The Black Stones
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
The Stones Tala glanced over her shoulder before she picked up the two small black stones near the river’s edge at the base of Apache Leap Mountain.
在她取出位于Apache Leap山地底的河边附近的两块小黑石之前,
If her brother was watching, he’d want the stones for himself, and she wasn’t about to give them to him.
她不会把石头送给他。
She had discovered them, and they belonged to her, not to him or anyone else.
她发现了他们,他们属于她,而不是他或其他任何人。
Paco was busy tossing pebbles into the river, so Tala knelt down and picked up the black stones, which were as dark as a starless night.
帕可正忙于将卵石倒入河中,于是塔拉下跪取出黑石来取出,黑石同无星之夜一样暗.
When she held them up to the sun, the light shone through the translucent stones, making them glow softly.
当她把它们抱到太阳上时,光照穿了半透明地的石头,使其发光柔和.
“Hey, let me see!”
"嘿,让我看看!"
her brother called.
她哥哥打电话来
Tala groaned and clutched the stones tightly in her fist.
塔拉叹息并紧紧地把石头用拳头接住.
She thought that if she were quick enough, she might be able to hide them from her annoying twin before he reached her.
她认为,如果她足够快,她也许可以在她烦人的双胞胎到达她面前隐藏出它们.
Tala hugged her knees and listened to her brother’s footsteps as he jumped from rock to rock, moving closer and closer.
塔拉拥抱了她的膝盖,并听从了哥哥从岩石上跳到岩石上,越来越近地走动的脚步.
The louder he got, the louder her heart beat in her chest.
他越大声,她的心就跳出胸口
She was already angry, knowing that he would behave like a blood-sucking leech, the way he always did.
她已经很生气了,知道他的行为 会像吸血的花花公子一样
When he was behind her, she rose suddenly and started to walk away without a backward glance.
当他站在她身后时,她突然起身并开始走开而无后顾之忧.
“Come on!”
"来吧!"
Paco said.
柏可说.
“Show me what’s in your hand.”
“给我看看你手里拿来的东西。 “
Tala knew that if she showed the stones to him, her brother would beg and plead with her to give them to him, and he would keep on begging until she became furious or gave in.
Tala知道,如果她把石头给他看,她的兄弟会乞求并恳求她把石头交给他,他还会继续乞求,直到她变得愤怒或屈服.
Tala swung around to face him.
塔拉四处晃来晃去面对他.
“These stones are mine!”
“这些石头是我的!”
she shouted.
她喊着
“I found them, and I’m keeping them, no matter what you say.”
“我找到他们了, “
“Just show them to me!”
“给我看看! “
Paco darted forward and grabbed her fist, then tried to pry it open.
帕可向前飞去并抓住了她的拳头,然后想把拳头打开.
“Mom!”
妈妈!
Tala cried, struggling to pull her fist away while tightening her grip on the stones.
Tala哭了,在收紧她对石头的握力的同时挣扎着把她的拳头拉走.
“Mom!
“妈妈!
Paco’s bothering me again.”
Paco又烦我。 “
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates sighed and raised herself from the flat rock where she had been sitting quietly for the last half hour, thinking about how challenging her life had become.
Yates叹息地从平地岩石上自起,她过去半小时静静地坐在那里,想着她的生活变得多么有挑战性.
The death of her husband three years ago had been difficult.
三年前她丈夫的死很困难
Watching their children take the anger and resentment they felt over his death and turn it against each other was even harder.
看着他们的孩子带着他们对他的死亡感到的愤怒和怨恨,并互相对抗更加艰难.
She knew that she needed to find a way to bring Tala and Paco together, but nothing she had tried so far had worked.
她知道她需要想办法把塔拉和帕克拉拉在一起,但迄今为止她所尝试的都没有奏效.
The twins hadn’t been fighting, which was unusual for them, but things were back to normal now—they were at it again.
双胞胎没有打架,
If only they could learn to get along, she thought.
如果她能学会相处的话 她会想
If only they could be friends.
如果他们能成为朋友就好了
She hurried down to the river toward her children, whose yelling was getting louder.
