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LESSON 1
1. It is told of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, that, as he was seated one day in his private room, a written petition
was brought to him with the request that it should be immediately read. The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other cause, had so dazzled his eyes that he found it difficult to make out a single word of the writing.
2. His private secretary happened to be absent; and the soldier who brought the petition could not read. There was a page, or favorite boy servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King called. The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to be a very poor reader.
3. In the first place, he did not articulat
distinctly. He huddled his words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible. His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate
his voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read. Every sentence was uttered with a dismal monotony
of voice, as if it did not differ in any respect from that which preceded it.
4. “Stop!” said the King, impatiently. “Is it an auctioneer’s list of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? Send your companion to me.” Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to him the King gave the petition. The second page began by hemming and clearing his throat in such an affected
manner that the King jokingly asked him whether he had not slept in the public garden, with the gate open, the night before.
5. The second page had a good share of self-conceit, however, and so was not greatly confused by the King’s jest. He determined that he would avoid the mistake which his comrade had made. So he commenced reading the petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing every word, and prolonging the articulation of every syllable. But his manner was so tedious that the King cried out, “Stop! are you reciting a lesson in the elementary sounds? Out of the room! But no: stay! Send me that little girl who is sitting there by the fountain.”
6. The girl thus pointed out by the King was a daughter of one of the laborers remployedbytheroyalgardener;andshehadhelpherfatherweedtheflowetocome of the poor people in she had received a good beds.chancedthat,likePrussia,Itmanyeducation. She was some whatalarmedwhenshefoundherselfintheKing’spresence,but took courage when the King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were weak.
7. Now, Ernestine (for this was the name of the little girl) was fond of reading aloud, and often many of the neighbors would assemble at her father’s house to hear her; those who could not read themselves would come to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or children, and she thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and well.
8. The King gave her the petition, and she rapidly glanced through the opening lines to get some idea of what it was about. As she read, her eyes began to glisten, and her breast to heave. “What is the matter?” asked the King; “don’t you know how to read?” “Oh, yes! sire,” she replied, addressing him with the title usually applied to him: “I will now read it, if you please.”
9. The two pages wore about to leave the room. “Remain,” said the King. The little girlbeganreadthepetition.widow,whoseonlyhadbeenfromIttowasapoorson serve in the his healt delicate and hi had been drafted
althoughhpursuitstoarm,wassy such as to unfit him for miy.s father had been killed in batt,de son hadlitar life Hi an thle
a strong desire to become a portrait painter.
10. The writer told her story in a simple, concise
manner, that carried to the heart a feeling, and with an articulation so beliefitstruth;andErnestinereaditwithmuchofso just, in tones so pure and distinct, that when she had ,e,oesfinished th King int whos eye what it i but I thehadstarted,exclaimed,“Oh!understandallabout;mightItearsnowsnever have known, certainly I never should have felt, its meaning had I trusted to these to gentlemen,whomdismissserviceadvisingthemfromforIoneyear,youngnowmy in learning to read.” theirtimeoccupy
11. “As for you, my young lady,” continued the King, “I know you will ask no better reward for your trouble than the pleasure of carrying to this poor widow my order for her son’s immediate discharge
. Let me see whether you can write as well as you can read. Take this pen, and write as I dictate
.” He then dictated an order, which Ernestine wrote, and he signed. Calling one of his guards, he bade him go with the girl and see that the order was obeyed.
12. How much happiness was Ernestine the means of bestowing through her good elocution, united to the happy circumstance that brought it to the knowledge of the King! First, there were her poor neighbors, to whom she could give instruction and entertainment. Then, there was the poor widow who sent the petition, and who not only regained her son, but received through Ernestine an order for him to paint the King’s likeness; so that the poor boy soon rose to great distinction
, and had more orders than he could attend to. Words could not express
his gratitude, and that of his mother, to the little girl.
13. And Ernestine had, moreover, the satisfaction of aiding her father to rise in the world,thathebecametheKing’schiefgardener.TheKingdidher,butforgetnotsohad her well educated at his o two she wa the theindirectlyforAsexpense.pages,wnsmeans of doing them good, also; of their b the ashamedadreading,commencedfor,y the faults that had offe Both finally rose studying to intilltheyndedtheKing.earnest,overcame one lawyer, and the other as a statesman; an distinction,dtheyowedtheirasa advancement in life chieflyord. thei goo elocution t
NOTES.—Frederick II. of Prussia (b. 1712, d. 1788), or Frederick the Great, as he was called, was one of the greatest of German rulers. He was distinguished for his military exploits, for his wise and just government, and for his literary attainments. He wrote many able works in the French language. Many pleasant anecdotes are told of this king, of which the one given in the lesson is a fair sample.
