摘要
"寻找快活林
狐狸一家三口闷闷不乐地吃着早餐。
他们吃的是咸肉和葡萄。咸肉是狐狸先生从乌鸦太太嘴里骗来
的。葡萄很甜，一点儿也不酸，狐狸太太却告诉所有的人说这葡萄是
酸的，别人不敢吃，她就把它们带回了家。
吃着吃着，狐狸太太把盛着咸肉和葡萄的盘子推到一边，“唉，一
天到晚老是算计别人，也占了不少便宜，可是心里还是不快活。”
小狐狸也吃不下了，“我也不快活，我从来就没有快活过。”
“昨晚，我做了一个梦。”狐狸先生说，“梦见一个叫快活林的地
方，那里所有的人都过得很快活，一点儿痛苦、一点儿烦恼都没有。”
小狐狸问道 ：“如果我们生活在快活林里，不就可以快活起来了
吗？”
“是呀！”狐狸先生和狐狸太太恍然大悟，“我们为什么不去快活
林生活呢？”
于是，狐狸全家出了门，他们去寻找快活林。
走了三天三夜，连快活林的影儿都没有找到。
狐狸太太唉声叹气，“这世界上哪有快活的地方哟？”
小狐狸也怀疑起来，“爸爸，你做的梦是假的吧？”
正说着，豆大的雨点儿从天上掉下来。
“别吵了！”狐狸先生没好气地说，“我们先到前边的红房子里躲
躲雨。”
红房子的门大开着，里面又干净又整洁。
“这是谁家的别墅，这么漂亮？”狐狸太太摸着淡黄色的窗帘，她
很喜欢这座红色的木房子。
正在这时，一只湿漉漉的毛猴跑了回来。他看到狐狸一家三口舒
舒服服地坐在沙发上，先是一惊，然后非常热情地说 ：“欢迎你们到我
家来做客。”
“什么，你的家？”狐狸太太一跃而起，“你凭什么说这房子是你的家？”
毛猴还是很温和地解释道 ：“这房子真的是我的家。”狐狸先生凑上前，“好！只要你把这房子叫答应了，我们就承认这
房子是你的。”
“叫呀！叫呀！”小狐狸在一旁起哄。
“怎么样，叫不答应吧？”狐狸先生笑了，“现在是我们先占到了
房子，房子就应该是我们的。”
毛猴无可奈何，“如果你们喜欢这房子，就先住下吧！我到别处
去。”
“我们胜利了！”狐狸一家欢呼雀跃。
过了一会儿，狐狸先生的脸上阴云密布，他又不高兴了，“人人都
说猴子是最精明的，这毛猴怎么肯把房子白白地让给我们住？”
狐狸太太也皱紧眉头说 ：“我看这一定是他设的圈套，今后我们可要时刻提防着这鬼猴子。”雨过天晴，太阳又出来了。
狐狸先生和狐狸太太从窗口看到白兔妈妈带着一群小白兔蹦蹦跳跳地从门前经过。
挎着小篮子，来到树林里，又白又大的蘑菇，采满一篮子。
白兔一家唱着歌儿走远了。
狐狸先生说 ：“我们也去采蘑菇，不能让他们家占了便宜。”狐狸太太找了一个像大水缸那么大的筐，一家三口抬着它去追赶白兔一家。
白兔妈妈和小白兔们欢快地采着蘑菇。
狐狸一家赶到了，他们根本不搭理白兔一家友好的问候，手忙脚乱地采起蘑菇来。哪里有大蘑菇，他们就抢在小白兔的前面，把那朵大蘑菇抢到手。
这一切，白兔妈妈都看在眼里。她把小白兔们招呼到身边，很有礼貌地对狐狸一家说 ：“我们先走了，你们慢慢采吧！”
三只狐狸放声大笑，“哈！这里的蘑菇全都是我们的了！”兔妈妈回过头来，见小狐狸正要采一朵鲜艳的彩色蘑菇，大叫一声 ：“别采！那种蘑菇有毒！”
“哼！她不让我们采，是想留给自己采。”
“对！”狐狸太太同意狐狸先生的意见，“她不让我们采，我们偏
要采！”
他们尽拣那些好看的、色彩鲜艳的蘑菇采，很快就采满了一大筐。
回到红房子，狐狸太太做了一大锅鲜美的蘑菇汤，狐狸先生和小
狐狸吃得直咂嘴。
晚上，红房子里传出“哎哟哎哟”的叫唤声。发生了什么事？毛猴
飞快地往红房子跑去。
不好！他们一定是吃了有毒的蘑菇。白兔妈妈立刻从温暖的被窝
里钻出来。毛猴和白兔妈妈撞开了红房子的门，只见三只狐狸正捂着
肚子在地上打滚— 他们果然是吃蘑菇中了毒。毛猴转身便跑。他要
在最短的时间内采来解毒药。
白兔妈妈拼命地扇着炉中的火。她要在最短的时间里煎好药。
药煎好了，倒在三个碗里。
先端给狐狸先生和狐狸太太喝，他们紧闭着嘴，坚决不喝。他们
想 ：占了毛猴的房子，抢了白兔的蘑菇，现在他俩却来救我们的性
命，到底安的什么心？
又端给小狐狸喝，小狐狸“咕咚咕咚”喝下去。不一会儿，他站了
起来，“我好了，我的肚子不疼了！”
