The Twelve Months

十二個月

An awful woman lived with her daughter and stepdaughter in her household. She possessed feelings of hate for her stepdaughter, Anna. Anna worked while her stepsister did nothing. On a cold January night, Anna’s stepmother remarked, “Your stepsister desires flowers. Go and find some.”

有一個可怕的女人帶著她的女兒和繼女一起生活。她討厭繼女安娜，讓她不停地工作，而她的女兒卻什么都不用做。在寒冷的1月的某個夜晚，她對安娜說道：“你妹妹想要一朵花，你出去幫她找一些來?！?br>

Anna wasn’t anxious to walk through the chilled landscape. The cold air made her lungs burn. She walked at a slow pace because of the snow. Soon she saw a group of people. It consisted of twelve men. Anna told them about the flowers.

安娜并不想走在冰天雪地中，她因為寒冷而感覺肺部在發熱。由于地上有積雪，她走得很慢。不久之后，她看到了一群人，總共有12個人。安娜把找花的事和他們說了。

One of the man said they were the twelve months and that they would help Anna. January walked to her and made a motion with his hand. The days of the month passed rapidly until it was February’s turn. February also made the month speed up. Then March made the sun shine and flowers grew in the field.

其中一個人說他們是十二個月份的化身，會幫助安娜找花。一月份走向安娜并向她作了一個手勢，瞬間一月份就過去了，轉眼間進入了二月份。同樣，二月份也做了同樣的事情。三月份把太陽召喚了出來，花兒開始在地里生長。

Anna loaded her basket with so many flowers that she could hardly lift it. Then she gave a quick but polite “thank you” to the twelve men and returned home. She was very eager to show her stepmother all the flowers. Back at the house, she spilled the flowers onto the table. Then she told her stepmother about the twelve men. Anna’s stepmother and stepsister went to seek the twelve months. Their intent was to ask for gifts. They looked and looked. They became very lost and never found their way home. Anna lived happily by herself.

安娜摘了滿滿一筐花，直到拎不動。她禮貌地對十二個人說了聲“謝謝”之后很快就回家了。她迫不及待把花拿回家給繼母看?；氐郊液?，她把花倒在桌上，并把路上的事說了一遍。安娜的繼母和妹妹聽了之后也出門去找這十二個人，但她們的意圖是想要索取禮物。她們找啊找，找啊找，直到最后迷路了，再也無法回家。安娜從此自己過上了快樂的生活。

單詞

anxious adj.焦慮的

awful adj.可怕的；極壞的

consist v.由…組成

desire v.欲望；要求

eager adj.熱切的

household n.一家人；一戶

intent n.意圖；目的

landscape n.風景；景色

lift v.舉起

load v.裝載

lung n.肺

motion n.動作；手勢

pace n.步伐

polite adj.禮貌的

possess v.控制

rapidly adv.迅速地

remark v.評論

seek v.尋求；尋找

shine v.照亮

spill v.溢出，流出