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美国故事 SENEWS-2007-1222-FEATURE

时间:2008-04-09 01:59:05

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Now VOA Special English presents a special program for the holiday season.

Our story today is a special one for Christmas. It is ''Why the Chimes Rang''. It was written by Raymond MacDonald Alden. Here is Shep O'Neal with our story.

In a faraway country where few people have ever traveled, there was once a wonderful church. It stood on a high hill in a great city. Every Sunday and on holidays like Christmas, thousands of people climbed the hill to the church. The main room of the church was so long that if you stood at one end, you almost could not see the other end. In the farthest corner was an organ. This organ could play music very loud. Sometimes when the organ is played, people from miles around would close their windows and prepare for a thunderstorm1. No such church as this was ever seen before. It was especially wonderful when it was lighted with burning candles for a holiday and filled with young and old people.

But the most wonderful and most unusual thing about the huge church was the sound of its bells. Connected to the church was a huge stone tower. Everyone who built the church had been dead for hundreds of years. No one could remember how high the tower reached. It rose so far into the sky that no one could see the top, except when the weather was very clear. Even then a person could not be sure that the top was in sight. All the people knew that at the top of the tower was a group of bells, Christmas bells. They had hung there ever since the church had been built. Their sound was very special. Some thought their sound was so special, because a great musician had made them and put them in place; others said it was because of their great height. They said the air was so clear and pure high up where the bells rang. Everyone who had heard the bells said their sound was the sweetest in the world. Some said they sounded like the singing of God's angles2; others said they sounded like wind singing through the trees.

But the sad fact was that no one had heard them for years and years. There was an old man living not far from the church who said that his mother had told him of hearing the bells when she was a little girl. But he was the only one who knew even that much. The bells were Christmas bells. They were not meant to be played by the organist, nor were they meant to be heard on common days.

It was the custom on the night before Christmas, Christmas Eve, for all the people to bring their gifts to the Baby Jesus to the church. When the greatest and best gift was given, the music of the Christmas bells would be heard. It came from far up in the tower. Some said the wind rang the bells, others said God's angels3 set the bells moving. But for many long years, the bells did not ring. Some said that people were less careful of their gifts for the Baby Jesus, others said that no gift was great enough to earn the music of the bells. Every Christmas Eve, rich people tried to give better gifts than anyone else, yet the rich people did not give anything they wanted for themselves. Each year there were many gifts, each year the religious4 service was good, but the bells in the stone tower did not ring.

Far away from the city in a country village lived a boy named Pedro and his younger brother. They knew very little about the Christmas bells, but they had heard about the religious service in the church on Christmas Eve. They made a secret plan that they often discussed--they would travel to see the beautiful service. Pedro would say, "Nobody can guess, Little Brother, all the good things there are to hear and see. I have even heard it said the Baby Jesus comes to bless the service. Would if not be wonderful if we could see him?”

The day before Christmas was very cold, there was snow in the air, the ground was hard and white with ice. Pedro and Little Brother slipped5 quietly away in the early afternoon. Walking was very hard in the icy6 air. But before night they had walked far enough to see light from the big city ahead of them.

They were about to enter the city when they saw something dark in the snow near their path. They stepped aside to look at it. It was a poor woman who had fallen just outside the city. She was too sick and too tired to keep going. The soft snow made a kind of bed for her. Soon she would be so sound asleep that no one would ever wake her again. Pedro knelt7 beside her and tried to wake her. He pulled her arm a little as though he would try to carry her. He turned her face toward8 him so that he could rub9 the snow on it. Then he looked at her silently10.

"It is no use, Little Brother, " he said. "You will have to go on alone. "

"Alone? " said Little Brother. "And you will not see the Christmas service? "

"No", said Pedro. He could not hold back a sad sound in his throat. "See this poor woman. Her face looks like the face of the mother of Jesus in the church window. She will freeze to death if nobody cares for her. Everyone has gone to church. But when you come back you can bring someone to help her. I will rub her to keep her from freezing and maybe I can get her to eat the bread that is in my pocket. "

"I cannot leave you and go on alone. " said Little Brother.

"Both of us need not miss the service." said Pedro. "You can find your way to the church. You must see and hear everything twice, Little Brother. Once for you and once for me. I am sure the Baby Jesus must know how I should love to come with you and pray to him and if you get a chance, Little Brother, give the Baby Jesus this small silver coin I brought. Give it when no one is looking and do not get in anyone's way. Remember where you left me. "

In this way, Pedro hurried Little Brother to the city. He closed his eyes to keep back tears as he heard his brother's footsteps11 moving further and further away. It was so hard to miss the music and the beauty of the Christmas service. Instead, he was here in the cold and snow.