她匆匆地向她的孩子下河,孩子们的叫声越来越响.
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates dragged her twins apart and sat them down on a boulder, then placed herself between them, letting them calm down before she said anything.
Yates把她的双胞胎拉开,坐在一块巨石上,然后把自己放在他们中间,让他们在她说话前冷静下来.
She waited to see if either of them would apologize.
她等着看他们是否愿意道歉
Paco fidgeted nervously, and Tala kicked the toe of her shoe into the dirt, but neither of them said a word.
帕可变得紧张起来,而塔拉将她的鞋脚趾踢入了泥土中,但两人都没有说过一句话.
Tala clutched her stones tightly and thought about how the river had polished and smoothed them, slowly eroding the rough edges over time.
Tala紧紧地接起她的石头,想着河水是如何磨光并平滑的,慢慢地侵蚀了粗糙的边缘.
Just thinking about how many years it took for water to polish stones like these distracted her from her anger for a moment—but only for a moment.
只想着要花多少年时间才能把石头磨成这样,
“I was the one who found the stones,” she said when she had calmed down a bit.
她说,“是我找到石头的”,当时她已经冷静下来了。
“Paco tried to take them away from me.
“Paco试图把他们从我身边带走。
This argument is his fault.
这个论点是他的错。
I didn’t do anything.”
我什么也没做。 “
“Yes, you did!”
“是的,你做到了!”
Paco insisted.
帕克坚持
“You wouldn’t even let me see them, not even for a second.
“你甚至不会让我看到他们,
I saw you holding them up to the light.
我看见你把他们拖到灯光下
Why wouldn’t you let me see what they looked like when the sun was shining through them?
为何不让我看看太阳照耀他们时,
I just wanted to look at them.”
我只是想看看他们。 “
“They’re mine!”
" 他们是我的! "
Tala shouted.
塔拉大叫着
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates closed her eyes to gather her thoughts and to block the sight of her children’s angry faces; she was exhausted by their fighting, and her heart felt heavy.
Yates闭上了眼睛来收集她的想法并屏蔽她孩子愤怒的面孔;她被他们的战斗所耗尽了,她的心脏感到沉重.
Volcanoes and Magic “Your constant fighting makes me very unhappy,” Mrs.
火山和魔法 “你的不断战斗让我很不高兴,”
Yates said softly.
叶茨说得温柔.
“You are brother and sister—twins even!
你们是兄弟,是姐妹。
You could be best friends for your entire lives if you would only try a little harder to get along, to be kind to each other.
你们可以一辈子做最好的朋友... ...只要你们更努力地相处 彼此友善
Will you try?”
你会试试吗? “
Tala and Paco stared silently at the river, and Mrs.
塔拉和帕可静静地注视着河水,而夫人.
Yates could tell by the way their jaws tightened that they did not plan to get along— now or ever.
Yates的下巴被收紧了 说明他们现在或永远都不打算相处
They were more like each other than either of them knew, both tight knots of stubbornness, no matter what their mother did to loosen them.
他们更像对方 比他们谁都知道, 两个紧结 固执,无论他们的母亲做了什么 放松他们。
Stubborn like their father, she thought to herself.
她像他们的父亲一样固执地思考
At least they share that.
至少他们也有同感
She sighed and held out her hand.
她叹息并伸出了手。
“Give me the stones, Tala,” she said.
她说,“塔拉,把石头给我。”
“But it’s not fair,” Tala whined, still avoiding looking at her mother.
Tala抱怨说, “但是这不公平,
Tala knew she’d start to soften if she looked her mother in the eyes, and she wasn’t ready to let go of her anger.
Tala知道她若看着她母亲的眼睛,
She had a right to it.
她有权这么做
“I found them, not Paco.
“我找到他们了,不是Paco。
They’re mine.”
他们是我的。 “
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates waited.
叶茨等.
Tala made a face, but she dropped the shiny black stones onto her mother’s palm.
她把闪亮的黑色石头倒到她母亲的手掌上。
“It’s okay to be angry,” her mother said.
