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小时候，爷爷给我讲过很多很多的故事。我一见到爷爷就很高兴，因为他就是我的"电视机”，当然，那个时候电视机还远远没有发明出来。我们整夜不睡，听他讲地下藏宝之类的故事。那些故事不是民间传说，而是他自己编的。 有一则故事，我爷爷给所有的孙子孙女都讲过了，那则故事一直印在我的脑海里。他讲道："一天早晨我去打猎。”顺便提一下，他有一杆古老的毛瑟枪，前膛装填式的。 他说：“我把我的牛角——装火药的牛角挂在腰带一侧，铅弹袋挂在另一侧。”他继续往下讲，“我在森林里走了很远很远，朝一只动物开了一枪。我正准备再装些弹药，却发现铅弹袋不知什么时候已经裂开了，所有铅弹都漏掉了。那时，我在密林深处，有用不完的火药和引火药可以装枪，但就是没有一粒铅弹。" 他继续讲：“我开始往家走，走到了林中一个小湖边。湖岸上躺着一只我见过的最大的鳄鱼，它在那儿睡大觉。孩子，爷爷当然很想杀死那只鳄鱼！把它的皮剥下来能卖个大价钱。” 他接着说:"我就想该用什么做枪子呢？那天早上打猎前，我路过一棵桃树，就摘了几个桃子吃，吃完以后我把桃核装进口袋回了家。"他往下讲，“想，或许可以用桃核做枪子。于是我把枪装满火药，放上桃核，直接走到熟睡的鳄鱼旁，朝它的两眼正中间开了一枪。那家伙猛地惊醒，就地打了个滚儿，爬回了湖里，消失得无影无踪。结果，我没捕到它。” 他接着说：“五年以后，我又到那个地方打猎。还是那个小湖，湖岸上长着一棵美丽的桃树，树上结满了桃子。我跑过去想摘个桃子，还没到跟前，那棵桃树就往湖中心漂去。”爷爷说：“那颗桃核早已在鳄鱼头顶发了芽，长成了那棵美丽的桃树！ The Alligator Peach Tree My grandfather told a lot of tall tales when I was a kid. I was very happy to see him because he was my television set long before television was invented. We'd stay up all night and tell stories about buried treasure and that kind of thing. Those were not folktales. They were just lies he made up. My grandfather used to tell one to all the grandkids, and that one stuck to my mind. He said, “One morning, I’d gone hunting.”Of course he had an old musket, muzzle- loading musket. And he said, “I had my horn, my powder horn hanging from my belt, and my lead ball pouch hanging on the other side.” And he said, “I was way out there in the forest, and I shot something. When I came to reload, I noticed the pouch had broken open and all the lead balls had fallen out. There I was way in the forest, plenty of powder and caps to load the gun, but no lead balls.” So he said，”I started back home. I came to this small lake in the forest. On the bank of that lake was the biggest alligator. The biggest alligator was sleeping on the banks. Boy, I sure would like to kill that alligator for the skin! I could skin it and sell the skin.” He said, “I started thinking what I could use for musket balls. That morning, before going hunting, I passed by a peach tree, and I’d plucked some peaches and I’d eaten them, but I’d put the seeds in my pocket when I came back.” He said, “I decided, maybe a peach seed. I packed that powder in, put a peach stone, I packed it in, went right up to that sleeping alligator and shot it right between the eyes. That thing pulled up, rolled over, crawled back in the lake and disappeared. Well, I didn’t get him. ’， He said, “Five years later, I went hunting in that same place. Right on the banks of this lake there was a beautiful peach tree growing. It was loaded with peaches. When I ran out to grab a peach, it swam out in the middle.” He said that peach stone had sprouted in that alligator’s head and made a beautiful peach tree! |
