有關短篇英語美文摘抄

  英語美文題材豐富,涉及面廣,大多蘊涵人生哲理。引導學生欣賞美文,不僅能提高他們的閱讀理解能力,而且能使他們得到美的薰陶,從而提高學生對周圍事物的認識。下面是小編帶來的,歡迎閱讀!

  篇一

  The Unwise Hans

  In the countryside, there lived three brothers. The first and second brothers were very wise. But the third was not very wise. People called him unwise Hans. All three of the brothers wanted to marry the princess. The princess had said that she wanted to marry the wisest man on the land. "We only have one week."

  So in order to marry the princess, they hurried off on their way. The father of the three brothers gave horses to only two of the sons. The first brother got a brown horse and the second brother got a white horse. But, no horse was given to Hans. The unwise Hans left on a goat, instead of a horse.

  The older brothers laughed at Hans. Still, Hans left with his brothers. After sometime, Hans picked up a dead crow on the road. "Brothers, look at this." "What are you going to do with that?" "I'm going to give it to the princess." The brothers continued to laugh at Hans.

  As Hans was going along the road, besides the crow, he picked up an old wooden clog and good quality mud. The older brothers no longer paid attention to Hans' strange behavior and hurried off on their horses reaching the castle before Hans.

  In front of the castle there stood the princess and many people who wanted to marry her. However, all the people who went inside of the princess' room came outstuttering andmutteringquietly to themselves. Finally the first brother went in. "You're not right. Please go."

  The first brother had forgotten everything that he had memorized. So, he could not say one word. Next the second brother went in. The princess told him to leave, as well. The second brother could not understand the princess’ question. Hans was the last person to go in.

  "The room is hot." "The rooster is being roasted." "Then roast my crow, as well, please." "What should we do? There is no plate." "Here it is."

  Hans showed the old wooden clog that he had hidden. The princess made a smile on her face. "Then where can we get the sauce?"

  Hans showed her the mud that he had picked up on the road, too. "Ha, Ha, Ha- this is really fun."

  The unwise Hans gave the princess the wisest answers. That's how the princess and the unwise Hans got married. The unwise Hans became the king of that land.

  篇二

  nightingale

  a long time ago in china there lived an emperor. the emperor loved to read books. one day, in the book he was reading, it wrote, "the most beautiful precious treasure is the bird nightingale."

  the emperor had never seen or heard of nightingale. "what is nightingale?" no one has ever seen or heard of it.

  the emperor was very curious as to what nightingale was. "bring nightingale to me at once". the servants were worried by the emperor's command. they looked here and there.

  one day a little girl said that she knew of nightingale. she said that the bird she had was nightingale. it was a small cute bird. at once nightingale was brought to the emperor.

  the emperor was very happy. "ah ~ is this bird called nightingale?" for the first time in his life, he heard the beautiful voice and was impressed and deeply moved.

  "please give me nightingale and i will reward you handsomely." so nightingale came to live in the palace. everyday nightingale sang for the emperor.

  emperor was happy every time he heard nightingale sing. he was so proud of nightingale that he allowed the servants to hear it too. however, nightingale was not happy. nightingale felt trapped and had no freedom.

  one day the neighboring country sent a gift to the emperor. it was a nightingale doll made of jewels and gold. every time the doll was wound up it sang beautifully. furthermore, the emperor if wanted could hear it everyday.

  "it's really amazing. it's beauty is the finest in the world." the real nightingale was sad. the real nightingale decided to leave. it flew off into the forest of freedom.

  the nightingale doll kept on singing. one day the doll broke. no body was able to fix it. the emperor was heart broken.

  the emperor became ill. he just laid there waiting to die. just then, from the window, a beautiful song came flowing in. everyone looked.

  sitting by the window, nightingale began singing. shortly after, the emperor became better. nightingale was happy. soon, the emperor's face was filled with happiness once again.

  篇三

  the wild swans

  once upon a time in a kingdom far away, there were eleven princes and a single princess, by the name of elisa. one day, their mother died of a disease.

  eventually the king married again. the new queen hated the twelve children.

  she said craftily, "elisa is weak, and it would be good for her to go to the country for recuperation." the king was grateful to the queen, as she seemed to care for the health of his daughter. therefore, the princess was sent off to the remotest corner of the country.

  the queen then changed the eleven princes into swans through her magic power, and sent them away from the royal palace. the princes flew away crying sadly. "oh! i feel good. it is my world now."

  after some time, the king missed princess elisa and sent for her. the queen had princess elisa wear a dirty and worn-out dress. the king was very surprised to see the dirty princess elisa. "elisa, how do you dress yourself?" then the queen said quickly, "dear lord, it seems that princess elisa has gone mad." the king was furious and sent the princess away from him.

  "ah! where are my brothers?" the princess asked a man passing by, "have you ever seen eleven princes?" the man said, "i have not seen eleven princes but i have seen eleven swans. strangely the swans wore golden crowns. you may find them near the river."

  princess elisa waited for her brothers near the river hoping to find them. at night, eleven swans swooped down to the ground and were turned into the form of princes. "my brothers!" "elisa!" they cried and embraced each other.

  the brothers were trapped under the spell of the wicked queen, and were forced to become swans and fly around to look for something to eat during the day. elisa prayed earnestly, "dear god, please release the magic curse from my brothers." in her dreams that night, a fairy appeared and said, "make mantles for your brothers with hemp and have them wear the mantles. however, you should not speak at all until those mantles are made completely."

  the princes thought that elisa, who did not speak and merely kept knitting, had become strange. one day, a prince from a neighboring kingdom saw the knitting princess when he was out hunting. the prince took elisa to his palace saying to himself, "she is a really beautiful lady. i am going to make her happy."

  but elisa did not say anything, and only kept knitting eagerly. at nightfall of the next day, the hemp was all used up. elisa picked some more hemp near a grave but was caught by the prince. the prince said, "you dared to go to a grave at night? you must be a witch. take this witch and burn her at the stake!"

  princess elisa was unable to say anything and was imprisoned. princess elisa continued knitting without taking rest even in the prison. princess elisa was finally knitting the eleventh mantle, while being carried on a cart going to the burning place. the villagers threw stones at her while shouting, "that witch is still knitting. burn her at the stake!"

  at that precise moment, the eleven swans flew in. princess elisa threw the finished mantles to the swans. only then, princess elisa opened her mouth. "i now can speak. i am not a witch."

  they donned the knitted hoods they were turned back into princes. the princess told the prince what had happened up to that time. thereafter, the prince and princess elisa lived happily together in their kingdom.