她母亲说,
“Sometimes life seems very unfair.
“有时,生活似乎非常不公平。
Sometimes the things we love get taken away from us, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
有时我们所爱的东西被夺走,
That is why we must be thankful for our friends and family.
这就是为什么我们必须感谢我们的朋友和家人。
They are more important than the objects we find in the world.”
它们比我们在世界上发现的东西更重要。 “
Tala folded her arms and felt her whole body stiffen.
塔拉折开双臂,感觉全身僵硬.
Was it such a crime that she wanted to keep something she had found on her own?
她想保留自己发现的东西吗?
Her brother could find his own treasures.
她的哥哥可以找到自己的宝藏
Why did he need to take hers?
他为什么要拿走她的?
A moment later, Mrs.
一会儿再说,夫人
Yates told them both to hold out a hand as she dropped one stone onto each child’s palm.
Yates让他们伸出一只手,
She expected each of them to complain that the other one got the better stone, but the twins were silent.
她期望他们每个人都抱怨说对方得到了更好的石头,但双胞胎沉默了.
The silence continued as she led them back up the trail to the car, and no one spoke on the drive home.
当她带领他们回到车道时,沉默仍在继续,没有人在回家的路上说话。
Tala and Paco may have been twins, but they saw the world very differently.
Tala和Paco可能是双胞胎,但他们对世界的看法非常不同.
Tala looked at the world as a scientist, which meant everything was a question that led to interesting facts and theories.
塔拉将世界看成是一个科学家,这意味着一切都是一个导致有趣的事实和理论的问题.
She wanted to know why the sky turned orange at sunset and how a seashell produced a sound when she held it to her ear.
她想知道为什么在日出时天空会变成橙色,以及海贝壳在她把声音抱在耳朵上时如何发出声音.
Paco, on the other hand, saw the world as a magical place filled with poems waiting to be written.
而帕克则将世界视为充满了等待被写作的诗歌的神奇之地.
He admired the beauty of an orange sunset and the mystery of a seashell’s sound.
他钦佩橙色日落的美丽和海贝的声音之谜.
Paco wondered if his stone could transport him into magical worlds.
帕克想知道他的石头是否能把他带到神奇的世界去.
Maybe if he rubbed it three times a genie would appear, or perhaps it was a goodluck charm that would protect him all his life.
也许如果他擦了三次 精灵就会出现, 或者也许这是一个幸运的魅力 将保护他一生。
When Tala looked at her dark stone, questions bubbled up in her mind: How long had the stone been there?
当塔拉看着她黑暗的石头时,她心中的疑问浮出水面: 石头在那里多久了?
How old was it?
几岁?
Had it been formed by hot lava shooting out of a volcano?
是火山喷出热熔岩形成的吗?
Of course, the twins argued about what it was and what it wasn’t, and who was right and who was wrong, and— “Stop it!”
当然,双胞胎们争论了它是什么和它是什么,谁对谁错,以及——“停止!”
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates shouted when she just couldn’t stand to listen to them bicker for one more minute.
Yates大声喊道,
“But it’s a volcanic glass rock,” Tala insisted.
Tala坚持说,
“It came from inside the earth, and was cooled, and—” “You’re wrong!”
" 从地中取出,被冷却了;"你错了!
Paco yelled.
帕可大叫着.
“It’s a magical good-luck stone.”
这是一块神奇的幸运石。 “
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates groaned and led the twins to the computer, sat down between them, and turned it on.
叶茨叹息并带领双胞胎到电脑上,坐在他们之间并打开了.
The Experiment As the computer started up, the twins started to argue about what website they would look at first.
实验 随着计算机的起动,双胞胎开始争论他们首先会看什么网站.
“We need to go to a website about talismans first,” Paco insisted, but his sister shook her head out of frustration.
Paco坚持说, “我们需要先去一个网站,
“That will take forever, and we won’t find anything about these particular stones,” she said.
她说:「这需要很长时间,
“We need to start with a site about volcanoes—” “That is so boring—” “They’re my stones, so—” “Hey!”