The great church was beautiful that night. Everyone said it had never looked so bright and beautiful. When the organ played and the thousands of people sang, the walls shook with the sound. Young Pedro, outside the city wall, felt the earth shake around him. At the end of the service came the moment to bring gifts to the Baby Jesus. Rich men, important men gave their gifts. Some brought jewels. A great writer gave a book he had been writing for years and years. Last of all, came the king of the country. He was hoping as everyone hoped to win for himself the music of the bells. People in the seats spoke12 quietly to each other as they saw the king take his jewel hat from his head and offered it as his gift.

"Surely," everyone said, "we shall hear the bells now. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

But all they heard was the cold wind in the tower. The people shook their heads. Some of them said as they had said before that they never really believed to the story of the bells. They said they did not believe the bells ever rang at all.

The giving of gifts was over and the singers began the closing song. Suddenly the man playing the organ stopped playing as if he had been shocked. Everyone looked at the old priest13. He was standing14 at the front of the church holding up his hand for silence.

Not a sound could be heard from anyone in the church. But as all the people listened, there came softly15 but clearly through the air, the sound of the bells in the tower. The music was so far away and yet so clear. It was much sweeter than anything that had ever been heard before. The music seemed to rise and fall in the sky.

People in the church sat still as though something held their shoulders. Then they stood up together. They looked at the front of the church to see what great gift had caused the bells to ring. All that those in front saw was a child. Little Brother had moved silently to the front of church when no one was looking. He had given the Baby Jesus Pedro's small piece of silver.

 


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1 thunderstorm 1olwB     
n.雷雨;雷暴
参考例句:
  • Thunderstorm is common in summer.雷电交加的暴风雨在夏天很常见。
  • The thunderstorm will perhaps settle the weather.大雷雨可能使天气稳定下来。
2 angles 9bd139e0f52be4a748903ff60b5d3985     
n.角( angle的名词复数 );[比喻](考虑、问题的)角度;观点;轮廓鲜明的突出体
参考例句:
  • She angles her reports to suit the people she is speaking to. 她带着一定的倾向性作报告以迎合她的听众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Angles of less than 90 degrees are called acute angles. 小于90度的角叫锐角。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 angels 82a7c395a86348dd4bfd11bb05b71cbf     
n.天使( angel的名词复数 );可爱的人;品行高洁的人;大好人(感激某人时所说)(非正式)
参考例句:
  • Angels are usually shown in pictures dressed in white. 图画中的天使通常身穿白衣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Angels are celestial beings. 天使是天上的神灵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 religious RVsxb     
adj.宗教性的,虔诚的,宗教上的;n.修道士,出家人
参考例句:
  • She is very religious person who goes to church every Sunday.她十分虔诚,每个星期天都上教堂。
  • It is hard for me to reject religious beliefs.要我抛弃自己的宗教信仰是困难的。
5 slipped 4c5c6d788245d18d7f659f5aeaa435f3     
adj.打滑,打滑的v.滑( slip的过去式和过去分词 );滑脱;下降;(健康状况等)变差
参考例句:
  • She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤,摔得鼻青脸肿。
  • The climber slipped and dropped to his death. 攀登者一失足掉下去摔死了。
6 icy HbdxE     
adj.寒冷的;冰冷的
参考例句:
  • Father will not chance driving on the icy roads.父亲不愿意冒险在结冰的道路上开车。
  • She fixed her questioner with an icy glare.她冷冷地盯着审问者。
7 knelt knelt     
v.跪( kneel的过去式和过去分词 );(kneel的过去式与过去分词)
参考例句:
  • They knelt down and prayed. 他们跪下来祷告。
  • She knelt in supplication. 她跪地祷求。
8 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
9 rub LXWxN     
n.摩擦,困难,障碍,难点,磨损处;vt.擦,搓,摩擦,惹怒;vi.摩擦,擦破
参考例句:
  • Don't let the wire rub up against the pipe.别让电线碰到管子上。
  • He used to rub up against many famous movie stars.他过去经常偶然碰到许多有名的影星。
10 silently 6iDz4H     
adv.沉默地,无声地
参考例句:
  • She sat in the car,silently fuming at the traffic jam.她坐在汽车里,心中对交通堵塞感到十分恼火。
  • He didn't shout,he just glared at me silently.他没有喊叫,只是默默地怒视着我。
11 footsteps 6508b080b068283fa9f93b103a1b4406     
n.脚步(声),一步的距离,足迹;脚步(声)( footstep的名词复数 );一步的距离;足迹
参考例句:
  • the sound of footsteps on the stairs 楼梯上的脚步声
  • Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。
12 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
13 priest D1JzH     
n.神父,牧师,司铎,司祭,领导者,神甫;vt.使成为神职人员
参考例句:
  • He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
  • The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。
14 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
15 softly HiIzR4     
adv.柔和地,静静地,温柔地
参考例句:
  • He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻,她听不见。
  • She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

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