THE ANGEL故事

英语自学网

　THE ANGEL故事
　　    "WHENEVER a good child dies, an angel of God comes down
　　    from heaven, takes the dead child in his arms, spreads out his
　　    great white wings, and flies with him over all the places
　　    which the child had loved during his life. Then he gathers a
　　    large handful of flowers, which he carries up to the Almighty,
　　    that they may bloom more brightly in heaven than they do on
　　    earth. And the Almighty presses the flowers to His heart, but
　　    He kisses the flower that pleases Him best, and it receives a
　　    voice, and is able to join the song of the chorus of bliss."
　　    These words were spoken by an angel of God, as he carried
　　    a dead child up to heaven, and the child listened as if in a
　　    dream. Then they passed over well-known spots, where the
　　    little one had often played, and through beautiful gardens
　　    full of lovely flowers.
　　    "Which of these shall we take with us to heaven to be
　　    transplanted there?" asked the angel.
　　    Close by grew a slender, beautiful, rose-bush, but some
　　    wicked hand had broken the stem, and the half-opened rosebuds
　　    hung faded and withered on the trailing branches.
　　    "Poor rose-bush!" said the child, "let us take it with us
　　    to heaven, that it may bloom above in God's garden."
　　    The angel took up the rose-bush; then he kissed the child,
　　    and the little one half opened his eyes. The angel gathered
　　    also some beautiful flowers, as well as a few humble
　　    buttercups and heart's-ease.
　　    "Now we have flowers enough," said the child; but the
　　    angel only nodded, he did not fly upward to heaven.
　　    It was night, and quite still in the great town. Here they
　　    remained, and the angel hovered over a small, narrow street,
　　    in which lay a large heap of straw, ashes, and sweepings from
　　    the houses of people who had removed. There lay fragments of
　　    plates, pieces of plaster, rags, old hats, and other rubbish
　　    not pleasant to see. Amidst all this confusion, the angel
　　    pointed to the pieces of a broken flower-pot, and to a lump of
　　    earth which had fallen out of it. The earth had been kept from
            
            

ensix

分页标题#e#
　　    falling to pieces by the roots of a withered field-flower,
　　    which had been thrown amongst the rubbish.
　　    "We will take this with us," said the angel, "I will tell
　　    you why as we fly along."
　　    And as they flew the angel related the history.
　　    "Down in that narrow lane, in a low cellar, lived a poor
　　    sick boy; he had been afflicted from his childhood, and even
　　    in his best days he could just manage to walk up and down the
　　    room on crutches once or twice, but no more. During some days
　　    in summer, the sunbeams would lie on the floor of the cellar
　　    for about half an hour. In this spot the poor sick boy would
　　    sit warming himself in the sunshine, and watching the red
　　    blood through his delicate fingers as he held them before his
　　    face. Then he would say he had been out, yet he knew nothing
　　    of the green forest in its spring verdure, till a neighbor's
　　    son brought him a green bough from a beech-tree. This he would
　　    place over his head, and fancy that he was in the beech-wood
　　    while the sun shone, and the birds carolled gayly. One spring
　　    day the neighbor's boy brought him some field-flowers, and
　　    among them was one to which the root still adhered. This he
　　    carefully planted in a flower-pot, and placed in a window-seat
　　    near his bed. And the flower had been planted by a fortunate
　　    hand, for it grew, put forth fresh shoots, and blossomed every
　　    year. It became a splendid flower-garden to the sick boy, and
　　    his little treasure upon earth. He watered it, and cherished
　　    it, and took care it should have the benefit of every sunbeam
　　    that found its way into the cellar, from the earliest morning
　　    ray to the evening sunset. The flower entwined itself even in
　　 his dreams- for him it bloomed, for him spread its perfume.
　　    And it gladdened his eyes, and to the flower he turned, even
　　    in death, when the Lord called him. He has been one year with
　　    God. During that time the flower has stood in the window,
　　    withered and forgotten, till at length cast out among the
　　    sweepings into the street, on the day of the lodgers' removal.
            
            

entwo

分页标题#e#
　　    And this poor flower, withered and faded as it is, we have
　　    added to our nosegay, because it gave more real joy than the
　　    most beautiful flower in the garden of a queen."
　　    "But how do you know all this?" asked the child whom the
　　    angel was carrying to heaven.
　　    "I know it," said the angel, "because I myself was the
　　    poor sick boy who walked upon crutches, and I know my own
　　    flower well."
　　    Then the child opened his eyes and looked into the
　　    glorious happy face of the angel, and at the same moment they
　　    found themselves in that heavenly home where all is happiness
　　    and joy. And God pressed the dead child to His heart, and
　　    wings were given him so that he could fly with the angel, hand
　　    in hand. Then the Almighty pressed all the flowers to His
　　    heart; but He kissed the withered field-flower, and it
　　    received a voice. Then it joined in the song of the angels,
　　    who surrounded the throne, some near, and others in a distant
　　    circle, but all equally happy. They all joined in the chorus
　　    of praise, both great and small,- the good, happy child, and
　　    the poor field-flower, that once lay withered and cast away on
　　    a heap of rubbish in a narrow, dark street.
　　    THE END