The Old Man Who Plant Oak

李姝

A young traveler was exploring the Alps. He came upon a vast stretch of barren1 land. It was desolate2. It was the kind of place you hurry away from.

Then， suddenly， the young traveler stopped dead in his tracks. In the middle of this vast wasteland was a bent-over old man. On his back was a sack of acorn3. In his hand was a four-foot length of iron pipe.

The old man was using the iron pipe to punch4 holes in the ground. Then from the sack he would take an acorn and put it in the hole. Later the old man told the traveler， “Ive planted 100，000 acorns. Perhaps only tenth of them will grow.” The old mans wife and son had died， and this was how he chose to spend his final years. “I want to do something useful，” he said.

Twenty-five years later the now-not-as-young traveler returned to the same place. What he saw amazed5 him. He could not believe his own eyes. The land was covered with a beautiful forest with two miles wide and five miles long. Birds were singing， animals were playing， and wild flowers perfumed the air.

The traveler stood there recalling6 the desolation that once was； a beautiful oak forest stood there now—all because someone cared.

一個年輕的旅行者在阿爾卑斯山探險。他來到一塊一望無際的不毛之地，那里荒無人煙，那是一種讓人急欲離開的地方。

后來，年輕的旅行者突然停住了腳步。只見遼闊的荒地中央一位老人正在彎腰播種。他背著一大袋橡子，手里拿著一根4英尺長的鐵管。

老人用那根鐵管在地上打洞，然后從袋子里掏出一顆橡子，放進洞里。后來，老人告訴那個旅行者：“我已經(jīng)種了10萬顆橡子，大概只有十分之一的橡子能夠成長。”老人的妻兒都已經(jīng)死去，而這就是他選擇度過晚年的一種方式?！拔蚁胱鲆恍┯幸饬x的事兒。”他說。

25年后，那個已不再年輕的旅行者故地重游，而眼前的情景卻讓他驚嘆不已。他無法相信自己的眼睛。那塊土地覆蓋上了5英里長、2英里寬的美麗森林。那里，小鳥歌唱，動物嬉戲，野花飄香。

旅行者站在那里，回憶著它以前的荒涼。一片美麗的橡樹林現(xiàn)在之所以聳立在那里，都是因為某個人的關心??！

1. barren [?b?r?n] adj. 貧瘠的

2. desolate [?des?l?t] adj. 無人的；荒涼的

3. acorn [?e?k??n] n. 橡子

4. punch [p?nt?] vt. 打孔；用拳猛擊

5. amaze [??me?z] vt. 使吃驚

6. recall [r??k??l] vt. 使想起，回想endprint