“我们需要从火山遗址开始——” " 太无聊了, " 他们是我的石头," "嘿!
Their mother held her hands up.
他们的母亲举起手来。
“May I ask the two of you for a favor?”
“我可否请你们帮个忙? “
she said.
她说。
The twins waited.
双胞胎等待。
“I would like you to do an experiment, as a gift to me.
“我希望你做一个实验,作为给我的礼物。
I would like you both to research your stones without arguing, just this once.
我希望你们俩不要争吵,只此一次
I’ll work with you to find the answers, but no fighting.
我将和你们一起寻找答案,
I want you to understand that life is much more peaceful if you work together to solve your problems.
我希望你们明白,如果你们共同努力解决自己的问题,生活就会更加平和.
Okay?”
好吗?”
Tala and Paco looked at each other for several seconds, and then they shrugged.
Tala和Paco相视了几秒钟,然后他们拉了一阵.
“Okay,” they agreed reluctantly.
“好吧,”他们勉强同意。
“What do you think we should search for first?”
“你认为我们应该首先寻找什么? “
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates asked.
叶茨问.
“I know exactly what we should do,” Paco said.
Paco说:“我知道我们应该做什么,”
“We should.
“我们应该。
The look on his mother’s face made him stop.
他母亲的表情让他停了下来。
Maybe there was a better way to do this experiment.
也许有更好的方法做这个实验。
“You can decide,” he said to his sister, who immediately suggested searching for the name of the stones.
他对姐姐说,“你可以决定”,她立即建议寻找石头的名字。
“Let’s type the words volcanic glass into the search engine and see what websites come up.”
“让我们把火山玻璃打入搜索引擎, “
“I don’t care about volcanoes,” Paco said.
Paco说:「我不在乎火山,
“Let’s type in good-luck stones.”
“让我们用幸运的石头来打字。 “
“Volcanic glass!”
“火山玻璃!”
“Good-luck stones!”
幸运的石头!
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates put a gentle hand on each of their shoulders, and when they were quiet, she made a suggestion.
耶茨将一手温柔地放在了每一肩上,当他们安静的时候,她提出了个建议.
“How about both?”
“两者如何? “
she said.
她说。
“And how about we add where you found the stones as well?”
“我们再补充一下你发现石头的地方如何? “
she said as she typed the words volcanic glass goodluck stones Apache Leap Mountain into the search engine and waited to see what would happen.
她说,当她打字 火山玻璃好运气 石头阿帕奇 Leap Mountain 进入搜索引擎, 并等待会发生什么事。
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates knew that the more specific the search, the more likely they were to get the information they wanted.
Yates知道搜索越具体,就越有可能得到他们想要的信息.
When the list of search results appeared, Paco and Tala studied them together, reading the website names and short descriptions.
搜索结果列表出现后,帕科和塔拉一起研究,阅读了网站名称和短篇描述.
One of the descriptions used nearly all of the terms they had used in their search.
其中一种说法几乎使用了他们在搜寻中使用的所有术语.
They both pointed to the screen and said, “Let’s go to that one,” at exactly the same time.
他们都指向屏幕,并说, " 让我们去那个, " 正好同时。
Paco and Tala looked at each other in surprise.
帕可和塔拉惊讶地相视.
They had agreed on something.
他们达成了协议
While the website loaded, the phone rang, and Mrs.
当网站上膛时,电话响了,还有夫人
Yates went to answer it, leaving Tala and Paco alone.
耶茨去接了电话,留下了塔拉和帕克一个人.
They both wondered if they could get along without her.
他们都想知道没有她他们能不能相处融洽
Searching for Answers The website showed several images of rocks that looked like the shiny stones Tala had found.
寻找答案 网站显示多幅岩石照片,
Paco and Tala compared their stones to the ones on the page in front of them and grinned.
Paco和Tala把他们的石头和他们前面的页面上的石头比作笑了.
“That’s our stone!”
“那是我们的石头!”
they said at the same time, but this time they didn’t look at each other; they just smiled to themselves.
