There was once a poor woodcutter who toiled¹ from early morning till late night. When at last he had laid by some money he said to his boy, “You are my only child, I will spend the money which I have earned with the sweat of my brow on your education; if you learn some honest trade you can support me in my old age, when my limbs have grown stiff and I am obliged to stay at home.” Then the boy went to a High School and learned diligently² so that his masters praised him, and he remained there a long time. When he had worked through two classes, but was still not yet perfect in everything, the little pittance³ which the father had earned was all spent, and the boy was obliged to return home to him. “Ah,” said the father, sorrowfully, “I can give you no more, and in these hard times I cannot earn a farthing more than will suffice for our daily bread.” “Dear father,” answered the son, “don’t trouble yourself about it, if it is God’s will, it will turn to my advantage I shall soon accustom⁴ myself to it.” When the father wanted to go into the forest to earn money by helping⁵ to pile and stack wood ans also chop it, the son said, “I will go with you and help you.” “Nay, my son,” said the father, “that would be hard for you; you are not accustomed to rough work, and will not be able to bear it, besides I have only one axe⁶ and no money left wherewith to buy another.” “Just go to the neighbour,” answered the son, “he will lend you his axe until I have earned one for myself.” The father then borrowed an axe of the neighbour, and next morning at break of day they went out into the forest together. The son helped his father and was quite merry and brisk about it. But when the sun was right over their heads, the father said, “We will rest, and have our dinner, and then we shall work as well again.” The son took his bread in his hands, and said, “Just you rest, father, I am not tired; I will walk up and down a little in the forest, and look for birds’ nests.” “Oh, you fool,” said the father, “why should you want to run about there? Afterwards you will be tired, and no longer able to raise your arm; stay here, and sit down beside me.” The son, however, went into the forest, ate his bread, was very merry and peered in among the green branches to see if he could discover a bird’s nest anywhere. So he went up and down to see if he could find a bird’s nest until at last he came to a great dangerous-looking oak, which certainly was already many hundred years old, and which five men could not have spanned. He stood still and looked at it, and thought, “Many a bird must have built its nest in that.” Then all at once it seemed to him that he heard a voice. He listened and became aware that someone was crying in a very

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1 toiled
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉
参考例句：
They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。 He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。

2 diligently
ad.industriously;carefully
参考例句：
He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。 He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

3 pittance
n.微薄的薪水，少量
参考例句：
Her secretaries work tirelessly for a pittance.她的秘书们为一点微薄的工资不知疲倦地工作。 The widow must live on her slender pittance.那寡妇只能靠自己微薄的收入过活。

4 accustom
vt.使适应，使习惯
参考例句：
It took him a while to accustom himself to the idea.他过了一段时间才习惯这个想法。 It'shouldn't take long to accustom your students to working in groups.你的学生应该很快就会习惯分组学习的。

5 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。

6 axe
n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减
参考例句：
Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。 The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

7 smothered
（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制
参考例句：
He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。 The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。

8 cork
n.软木，软木塞
参考例句：
We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。 Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

9 ascended
v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 mighty
adj.强有力的；巨大的
参考例句：
A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。 The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

12 wilt
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱
参考例句：
Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。 Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

13 haughtily
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地
参考例句：
She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。 Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯，走到二楼，我刚好站在那儿。

14 trifling
adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的
参考例句：
They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。 So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

15 drawn
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。 Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

16 racing
n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的
参考例句：
I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。 The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

17 hew
v.砍；伐；削
参考例句：
Hew a path through the underbrush.在灌木丛中砍出一条小路。 Plant a sapling as tall as yourself and hew it off when it is two times high of you.种一棵与自己身高一样的树苗，长到比自己高两倍时砍掉它。

18 crooked
adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的
参考例句：
He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。 You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

19 abated
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼）
参考例句：
The worker's concern about cuts in the welfare funding has not abated. 工人们对削减福利基金的关心并没有减少。 The heat has abated. 温度降低了。