小狐狸把药端到狐狸先生嘴边，“爸爸你喝吧，不喝你会死的。”狐狸先生到底怕死，几口就把药喝了。狐狸太太也怕死，不用
劝，便把药喝得一滴不剩。
等三只狐狸都安静地睡了，天已蒙蒙亮。毛猴和白兔妈妈打着哈欠，悄悄地离开了红房子。
快到中午时分，三只狐狸醒来了。
狐狸先生挥挥胳膊又踢踢腿，感觉良好，“咦，我们真的被救活
了！”
“真不明白，他们为什么要救我们？”狐狸太太想了好久，也解不
开这个谜。后来，她却得到另一个答案，“我想，我们应该把红房子还
给毛猴。”
三只狐狸把房子打扫得干干净净。
在窗台上还放了一束带露水的鲜花，表示欢迎毛猴回来住。
他们又去采了满满一篮子又白又嫩的蘑菇，悄悄放在白兔家的门
口。
狐狸一家要走了—去寻找快活林。
小狐狸在地上翻着筋斗，“我今天好高兴好高兴！”
“是啊，我也特别开心，老想唱歌儿。”但是狐狸太太不会唱歌，
因为她从来没有唱过歌。
狐狸先生什么也没有说，奇怪的是他那一向阴沉的脸，今天却像
春天的阳光那样明媚。
他心里暗暗惊喜，难道我们已经找到了快活林？
THE FOREST OF
HAPPINESS
One morning, the Foxes sat around their table eating bacon and grapes for breakfast.
Mr. Fox had stolen the bacon from the crow. A few days earlier, he had seen the crow perched in a tree, holding a piece of bacon in her beak. He made her sing by praising her voice. Once the f lattered crow opened her mouth, the meat fell to the ground. He quickly picked it up and took it home.
The grapes were brought home by Mrs. Fox. Not long ago, she and some of her friends had come across a grapevine. She tasted the fruit before her friends, and told them the grapes were sour and bitter, when, in fact, they were very sweet. Because of this, none of her friends, wanted the grapes. She picked them all and took them home.
Mrs. Fox frowned while she ate her break-fast. “We’ve got pretty much everything that we need, but for some reason I still don’t feel happy,” she said, putting her knife and fork down.
“Me neither, mum,” mumbled Little Fox, who, too, had stopped eating.
Mr. Fox’s face was gloomy as usual, but it brightened as soon as he remembered his dream from the night before. “I dreamt of a happy forest. The people living there were all free from sadness and sorrow.”
“Why don’t we go find that magical place?” suggested Mrs. Fox.