他们同时表示,
They wouldn’t have admitted it to each other, but working together really was kind of fun.
他们不会互相承认,
The twins sat up straight and silently read the words on the monitor together.
双胞胎坐直而默默地一起阅读了显示器上的话.
“I told you!”
“我告诉过你!”
Tala shouted, poking her brother.
塔拉大叫出声,戳她的兄弟。
“Our stones came from inside the earth.
“我们的石头出自地中。
They are obsidian from a volcano.
它们是火山喷出物
So I’m right!”
我是对的!
Paco was too busy reading a different part of the page to listen to his sister, and when he was finished, he said, “I’m right!
Paco忙于阅读页面的另一部分,听不到他姐姐的话,在他完成后,他说:"我是对的!
I told you these stones were good-luck stones!”
我告诉你这些石头是幸运的! “
“See that?”
" 看到了吗? “
Tala said as she pointed to the part of the page she was reading, and Paco followed her finger to the words volcanic glass and read that part of the page.
塔拉在指她正在阅读的一页部分时表示,而帕克也跟着指向"火山玻璃"等词并阅读了一页的部分.
Then he focused his sister’s attention on the words good-luck stones and watched as she read.
然后他把姐姐的注意力集中在幸运石上,
“It looks as if we were both right,” Paco said.
Paco说,“看来我们都是对的。”
“Yes,” his sister agreed.
“是的”,他姐姐同意。
“These stones are probably thousands of years old.
“这些石头可能已有数千年历史。
They came from inside the earth, and they have brought luck to many people.”
他们来自地球内部,为许多人带来了好运。 “
“Let’s read more about the legend of the Apache Tears,” Paco said.
Paco说:「让我们多读一下阿帕奇之泪的传说。
The twins went back to the search page, typed in Apache Tears, and waited as several results came up.
双胞胎回到了搜索页面,用"Apache Tears"打字,并等待着几个结果出现.
One website mentioned the Pinal Apache, which was a name once given to a band of Apache from the part of Arizona where Tala and Paco lived.
一个网站提到了"平那尔阿帕奇"(Pinal Apache),这个名字曾经被赐给来自亚利桑那州塔拉和帕克所住地的一个阿帕奇乐队.
“Let’s try that one,” Paco said, and when his sister agreed, he was happily surprised.
Paco说:「让我们试试看,
He began to realize that he was tired of fighting with her about every little thing.
他开始意识到他厌倦了与她争吵每件小事.
This webpage showed an illustration of an Apache warrior above a poem called “Apache Tears.”
这个网页在一首名为“Apache Tears”的诗上展示了一个阿帕奇战士的插图。 “
Tala and Paco read the poem on the webpage slowly and carefully, and when they were finished, they read it again.
Tala和Paco在网页上慢慢地仔细地读取了这首诗,完成后,他们又读取了.
Paco noticed that his sister was rubbing her stone between her fingers as she read, and he wondered if she was making a wish.
帕克注意到他姐姐在读书时正在她手指间摩擦出她的石头来,他怀疑她是否在许愿.
Tala didn’t usually like legends—she enjoyed reading about science—but Paco could tell that his sister was very interested in this story.
Tala通常不喜欢传奇, 她喜欢阅读科学,
He decided that he would read more about volcanoes and all the rocks that were inside the earth, and he would try to understand how the river changed rocks to smooth stones.
他决定更多读取火山和地中所有岩石,并尝试理解河流如何将岩石变成平滑的石头.
Maybe he would come to understand why these things interested his sister so much.
也许他会明白为什么这些东西 对他妹妹这么感兴趣。
For now, Paco and Tala decided to write down their own version of the legend so that they would have it to remember.
现在,帕克和塔拉决定写下他们自己版本的"传说",以便他们能够记住.
Apache Teardrops The Legend of the Apache Tears Long, long ago, before the white men came, the Apaches roamed free.
Apache 泪滴 "阿帕奇之泪"的"传说"(The Legend of the Apache Tears Long),很久以前,在白人来之前,阿帕奇人游走自由了.
But a time came when the white men began to move west in search of new land.
