这是一座很大很茂密的森林，长满生有各种叶子的树。通常，每年的这个时候天气已经很冷了，可是今年的这个时候还比较暖和，如果不是满林子的落叶--桔黄的，酒红的，金黄的，还有杂色的--还以为这里还是夏天呢。
在一棵光秃秃的树上，有两片树叶挂在一根细枝上：它们的名字叫奥立和特鲁法。奥立和特鲁法也不知道为什么他们在雨、寒夜和风中幸存了下来。也没有人知道为什么有的树叶会飘落下来，而有的树叶依旧长在树上。而奥立和特鲁法认为答案在于：他们深深地爱着对方……
The forest was large and thickly overgrown with all kinds of leaf-bearing trees. Usually, it is cold this time of year and it even happens that it snow, but this November was relatively warm. You might have thought it was summer except that the whole forest was strewn with fallen leaves－some yellow as saffron, some red as wine, some the color of gold and some of mixed color. The leaves had been torn down by the rain, by the wind, some by day, some at night, and they now formed a deep carpet over the forest floor. Although their juices had run dry, the leaves still exuded a pleasant aroma. The
On the tip of a tree which had lost all its other leaves, two still remained hanging from one twig: Ole and Trufa. For some reason unknown to them, Ole and Trufa had survived all the rains, all the cold nights and winds. Who knows the reason one leaf falls and another remains? But Ole and Trufa believed the answer lay in the great love they bore one another. Ole was slightly bigger than Turfa and a few days older, but Trufa was prettier and more delicate. One leaf can do little for another when the wind blows, the rain pours, or the hail begins to fall. Still, Ole encouraged Trufa at every opportunity. During the worst storms, when the thunder clapped, the lightning flashed and the wind tore off not only leaves but even whole branches, Ole pleaded with Trufa: "Hang on, Trufa! Hand on with all your might!"
At times during cold and stormy nights, Trufa would complain: "My time had come, Ole, but you hand on!"
"What for?" Ole asked. "Without you, my life is senseless. If you fall, I'll fall with you."
"NO, Ole, don't do it! So long as a leaf can stay up it mustn't let go."
"It all depends if you stay with me," Ole replied. "By day I look at you and admire your beauty. At night I sense your fragrance. Be the only leaf on a tree? No never!"
"Ole, your words are so sweet but they're not true," Trufa said. "You know very well that I'm no longer pretty. Look how wrinkled I am, how shriveled I've become! Only one thing is still left me－my love for you."
"Isn't that enough? Of all our powers love the highest, the finest," Ole said. "So long as we love each other we remain here, and no wind, rain or storm can destroy us. I'll tell you something, Trufa－I never loved you as much as I love you now."
"Why, Ole? Why? I'm all yellow."
"Who says green is pretty and yellow is not? All colors are equally handsome."
And just as Ole spoke these words, that which Trufa had feared all these months happened－a wind came up and tore Ole loose from the twig. Trufa began to tremble and flutter until it seemed that she, too, would soon be torn away, but she held fast. She saw Ole fall and sway in the air, and she called to him in leafy language: "Ole! Come back! Ole! Ole!"
But before she could even finish, Ole vanished from sight. He blended in with the other leaves on the ground, and Trufa was left all alone on the tree.
So long as it was still day, Trufa managed somehow to endure her grief. But when it grew dark and cold and a piercing rain began to fall, she sank into despair. Somehow she felt that the blame for all the leafy misfortunes lay with the tree, the trunk with all its mighty limbs. Leaves fell, but the trunk stood tall, thick and firmly rooted in the ground. No wind, rain or hail could upset it. What did it matter to a tree, which probably lived forever, what become of a leaf? To Trufa, the trunk was a kind of god. It covered itself with leaves for a few months, then it shook them off. It nourished them with its sap for as long as it pleased, then it let them die of thirst. Trufa pleaded with the tree to give her back her Ole, to make it summer again, but the tree didn't heed her prayers.
Trufa didn't think a night could be so long as this one-so dark, so frosty. She spoke to Ole and hoped for an answer, but Ole was silent and gave no sign of his presence.
Trufa said to the tree: "Since you've taken Ole from me, take me too."
But even this prayer the tree didn't acknowledge.
After a while, Trufa dozed off. This wasn't sleep but a strange languor. Trufa awoke and to her amazement found that she was no longer handing on the tree. The wind had blown her down while she was asleep. This was different from the way she used to feel when she awoke on the tree with the sunrise. All her fears and anxieties had now vanished. The awakening also brought with it an awareness she had never felt before. She knew now that she wasn't just a leaf that depended on every whim of the wind, but that she was part of the universe. Through some mysterious force, Trufa understood the miracle of her molecules, atoms, protons and electrons－the enormous energy she represented and the divine plan of which she was a part.
Next to her lay Ole, and they greeted each other with a love they hadn't been aware of before. This wasn't a love that depended on chance or caprice, but a love as mighty and eternal as the universe itself. That which they had feared all the days and nights between April and November turned out to be not death but redemption. A breeze came and lifted Ole and Trufa in the air and they soared with the bliss known only by those who have freed themselves and have joined with eternity.
相关单词：relatively
relatively解释：adv.比较...地，相对地
relatively例句：
The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
相关单词：exuded
exuded解释：v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的过去式和过去分词 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情
exuded例句：
Nearby was a factory which exuded a pungent smell. 旁边是一家散发出刺鼻气味的工厂。 来自辞典例句
The old drawer exuded a smell of camphor. 陈年抽屉放出樟脑气味。 来自辞典例句
相关单词：aroma
aroma解释：n.香气，芬芳，芳香
aroma例句：
The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。
相关单词：twig
twig解释：n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解
twig例句：
He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
相关单词：remains
remains解释：n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
remains例句：
He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
相关单词：fragrance
fragrance解释：n.芬芳，香味，香气
fragrance例句：
The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。
相关单词：spoke
spoke解释：n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
spoke例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
相关单词：mighty
mighty解释：adj.强有力的；巨大的
mighty例句：
A mighty force was
The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
相关单词：heed
heed解释：v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心
heed例句：
You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。
相关单词：dozed
dozed解释：v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )
dozed例句：
He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：languor
languor解释：n.无精力，倦怠
languor例句：
It was hot,yet with a sweet languor
She,in her languor,had not troubled to eat much.她懒懒的，没吃多少东西。
相关单词：amazement
amazement解释：n.惊奇，惊讶
amazement例句：
All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
相关单词：awakening
awakening解释：n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的
awakening例句：
the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。
相关单词：awareness
awareness解释：n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智
awareness例句：
There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
相关单词：whim
whim解释：n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想
whim例句：
I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。
相关单词：molecules
molecules解释：分子( molecule的名词复数 )
molecules例句：
The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。
相关单词：bliss
bliss解释：n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福
bliss例句：
It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。
相关单词：eternity
eternity解释：n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷
eternity例句：
The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。
查看更多关于【边读边学】的文章