“And once we find it we will be happy for-ever!” exclaimed Little Fox.
Mr. Fox agreed with excitement, “All right. Let’s do it!”
The Foxes then set off to look for the magi-cal forest.
Three days passed but they had not come across any place like the one Mr. Fox had seen in his dream.
“I don’t think there is such a place, Dad,” said Little Fox.
“Me neither. I think we should head back,” Mrs. Fox complained. She was frustrated as well.
Just then, big rain drops began to fall. Mr. Fox spotted a little red house standing
in the distance. “Let’s go hide from the rain first. Then, we’ll decide what to do next,” he said, pointing at the house.
The door of the house was left wide open, and it was very neat and tidy inside.
Mrs. Fox stood at the window and could not keep her hands off the soft lemon-coloured curtains. “I wish I could have a lovely place like this,” she said to Mr. Fox and Little Fox , who were resting comfortably on the couch.
At that moment, a long-haired monkey ran into the house, drenched by the rain. Although he was surprised by the uninvited guests, he greeted them warmly. “Hello, how are you? Welcome to my house!”
“This can’t possibly be your house. You should leave!” Mrs. Fox yelled at the monkey. The monkey was so shocked by Mrs. Fox’s
rudeness that he began to stutter. “E-e-excuse me, this is m-m-my house, indeed!”
Mr. Fox smirked, “How about this, then? Go ahead and call for your house by name. We’ll believe you if it responds.”
“That’s right. Call the house by its name!” Little Fox applauded.
The monkey realized that it was impos-sible to prove the house was his from such an unreasonable request. He sighed and left.
The Foxes were very excited by their clev-erness and by the fact that they now had the red house all to themselves, but suspicion soon clouded Mr. Fox’s brow. “Something doesn’t feel right. Why did the monkey give up his house so easily and let us stay?” he asked.
“Hmmm…the monkey must be up to some-thing,” Mrs. Fox replied with concern.
Just then, it stopped raining outside and the sun came out.
Through the window, the Foxes saw a mother rabbit hopping by with her babies.
“Little white rabbits hopping into forests, carrying our baskets to look for some mush-rooms!” they happily sang.
Little Fox suddenly felt hungry, “Why don’t we pick some mushrooms, too? ” he sug-gested.
“Sounds great!” said Mr. Fox. He searched around the house and found a huge basket to take with them.
“We have to be quick, though, or the rab-bits are going to leave us with no mushrooms to pick!” said Mrs. Fox.
The Foxes soon caught up with the rab-bits. Instead of saying hello, they ran straight ahead to grab the mushrooms.
Mother rabbit sensed some tension. She politely turned to the foxes and said, “It’s a little crowded here. Why don’t you all stay and I’ll take my children to pick mushrooms else-where.”
As she was leaving, she spotted Little Fox reaching for a brightly colored mushroom. “Don’t touch that mushroom! It’s poisonous!” she called back.
Mrs. Fox quickly grabbed the mushroom from Little Fox and placed it into the basket.
“Don’t worry about what that rabbit said. She’s only jealous!” she told Little Fox.
The Foxes continued picking all the bright-ly colored mushrooms. When their basket was full they finally returned to the red house…
Mrs. Fox made a delicious soup with all of the mushrooms, and they had that for dinner.
That night, the Foxes had a very bad stomach ache. “Ow…ow…ow…,” they moaned.
The noises made by them awoke the mon-key and the mother rabbit who happened to be resting nearby. They rushed to the red house and saw the Foxes rolling on the ground with their hands over their stomachs.
“Oh no, they must have been poisoned by the mushrooms,” said the rabbit.
“I’m going to look for some medicine,” said the monkey as he dashed out of the house.
Meanwhile, the rabbit filled a big pot of water and placed it on top of the stove. She spent every minute stoking and fanning the f lames to keep the water boiling. The monkey returned with a handful of herbs, she threw them into the pot and quickly brewed some herbal soup. She then poured the medicine into three bowls.
