攻玉之石07-手捧花盆的男孩

The Boy with an Empty Pot 手捧空花盆的男孩
A long time ago, there was an old king.
The king did not have any son who could become king after him.
This made the king very sad.
Then he decided¹ to find a boy in his country worthy² to be his adopted son.
One day, he gave some seeds to all the boys in the country.
Then he proclaimed³ that whoever could grow the most beautiful flowers
from the seeds would become his adopted son and heir⁴.
All the boys planted their seeds carefully.
They looked after their plants well.
One of the boys who planted the seeds was a boy named Yong Tu.
He looked after his seeds day after day.
However, one month passed and the seeds he had planted had not sprouted⁶.
He asked his mother,
Why haven’t the seeds sprouted yet?”
Try changing the soil in the pot,”
suggested his mother.
Yong Tu followed his mother’s advice,
but the seed still did not sprout⁵.
Not long after that, the day for selecting the adopted son arrived.
All the boys came out carrying their pots of flowering plants.
They were each eager to become the king’s adopted son.
When the king saw the boys carrying their potted plants
with beautiful flowers,
he did not appear happy.
Then he saw a boy by the side,
crying as he held an empty pot in his hands.
The king walked towards the boy and asked,
“Why are you carrying a pot without a flowering plant?”
Yong Tu answered,
"Every day I looked after the seeds carefully,
but the seeds did not sprout at all.”
The king smiled at Yong Tu.
Then he held the boy’s hand happily and announced loudly,
This is my adopted son.”
The other boys were surprised and they asked,
"Why did Your Majesty⁷ choose as your adopted son
the boy who brought a pot without a flower?
Didn’t Your Majesty want a boy
who could grow the most beautiful flowers?”
"My dear little boys,”
said the king,
"I gave all of you seeds that had been boiled.
Your seeds are not supposed to sprout at all.”
The rest of the boys bowed their heads in shame.
When the given seeds had not sprouted,
they had planted other seeds to produce the beautiful flowers.
Yong Tu was the only honest one.
Therefore, the king had chosen him as his adopted son.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 proclaimed   

v.正式宣布( proclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；显示

参考例句：

• The president proclaimed a state of emergency. 总统宣布了紧急状态。
• The ringing bells proclaimed the birth of the prince. 响亮的钟声宣布王子的诞生。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 heir   

n.继承人，接班人

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

5 sprout   

n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条

参考例句：

• When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角？
• It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。

6 sprouted   

v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• We can't use these potatoes; they've all sprouted. 这些土豆儿不能吃了，都出芽了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rice seeds have sprouted. 稻种已经出芽了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！