一篇篇流传千年的传统故事，有如一朵朵盛开的奇葩，凝结古人智慧，魅力无穷。

捏土造人的女娲、开弓射日的后羿、身老志坚的愚公、代父从军的木兰、英勇救母的沉香、千里寻夫的孟姜女、迁居断杼的孟母、缺乏团结的三个和尚……

他们就像万花筒里倏忽闪现的缤纷图景，在孩童稚嫩的心灵上留下一片瑰丽与神奇。

中英双语《中国传统故事美绘本》精选了中国多个传统故事，根据流传的原貌提炼加工后编写而成。

开启孩子们的心灵，就是开启智慧的宝盒。小小孩童长大成人时，也许还会记起这些故事带给自己的生命智慧和生活哲理。

今天给大家讲述的是中英双语传统故事《愚公移山》，精美的绘图、生动活泼的文字、地道流畅的英文、引人入胜的故事，看身老志坚的愚公如何“移山”。

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在很久很久以前，中国的北方有两座大山。一座叫太行山，另一座叫王屋山。在两座山的北面，住着一家人。他们世世代代都住在那里，也不知道住了多少年了。

Long, long ago there were two mountains in northern China. One was Taihang Mountain; the other was Wangwu Mountain. In the north of the two mountains, there was a big family. They had lived there for many generations, but no one knew for sure how long.


 
家里的老爷爷名叫愚公。他白发银须，已经快90岁了。由于门前就是这两座顶天立地的大山，他和家里人每次出门时，都要绕很大的圈子，才能到南边的城镇去。

The grandpa in the family was called Yugong (literally, a foolish or stubborn old man). He was nearly 90 years old, with white hair and a silver beard. Because the two mountains were located in front of their house, whenever they went out, he and his family had to make a big detour to get to the town on the southern side.



终于有一天，老爷爷想：“这样出门太不方便了！我自己岁数大了，可我还有我的孩子们，不能让我家人祖祖辈辈都被这两座大山隔在繁华世界的外面呀！我们要对子孙后代负责，让他们能够走到山外，认识世界，增长见识！”

Eventually, one day Yugong thought, “It’s so tiring and inconvenient to go out like this! I’m an old man now, but I have children. For them and their children and their children’s children the road to the outside world cannot be blocked that way by the two mountains. We should take responsibility for our offspring; let them have a chance to go out, to know the world and enrich their experience!”



于是，他把全家人都召集起来，郑重其事地对大家说：“我准备和你们一起，哪怕花费一生的精力，也要把太行和王屋这两座大山搬走，开出一条通向外面世界的大道！你们说好吗？”

Therefore, he called everyone together and said seriously, “I’m going to work with all of you together, even if it takes all the energies of our lifetime, to remove the two mountains and build a new road to the outside world! Do you agree with me?”

愚公的几个儿子马上拍手赞成，他们觉得父亲的话是说到他们心里去了，“好呀！都怪这两座大山，让我们没法见识外面繁华的世界，我们早想挪走它们了！我们不能再这样生活下去了！”

Yugong’s sons applauded him enthusiastically. They felt that their father’s words expressed what had been in their minds for a long time. “It’s great! It’s the fault of the two mountains that we cannot see the outside world. We wanted to remove them long ago! We are fed up with this kind of life!”

虽然孩子们一致同意，但是愚公的老伴还有些犹豫。老奶奶面色凝重地站起身来，提出了自己的疑问。

Although the children all agreed, Yugong’s wife remained a bit hesitant. The granny stood up with a worried look and raised her question.



她说：“这可是个大工程啊！我们都是平凡的老百姓，全家老小加起来才十几口人，恐怕连一座小山头也移不走呀，又怎能把不知有几千万斤重的太行、王屋两座大山挪走呢？再说，铲平大山，会挖出许多石头和泥土。我们要把这些石头和泥土搬到哪里去呢？”

“It’s really a big project! We are all ordinary people; the whole family, young and old, has just a dozen members in total. I’m afraid we could not remove even a small hilltop let alone two huge mountains. Besides, if we scoop out a lot of rocks and earth to level the two mountains, where will we put it all?”

老奶奶的一番话把大家问住了，刚才还在吵嚷着大干一番的儿子们也安静了下来。的确，老奶奶的话很有道理。

Everybody was stumped by the granny’s question. The sons, who had been raring to go a moment before, quickly calmed down. Indeed, what granny said was quite true.

不过，愚公听了并没有气馁，他语重心长地说：“我们做事情，一要有决心，二要有恒心，两者具备则万事皆可。这山虽大，可我们挖它一寸，它就少一寸，挖它一尺，它就少一尺。我们一齐上阵还有挖不平的那一天吗？还有，咱们国家幅员辽阔，那些挖出来的石头和泥土，还愁找不到合适的地方放吗？”

However, hearing her words, Yugong did not lose heart. He said earnestly, “When we decide to do something, we need to have determination and perseverance. If we have both, nothing is impossible. Although a mountain is huge, if we scoop out one inch, it will be one inch smaller; if we scoop out one foot, it will stand one foot shorter. If all of us work together, the two mountains will be leveled eventually. In addition, the territory of the country is vast. Why do we have to worry about locating a place for the rocks and earth excavated from the two mountains?”




To be continued.