Paul was a rich young man.
保罗是一个富有的年轻人。
When his father died, he left Paul a beautiful forest manor (庄园).
当他父亲去世时,他留给保罗一座美丽的森林庄园。
Unluckily, before Paul could sell it for a lot of money, a lightening strike caused a fire that destroyed it.
不幸的是,在保罗还没来得及把它卖个好价钱之前,一道闪电引发火灾,将庄园摧毁了。
Watching the beautiful green trees turned into ash (灰烬) overnight, Paul felt his heart break.
看着一夜之间美丽的绿树化为灰烬,保罗心碎了。
In order to bring back the forest manor’s beauty, Paul tried to borrow money from a bank.
为了恢复森林庄园的美丽,保罗试图向银行借钱。
But the bank refused him, for the bank didn’t believe he’d pay it back.
但银行拒绝了他,因为银行不相信他能还钱。
Then he felt too frustrated to eat or drink.
于是他沮丧得吃不下、喝不下。
So he hid in his room for days.
所以他把自己关在房间里好几天。
His wife was worried about him and suggested he take a break outside.
他的妻子很担心他,建议他出去散散心。
Paul went for a walk.
保罗出去散步。
When he turned the first corner, he saw a store with a huge group of people.
当他转过第一个拐角时,看到一家商店前聚集了一大群人。
It turned out that the housewives were waiting in line to buy charcoal (煤炭) used for winter heating.
原来这些家庭主妇正在排队购买用于冬季取暖的木炭。
Then Paul’s eyes lit up.
这时,保罗的眼睛亮了起来。
He ran home and paid some charcoal workers to change the forest’s burnt trees into charcoal.
他跑回家,付钱给一些烧炭工人,把森林里被烧毁的树木制成木炭。
As soon as his charcoal went on the market, it was sold out quickly.
他的木炭一上市,就很快售罄。
Soon, he sold more than 1,000 boxes of charcoal.
不久,他卖出了超过1000箱木炭。
The following year in the spring, he used the money to buy a large number of seedlings (树苗).
第二年春天,他用这笔钱买了大量树苗。
After a few years, the forest manor that everyone thought had disappeared came to life again.
几年后,那座所有人都以为已经消失的森林庄园重新焕发生机。
0 条评论