儿童故事集：幸运的章鱼-The Lucky Octopus

Ollie the octopus¹ only had seven legs.

“The last one will grow,” the ocean doctor said the day Ollie was born.

 

“But when?” asked Ollie’s mother. She was very sad.

 

“When Ollie turns eight years old,” the doctor said.

 

For seven years, Ollie’s brothers and sisters teased² her about her missing³ leg. She was the youngest octopus in the family. Her sister Olivia was the oldest.

 

“Ollie only has seven legs because she isn’t part of our real family,” Olivia told the other sea creatures one day.

 

It was a lie, but everyone believed Olivia because she was the oldest.

 

When the other sea creatures played games like tag⁴ and hide and go seek, Ollie’s brother Oscar wouldn’t let Ollie play.

 

“You can’t catch a fish with only seven legs,” Oscar said. “Go and find a friend that has an extra leg to play with.”

 

Ollie searched around the ocean, but there weren’t any kind sea creatures to play with. She was very lonely.

 

One day Ollie’s brother Orlando saw Ollie playing by herself in the seaweed. He was very happy.

 

“Guess what I found today, Ollie!” Orlando said. “A treasure chest⁵. It is from a ship and it is full of beautiful jewels.”

 

“Can I see it?” Ollie asked. “I have always dreamed of seeing a treasure chest.”

 

“I’m not showing it to anyone!” Orlando said. “Especially not a tiny octopus with only seven legs.”

 

Ollie went home and told her mother that she was sad. “Everyone treats me differently because I only have seven legs,” she said.

 

“Don’t worry,” her mother said. “Tomorrow is your eighth birthday and you will finally grow another leg! Then you will never be lonely.”

 

That night Ollie dreamed that she grew another leg. Everyone celebrated⁶ and ate delicious food. She was so happy. But the next day, when Ollie woke up and counted her legs, there were still only seven.

 

Ollie hid in the seaweed patch⁷ and cried. She was so sad. Suddenly a sea fairy appeared. It was the tiniest creature Ollie had ever seen.

 

“You are the lucky octopus I have been waiting for,” the sea fairy said.

 

“I am?” Ollie said.

 

“Yes. Only the luckiest octopus gets to make three wishes.”

 

Ollie knew exactly what to wish for.

 

“First I wish that Olivia was honest,” Ollie said.

 

“Your wish is granted⁸. Now you have two more wishes,” the fairy said.

 

“Second I wish that Oscar was kind.”

 

“And now he is,” the fairy said. “And what is your last wish?”

 

“Lastly, I wish that Orlando was fair,” Ollie said.

 

Before the tiny sea fairy disappeared, she told Ollie that she was the kindest octopus in the whole sea. “I wish that all of your birthday dreams come true,” the sea fairy said before she swam away.

 

When Ollie got home her family was waiting for her. “Surprise!” they said all at once.

 

“I bought you a present,” Oscar said. “It’s a beautiful pearl⁹ necklace!”

 

“Thank you,” Ollie said. “You are very kind.”

 

“I baked a delicious cake for you,” Orlando said. “And I invited all of the sea creatures to share it with us.”

 

“You are very fair,” Ollie said. “Thank you for sharing.”

 

“I’m very sorry, I don’t have a present for you,” Olivia said. “I forgot it was your birthday.”

 

“That’s okay,” Ollie said. “You are very honest. Thank you.”

 

Ollie’s mother swam over to her daughter with a red birthday balloon.

 

“I’m so happy for you, Ollie,” she said.

 

“Why Mother?”

 

“Look, you’ve finally grown your eighth leg!” Ollie’s mother tied the balloon to her daughter’s new leg.

 

It was the happiest day of Ollie’s life.

1 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

2 teased   

v.取笑，戏弄( tease的过去式和过去分词 )；梳理（羊毛等）

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws. 他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt annoyance at being teased. 我恼恨别人取笑我。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

4 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。

5 chest   

n.胸，大箱子，金库，资金，一箱，密封室，衣橱

参考例句：

• The bear's chest is hairy.那只熊的胸部毛茸茸的。
• Mother has a pain in her chest.母亲胸口疼.。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 patch   

n.补丁；斑；一小块地；vt.补，修补

参考例句：

• This patch looks a bit unprofessional.这块补丁有点像出自外行之手。
• We managed to patch our quarrel.我们设法平息争吵。

8 granted   

conj.假定，就算v.（退一步）承认( grant的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指正式地或法律上）同意；准许；让渡

参考例句：

• The president granted a general amnesty for all political prisoners. 总统大赦了所有的政治犯。
• She feared she would not be granted re-entry into Britain. 她担心不会获准再次踏足英伦。

9 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。