The monkey and the rabbit took the soup to Mr. and Mrs. Fox first. They refused to drink it because they suspected the soup was full of poison. Surely, the monkey and rabbit wouldn’t try to save them after taking their things.
When the monkey and the rabbit took the soup to Little Fox, he drank it all up. Soon, he felt better and was able to stand up and walk again. He came over to his parents with the soup. “Mum, Dad! Look at me — I’m cured! You should definitely drink the medicine,” he urged.
Mr. and Mrs. Fox finally drank the soup, convinced by their son…
It was almost dawn when the Foxes finally fell asleep. The monkey and the rabbit quietly left the red house with tired eyes.
The next day at noon, the Foxes woke up. They all felt normal again.
Mr. Fox was quite perplexed. “The monkey and the rabbit should hate us, why did they help us?”
“I have no idea, but I think we should give the red house back to the monkey,” said Mrs. Fox.
Mr. Fox and Little Fox agreed with her. The three of them carefully cleaned and tidied up the house, and left a bunch of fresh flowers at the window before leaving.
“I think we should do something for the mother rabbit too — she has also been very kind to us,” said Little Fox.
They went to the market and bought a large basket. They filled it with fresh, big mushrooms that they had just picked, and qui-etly left it at mother rabbit’s door.
After that, they set off again, to continue to look for the happy forest.
Little Fox whistled while running ahead. “For some reason, I feel very happy today,” he said with a smile on his face.
“Me too! I am so happy that I feel like singing!” said Mrs. Fox. She did not end up singing, though, because she had never sung before.
Mr. Fox did not say a word, but he, too, felt a difference.
As he walked, a thought came across his mind. “Maybe we’ve found that magical place already? ”
做梦的房子
河边草丛里，有条毛毛虫。
毛毛虫长得又丑又可怕，浑身毛乎乎的，所有的昆虫都不敢和她
说话，也不敢和她玩儿。
毛毛虫好孤独啊！那密密的草丛对她来说就好比是遮天蔽日的森
林。她经常爬到草尖儿上，去晒晒太阳，看看蓝天和白云。
有一天早晨，毛毛虫刚爬到草尖儿上，一只十分艳丽的花蝴蝶从
她的头上飞过。
“她多么漂亮啊！”毛毛虫的目光紧紧追随着花蝴蝶，她看见她飞到小河上，色彩斑斓的翅膀在阳光下闪着光，然后飞到河对岸去了—那里是鲜花盛开的地方。
看着花蝴蝶在鲜花上快活地舞蹈，毛毛虫心里羡慕极了。
这一天，花蝴蝶又从毛毛虫头上飞过。毛毛虫叫道 ：“蝴蝶姐姐，
请你停一停！”
花蝴蝶停在一根草尖儿上。当她发现是一条丑陋的毛毛虫在叫她
时，心里很不高兴，“有什么事吗？”
“我……我……我想请你把我背过河去。”
“你过河去干什么？”花蝴蝶已经很不耐烦了。