【中文阅读】
1 ．传说，一天，普鲁士国王弗里德里希大帝坐在屋里，他的卫兵给他送来一份书面请愿书。书中注明，请求国王即刻阅读。当时，国王刚刚结束打猎回宫，因为阳光刺眼，或某些其他原因，他头昏眼花，一个字也很难看清。
2 ．国王的私人秘书碰巧不在宫内，送来请愿书的卫兵也不识字。当时有位男侍，或者不如说一位乖巧侍童正在大厅当班伺候，国王吩咐他过来。那位侍童是宫廷某位贵族的儿子，可随后证实，他的阅读能力相当糟糕。
3 ．一上来，那位侍童发音就不够清晰，那些词语在他嘴里居然咕囔成串，杂乱无章地快速蹦出。听起来，有的词语音节应该很长，可他似乎总是急不可耐地含糊读完。他的发音很糟，无法表现文字的准确含义。与此同时，他所表述的所有话语无不沉闷呆板，毫无抑扬顿挫之感或音调变化，似乎词语间不存在任何差异。
4 ．“停下！”国王不耐心地说，“莫非你是公开清单、急于拍卖物品的拍卖师，那么草草念完？把你的同伴叫来！”很快，大厅门口守候的另一位侍童来到国王身边，国王将请愿书交给了他。那侍童装模作样地清了清嗓子，国王诙谐地问他，是不是他昨晚没在公园里过夜，但睡觉时门却整晚没关。
5 ．第二位侍童颇为自负，对国王的俏皮话，似乎不太在意。他有心避免前面那位同伴的类似失误，开始朗读起来。他的语速迟缓，太过一本正经，所有词语无不辅以重音，逐个音节拉长拼读，他的朗读那么乏味造作，国王不禁大声呵斥，“停下！你难道是小学生背诵课文？滚出去！不，站好！先把坐在喷泉那边的小姑娘给我叫过来！”
6 ．国王点名的那位姑娘是宫廷花师所雇佣人的女儿，那天，她过来帮着父亲给宫廷花圃除草。像普鲁士不少穷人那样，她碰巧接受过良好的教育。听到国王召见自己，她多少有点心存警觉。国王告诉她，由于他眼睛无法阅读，只是让她代劳，她才稍稍鼓起了勇气。
7 ．欧内斯廷（小姑娘名字）喜欢高声朗读，不少邻居经常聚集在她家门口听她读书。那些不识字的人亦总乐意找她，他们带来远方朋友或孩子的来信。因此，她便具有阅读不同手写文体、并能迅速准确朗读的能力。
8 ．国王将请愿书递给她，她快速地浏览了开篇数行，从而获悉文章的大体印象。她读了不一会儿，眼神炯炯有光，呼吸急速。“怎么回事？”国王问道，“难道你不会读？”“不！陛下，”她以国王的尊称回答，“如果你乐意的话，我会继续。”
9 ．两位侍童正准备离开，“站着，别动！”国王下令，姑娘又接着往下读。这份请愿书说的是一位贫苦寡妇的遭遇，她唯一的儿子被抓到军队服兵役，虽然他身虚体弱，志向亦不在行伍。男孩父亲已在一次战役中身亡，那少年还有个梦 寐以求的愿望，想成为一名肖像画家。
10 ．请愿书作者以质朴简洁的语言，叙述那位寡妇的悲惨遭遇，文章的真情实感让人动容。欧内斯廷满怀深情地读着，她的语言清晰，音调纯正，抑扬顿挫。读完后，国王眼里充满了泪水，他高声叫道：“天呀！我现在才知道怎么回事，假如听信那些年轻贵族的话，我将压根无从了解，准确地说，从来不会感受到这种请愿书的深刻涵义。现在，我要将那些家伙解职一年，让他们好好学习一下如何阅读。”
11 ．“至于你，我的孩子，”国王接着说，“相信你会高兴地带上我的手令，立刻解除那可怜寡妇孩子的兵役，我想，假若给你其他任何报酬，亦不会比这更开心吧。我要看看，你是否也能准确书写，像你的阅读那样棒。拿这支笔，写下我口授的话。”他接着口授了一份命令，欧内斯廷记录完毕，国王随后签上自己名字。然后他又吩咐一个卫兵过来，安排他与姑娘一同前去执行他的命令。
12 ．通过感情真挚的阅读，获取这种特殊赠与，欧内斯廷简直快乐极了！国王获悉了民情，内心产生共鸣，并最终授于树内。起初，那些贫困邻居们从姑娘那里找到安慰，随后，送出请愿书的那位寡妇不仅能与儿子重新一起生活，还接受了欧内斯廷带来的国王旨意，安排她的儿子前去宫廷为国王画像。不久，那位贫苦人家孩子便迅速得以擢升，并获得更多的发展机会。千言万语无法表达那位少年还有他的寡母对小姑娘欧内斯廷的深深感激之情。
13 ．不仅如此，欧内斯廷的父亲后来成为国王的首席园艺师，在世界园林界赢得了声誉，这一点，让欧内斯廷非常自豪。国王并没有忘记这个小姑娘，花钱让她受到最好的教育。至于那两位侍童，她亦间接帮助了他们。由于对自己阅读能力深感羞愧，他们急切想重新获得学习机会。两人通过读书最终弥补了阅读能力的不足，随后皆获取了提升机会，一位做了律师，还有一位成了政治家，他们把生命升华归功于极有裨益的开卷阅读。