但此时白人开始向西移动去寻找新的土地.
Hoping to protect their lands, Apache warriors came out to meet them, but the white men killed many Apache warriors.
希望保护他们的土地, 阿帕奇勇士出面迎接他们,但白人杀死了许多阿帕奇勇士.
Some were driven to the edge of a cliff.
有些人被赶到悬崖边
Rather than be captured, the Apache warriors jumped from the cliff to their deaths.
阿帕奇战士们不是被俘虏,而是从悬崖上跳下而死.
When the Apache women heard of their warriors’ deaths, they were filled with great pain and despair so deep that the Great Father embedded their tears into the black stones that rested in the river.
当阿帕奇妇女听到她们战士的死讯时,她们充满了巨大的痛苦和绝望,以至于大公将眼泪嵌入了河中安息的黑石上.
Whoever carries these stones will have good luck always, and whoever keeps these stones close will never again cry tears, for the Apache women have cried tears in their place.
携带这些石头的人总是有好运气的,把这些石头贴上的人再也不会哭出眼泪来,因为阿帕奇人女人代替了她们哭出眼泪来.
Paco and Tala sat back and studied their stones in silence, lifting them to the light and gazing into their centers, thinking about the women who had cried for their men.
帕克和塔拉坐后默默地研究了他们的石头,将石头抬到光线上并凝视到中心,想着那些为自己的男人哭泣的女人.
A blanket of sadness covered them both.
两人身上被一毯忧伤.
They shut down the computer and held their stones tight.
他们关闭了电脑,把石头紧紧地握住.
When their mother returned, they told her the legend of the Apache Tears, taking turns, without talking over each other.
当他们的母亲回来时,他们告诉她"阿帕奇之泪"的传说,轮流来,没有互相交谈.
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates was touched to see how the story had affected her children.
Yates被感动地看到这个故事如何影响了她的孩子.
“Can you see the tear of an Apache woman?”
“你能看到一个阿帕奇女人的眼泪吗? “
Paco asked her as he held his stone up to the light and looked at it.
帕可问她,当他把石头拿到光边,看着它.
Mrs.
夫人,请原谅
Yates took the stone and held it up to the light.
叶茨取取出石取出并取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取来取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取出取取取取出取出取出取取出取出取取出取
“I think I do see it,” she said.
她说:“我想我确实看到了,”
“It’s a tear for the man she lost, and it’s a tear for the sad children he left behind.”
“这是她所失去的人的一滴泪, “
She gave the stone back to Paco, closed his fingers over it, and squeezed his hand lightly.
她把石头还给了帕克,把手指关上,并轻轻地捏住他的手.
“It’s a tear that says ‘I wish my children were happy.’”
”这是眼泪,
Paco and Tala gave each other a long look.
帕可和塔拉互相长相相看.
They understood that their arguing was only adding to their mother’s grief over their father’s death.
他们知道,他们的论点只会增加母亲对父亲死亡的悲痛。
They understood that their father was not coming back and that they needed to find a way to live in harmony as a family again.
他们知道,他们的父亲不会回来,他们需要找到一种方法,作为一个家庭重新和谐地生活。
That night, after talking it over, Paco and Tala gave their stones to their mother.
当晚,帕克和塔拉在谈完后,把石头交给了母亲.
At first, Mrs.
初为相.
Yates did not want to take them because the stones seemed to have made her children friends again.
Yates不想带走他们,因为石头似乎让她的孩子再次成为朋友.
Finally, Paco and Tala convinced her that they wanted her to have the Apache Tears, so Mrs.
最后,帕克和塔拉说服她,他们希望她有"阿帕奇之泪",所以夫人.
Yates slept with the stones under her pillow that night, and the next day she went to a jeweler and had them made into a necklace.
叶茨当晚与枕下所放的石头同床共枕,第二天她去取出珠宝商并把它们做成项链.
When the necklace was ready, she slipped it on and never took it off again.
项链准备好后,她滑倒了,再也没有脱下.
Apache Tears really had brought them all good luck!
阿帕奇之泪真的给他们带来了好运!