“我想去那片芳草地，那里很美。”毛毛虫的声音由于激动而颤抖
着。
“你也想去芳草地？”花蝴蝶怪声怪气地嘲讽道，“那是属于我们花蝴蝶的世界，像你这么丑陋的毛毛虫，只配生活在这潮湿的草丛
里。”
毛毛虫从草尖儿上跌落下来，躺在潮湿的草丛里伤心地哭起来。她以为她这一辈子也到不了芳草地了，因为她没有翅膀，芳草地只能成为她永远的梦想。
毛毛虫一天天长大了，可她一天也没有停止过她的芳草梦。她已不再孤独，也不再忧伤，因为她在梦中得到了欢乐。
为了不受外界的干扰，接近生活在自己的梦中，毛毛虫决定给自己修一座做梦的房子。
艰苦的劳动开始了。毛毛虫力气小，她搬不动砖头，也抬不动树枝，只有一点一点地吐出亮晶晶的丝来，绕在几棵草叶间。
绕呀，绕呀，毛毛虫昼夜不停地绕……
毛毛虫终于为自己修起了一座白色的、透明的房子，但她已经累得没有一丝力气了。
毛毛虫爬进透明的白房子里，慢慢地闭上了眼睛，“我可以把那个美好的梦一直做下去了…… ”
草丛里的那些昆虫们，什么金龟子呀、七星瓢虫呀、蟋蟀呀……
都知道毛毛虫在这座透明的房子里做梦，所以他们从旁边路过的时候，总是轻轻地、轻轻地，生怕惊醒了毛毛虫的梦。
晚上，萤火虫从这座透明的房子上飞过的时候，也是轻轻地、轻轻地，生怕惊醒了毛毛虫的梦。
过了些日子，金龟子和七星瓢虫从“做梦的房子”边经过，发现里边的毛毛虫变了样子。
金龟子小声地说 ：“瞧，她的背上长出了两只小翅膀！”
七星瓢虫小声地说 ：“瞧，她已经不是毛毛虫了！”又过了些日子，一群萤火虫从“做梦的房子”上飞过，像星星一样
的萤火照亮了这座透明的白房子，他们惊喜地发现，里边有一只小蝴蝶，正在舒展她美丽的花翅膀。
天亮了，当太阳从东方升起的时候，美丽的花蝴蝶从“做梦的房子”里飞出来，向河那边——鲜花盛开的地方飞去。
花蝴蝶飞到河面上，金色的河水倒映着她翩翩的身影，她能够想象出她的翅膀在灿烂的阳光下，闪烁着多么绚丽的光。
花蝴蝶飞到了鲜花盛开的地方，这就是她梦中的芳草地。花蝴蝶快活极了，从这一朵花飞到那一朵花，每一朵花都是她的舞台。
当花蝴蝶在花的舞台上跳舞跳累了的时候，她就会回到河这边阴暗潮湿的草丛里来，回到“做梦的房子”里来，她没有忘记她是从这里飞出去的。
这是一个晴朗的早晨，在一根挂着露珠的草尖儿上，花蝴蝶也遇见了一条毛毛虫。可是，花蝴蝶不觉得她丑陋，也不觉得可怕，因为自己也曾经是一条毛毛虫。
毛毛虫也这样请求花蝴蝶，“蝴蝶姐姐，请把我背到河那边的芳草
地去吧！”
花蝴蝶说 ：“你可以自己飞过去的。”
毛毛虫摇摇她胖乎乎的身子，“我没有翅膀，怎么能飞过去呢？”
花蝴蝶把毛毛虫带到那座透明的白房子旁，告诉她 ：“这是一座做
梦的房子。”
“做梦的房子？”毛毛虫十分惊奇，“我可以进去做梦吗？”
“进去吧。”花蝴蝶说，“当你梦醒的时候，你就可以飞到河那边的
芳草地去了！”
毛毛虫带着甜蜜的梦想，爬进了“做梦的房子”。
花蝴蝶围绕着“做梦的房子”翩翩起舞，她在默默地祝福里边的毛
毛虫，早日梦想成真。
THE HOUSE OF
DREAMS
In the bushes, near the river, lived a cat-erpillar. Her body was hairy and twisted, and dangling with dozens of legs. Everyone thought she was ugly and disgusting, so no one ever talked or played with her.
The caterpillar felt very lonely. Each day, when the sun rose, she would climb onto a blade of grass. Resting up there, looking up at the white clouds floating across the clear blue sky, often made her feel less lonely.
One day, a butterfly flew by. “Wow, she’s beautiful!” thought the caterpillar.
The butterf ly f lew across the water and landed on the other side of the river; onto a field filled with green grass and colorful flow-ers. She frolicked joyfully among the blossoms. Her wings were f loating and swirling in the sunshine, like a shiny snowflake.
“It would be nice if I could be there as well…” the caterpillar secretly wished.
So she waited for the butterfly to fly by a second time. “Hello, butterfly. Could you take me with you across the river?”
