25　THE STORY OF A LEAF
叶子的故事

I

I am a leaf. My home is in a great tree. All winter I was wrapped close and warm in a blanket. I was in a little brown cradle rocked by the breeze.

Would you like to see a leaf cradle? Next autumn break off a branch of a tree, and see if you cannot find a leaf bud.

Break it open and you will see in it some soft white down. That is the blanket. The little leaf is wrapped warm and close in it. The brown shell that you break is the cradle.

I was rocked all winter in my cradle on the bough. Then spring came with its warm sunshine and soft rains.

I threw off my blanket, got up out of my cradle, and put on my pretty green dress. I was no longer a baby leaf.

II

Then I wanted food. How do you think I got it? The roots of the tree found some for me. The stems and branches and boughs brought it up to me. Some of my food I get for myself from the air. I have many mouths. They are so little that you cannot see them. But I could not do without them. Could you do without your one big mouth? I take in food through my little mouths, and I breathe through them, too. Like you, I must breathe as well as eat if I am to live and grow.

I had on my pretty green dress all summer. Now it is autumn, and Jack Frost has dressed me in other colors. I shall not wear these colors very long.

I must go down to the ground and put on my brown winter dress. My work up here will be ended, but I shall have work to do down there.

Did you think that all I had to do was to dance in the wind and play in the sunshine? I work all the year round. See if you can find out some of the work that I do.

一

我是一片叶子，我的家在高高的大树上。整个冬季我都紧紧裹着厚毯子，睡在一个棕褐色的摇篮里，微风轻轻摇晃着我。

想看看叶子的摇篮吗？等到秋天的时候你可以折下一根树枝，看看能不能在上面找到叶芽。

切开叶芽你会发现里边有白色的绒毛，那就是毯子。小叶子在她紧紧的包裹之下觉得很温暖，而棕褐色的外壳就是摇篮。

整个冬天我都睡在树枝上的摇篮里。春天来了，撒下和煦的日光和轻柔的雨水。

于是我丢开毯子，钻到摇篮外边，穿上美丽的绿色外套。我再也不是个小婴儿了。

二

现在我想找些吃的。你觉得我该怎么办？

树根会找到一些食物，树干和枝丫把它们带来给我。我还可以从空气中得到食物。

我有很多张嘴，它们很小，你看不见，但我不能没有这些小嘴。你可以没有自己的那张大嘴吗？

我用小嘴吃东西，再把它们呼出去。和你一样，如果我要长大就得呼吸和吃东西。

整个夏天我都穿着漂亮的绿衣服。到了秋天，冰霜先生会给我换上一套颜色不同的衣服，不过我穿的时间不太长。

因为我得落到地上，换上褐色的冬服。我在树上的生活结束了，但地面的工作还没完成。

你是不是认为我的工作就是在风中跳舞、在阳光下玩耍？其实我每天都在工作。你来想一想，我的工作究竟是什么呢？