on the beds just once. But Daffodil thought what fun it would be if she could run about the paths like other boys and girls.
 
One day, when she was about five years old, a Court Doctor came to see her. And when he had looked at her tongue, he said to the Queen:
 
“Her Royal Highness needs more exercise. She must run about more. She must climb hills and roll down them. She must hop2 and skip and jump. In short, your Majesty, although she is a Princess she must do what other little girls do.”
 
“Unfortunately,” said the Queen, “she is not like other little girls.” And she sighed and looked out of the window. And out of the window, at the far end of the garden, she saw a little green hill where no flowers grew. So she turned back to the{90} Court Doctor and said, “You are right; she must be as other little girls.”
 
So she went to the King, and the King gave the Princess Daffodil the little green hill for her very own. And every day the Princess Daffodil played there, and flowers grew; and every evening the girls and boys of the countryside came and picked the flowers.
 
So they called it the Magic Hill. And from that day onward12 flowers have always grown on the Magic Hill, and boys and girls have laughed and played and picked them.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 hop vdJzL     
n.单脚跳,跳跃;vi.单脚跳,跳跃;着手做某事;vt.跳跃,跃过
参考例句:
  • The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛,看谁单足跳跃最快。
  • How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远?
3 wisdom MfBwv     
n.智慧,明智的行为,学识,名言,贤人
参考例句:
  • Experience is the mother of wisdom.经验为智慧之母。
  • Ancient Greece was a fountain of wisdom and philosophy.古希腊是智慧和哲学的发源地。
4 goodness xfgxm     
n.善良,善行,美德
参考例句:
  • Would you have the goodness to turn off the radio?劳驾,请你把收音机关上好不好?
  • Thank goodness,we've found a cure for the disease.好了,这病有救了!
5 cradle Vzsx0     
n.摇篮,策源地,支船架;vt.把...放在摇篮里
参考例句:
  • The baby was rocked to sleep in a cradle.婴儿在摇篮里被摇得睡着了。
  • Tokyo was the cradle of Japanese culture.东京是日本文化的发源地。
6 whispered ac3eda029cd72fefda0d32abc42aa001     
adj.耳语的,低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 );私语;小声说;私下说
参考例句:
  • She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来,对我耳语了几句。
  • His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 courtyard Cz5x5     
n.庭院,天井
参考例句:
  • Tell children to go and play in the courtyard.叫孩子们到院子里耍去。
  • This passage leads into the courtyard.这条路通向院子。
8 sternly YhLz96     
adv.严厉地;严肃地
参考例句:
  • The chair sternly rebuked the audience for their laughter.主席厉声斥责听众哄笑。
  • Her husband looked at her sternly.她丈夫严厉地看着她。
9 majesty MAExL     
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权
参考例句:
  • The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
  • Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下,您必须赶快做出决定!
10 scratching fb3f6415f9bbd819bb8ca0a0d51520b1     
刮痕
参考例句:
  • It wasn't easy scratching out a living in those hard times. 在那段艰难的日子里,糊口真不容易。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He has this irritating mannerism of constantly scratching his nose. 他老是挠鼻子,这个习惯真让人不舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 jealous 7abz6     
adj.妒忌的,猜忌的;精心守护的
参考例句:
  • He was jealous when he discovered that she loved someone else.当他发现她爱别人的时候,他吃醋了。
  • An honorable Chinese citizen should be jealous of his own rights.一名光荣的中国公民应当珍惜自己的公民权利。
12 onward 2ImxI     
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先
参考例句:
  • The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
  • He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。


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