“Oh…ewwww! An ugly caterpillar!” mum-bled the butterfly with disgust. “Why do you want to go there?” she asked with contempt.
“Because it is so breathtaking!” replied the caterpillar.
“It is true that the field is a beautiful place, but it is not somewhere for a hideous thing like you to go! You only deserve to stay in this dark and damp bush!” the butterf ly scorned and flew away.
The butterf ly’s words crushed the cater-pillar’s heart. She fell from the tip of the grass. Lying on the ground, she started to cry. “It’s true! I can never be friends with a charming butterf ly like that… And I can never fly across the river with a magical pair of wings…”
The caterpillar cried and cried until shefelt very tired. Strangely, once she stopped cry-ing, she felt that her sadness had faded away. But what had not changed in the slightest was her dream to smell the sweet scent of the flow-ers in the beautiful field across the river.
Bit by bit, the little caterpillar grew up, but she never stopped dreaming. No longer did she feel sad or lonely. Her dream continued to bring her happiness.
“My dream has made me much happier than ever before! I should find a way to stay in my dream forever so that I can always feel so good!” the caterpillar thought to herself. “Ah-hah! I know what I’ll do! I’ll build myself a house where I may dream all the time!”
With her mind made up, the caterpillar started to take action. It was too hard for a tiny bug like her to lift any brick or branch, so she built her house by spewing strands of thin, white and delicate silk, wrapping it around and around a few grass leaves.
The caterpillar worked day and night non-stop. When the last strand was finally laid, she was exhausted.
“Whew…! Finally, it’s time for me to carry on with my dreaming…” Yawning, the caterpillar en-tered her newly built house, and closed her tired eyes.
During the day, the beetles, lady bugs and crickets that passed by the little transparent white house noticed a sleeping caterpillar in-side. Not wanting to wake the caterpillar from her lovely dream, these little creatures kept quiet around her house of silk.
At night, when the fireflies flew past the transparent white house, they also kept very quiet. They, too, did not want to waken the caterpillar from her dream.
A few days passed before the bugs noticed a change that had taken place inside the trans-parent white house.
“Look! The caterpillar has grown wings,” whispered the ladybug.
“Look! The caterpillar does not look the same!” the beetles murmured.
Another few days passed. The fire flies flew by. Like stars shining in the sky, their glow lit up the transparent white house. Surprisingly, what they found dreaming inside was no longer an ugly and twisted caterpillar, but an exquisitely beautiful butterfly.
The next day, as the sun rose, the butter-f ly came out of her house and f lew towards where she had always dream to be—the beautiful land across the river where flowers bloomed.
As she flew across the river that shone in the morning sun, she saw the ref lection of her-self in the water. Her movement was swift and elegant, and her wings were light and delicate. Finally, she reached the field of her dreams. She danced gracefully with every flower, and sang in the wind…
Sometimes, when she got tired from all the dancing and singing, she would fly back to her house on the other side of the river to have a rest. One morning, she came across another caterpillar climbing onto a blade of grass with a drop of morning dew hanging from it. She did not find that caterpillar ugly or repelling, for she remembered that she was once one too.
“Hello Butterfly. Could you take me with you across the river?” the caterpillar asked.
“I don’t think there’s such need, sweet-heart. You will cross the river yourself and en-ter the land of your dreams one day!” answered the butterfly with kindness and sincerity.
“But, how? I don’t have any wings!” ex-claimed the caterpillar.
“Come with me.” The butterfly led the caterpillar to her house. “There you go! It’s the house that will make your dream come true!”
“A house that will make my dream come true?” The caterpillar was bewildered.
“Yes, that’s right! Enter the house and dream sweet dreams. Once you awaken from your dream, you will find yourself to be some-thing wonderful and new,” said the butterfly.
The caterpillar thought up her dream and then climbed into the white house of silk.
The butterfly joyfully danced around the house, fluttering her wings majestically as the caterpillar slept.
She knew the caterpillar’s dream would soon come true."
