Alice in Wonderland

Chapter 2

    Alice was not hurt, so she jumped to her feet in a moment. She looked up, and found the White Rabbit was still in sight. She was close behind it when she turned the comer, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen. She found herself in a long, low hall.

    There were doors all around the hall, but they were all locked.

    Alice walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

    Suddenly, she came upon a little three-legged table. There was nothing on it but a tiny golden key, and Alice's first idea was that this might belong to one of the doors of the hall.

    But, alas! Either the locks were too large, or the key was too small. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before and behind it was a little door.

    She tried the little golden key in the lock, and she was pleased to find it fitted!

    Once upon a time, there was a tree which wanted to become a treasure box. One day, a farmer cut it down and sold it to a carpenter(木匠). The tree was happy because he thought the carpenter would make it into a treasure box.

    To its surprise, the carpenter made it into a feed box for animals. The tree felt very disappointed because that was not its dream. Several years later, the feed box was thrown away. Someone picked it up and placed it into an old temple. The tree forgot its dream little by little.

    One day, a couple came to the temple. The woman gave birth to a baby boy. There wasn't a bed in the temple. So they placed the baby in the feed box. They loved him and regarded him as their treasure. The tree suddenly realized that it became a real "treasure box" at that time.

    Sometimes you may think your dream will not come true. Don't forget your dream. It may be realized in another new way.

    Mr Scott talked about colours all the time. "What a honey—yellow morning it is!" he said to his wife. His wife planted fruit and vegetables in their garden, but Mr Scott was more interested in the leafy plants, the bushes, and even the grass that grew in the garden. "So many kinds of green," he said to her after watering all the plants. "I counted at least twenty shades of green!"

    "Well done, dear," Mrs Scott said. " Now would you please count twenty dollars and go to the supermarket for some ingredients(配料)? I want to make lunch! "

    With a smile on his face, Mr Scott left at once. He enjoyed trips to the supermarket because of all the colourful cans and boxes in it. Fruit and vegetables, too, shone in their bright skins. There was never just one colour: carrots were orange, but also had bits of yellow and brown in them. Bananas were yellow and black; apples hid oranges and purples inside their reds. Mr Scott would walk through the supermarket and enjoy all the colours around him.

    "I wish there was a store full of colours that I could spend all my time in," he sighed.

    He bought everything on his wife's list and came home. When he walked into the house, Mrs Scott noticed the sad look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "It looks life you had fun at the store. I can see that you picked out the best things."

    "I did have fun in the store. So much that I wish I could have spent more time there. It's so full of colours!" Mr Scott said.

"I see," Mrs Scott said. "Well, cheer up, because I'm going to cook a nice lunch for us!"

    The next day Mr Scott was on his usual morning walk through the neighbourhood, saying hello to everyone, enjoying the colours of the trees and flowers. It was another day of colours!

    "Good morning, Mr Brown," he called out to one of his neighbours. He liked Mr Brown very much, because, well, you guessed it: his name was a colour!

    "Mr Scott! Just the person I wanted to see!" Mr Brown replied. "My wife and I are moving out of this town, and I need someone to take over my shop. You are the perfect person for the job because it's a paint shop! I need someone who knows its colours. Would you be interested?"

    Mr Scott was mad with excitement. "I will take it over right away!"

    Mr Brown was relieved when he left town, because he knew his paint shop was in good hands. Sure enough, Mr Scott kept the paint shop open for twenty more years and got to talk about colours all day, every day.

    There was a man who had a big garden. He planted many fruit trees. Now he wanted to pick up the fruits and sell them to make money for his family.

    One day, when he picked fruits with his son, he saw a stranger sitting in a tree and picking the fruits. He shouted," "What are you doing in my tree? For a whole year I have taken care of these trees. You have no right to take the fruits, so come down at once!"

    The stranger in the tree answered, "This is the garden of God and I am the servant(佣人) of God, so I have the right to pick these fruits. "

    The gardener was very surprised at this answer. He called his son and said," Go to bring a rope(绳子) and get this man down from the tree," His son brought the rope and the gardener asked him to tie(绑) the stranger in the tree. The stranger began to shout, "You have no right to do this."

    The gardener answered, "This is the rope of God and I am also the servant of God, so I have the right to tie you." The stranger thought for a while and then said, "I am sorry for taking the fruits. This is your garden and I shouldn't pick the fruits. Please set me free."

    The gardener smiled and said," Since you have realized your mistake, I will set you free, but remember that God has given all his servants rights and every person's right is in his own hands."

    Li Ming is staying with the Wang's family for the weekend.

    Today it is warm and fine. The family are having dinner in the garden. They often have dinner in the garden on a warm and fine spring day. Now Mr. and Mrs. Wang are sitting at table with Li Ming under a tree.

    "It's great to have dinner out here on such a lovely day," Mrs. Wang says. "What's the weather like in your home town, Li Ming?" Mr. Wang asks. "It's not very warm in spring. But I like the spring there best." "Help yourself to some cakes, Li Ming," Mrs. Wang says. "Thanks," says Li Ming. "The cakes are very nice. I enjoy the dinner very much. "