The moon on the Tree树上的月亮(双语阅读)

The moon on the Tree
树上的月亮
In ancient times, no moon was in sky. The sky was black.
古时候，夜晚的天空上本来没有月亮，到处是一片漆黑。
Once upon a time, four men went in a carriage to a trip. They reached another country when it was dark; they saw a tall tree with a ball of soft silver light hanging from it. They asked a native passing if it was a light in a tree. The native told them that it was a moon which their chief had bought with three coins.
有一次，四个小伙子赶着一辆马车外出去旅行。当他们去到另外一个国家时，已是晚上了。他们看到在一棵高大的树上悬挂着一个光亮的球，闪着柔和的银光。他们问一个从树下走过的当地人那是不是一盏灯。那个本地人告诉他们那是月亮，是他们的村长用三块硬币买来的。
At midnight, the four man stole the moon and put it in their carriage, covering it with a piece of clothing. They carried the moon to their country and hung it on a tall oak. Since then the night were bright and moonlit, so all the people were happy.
半夜里，四个小伙子偷偷地把月亮从树上摘下来，放上车，用一块布盖好。然后神不知鬼不觉地拉回到他们的国家里，挂到一棵很高的橡树上。夜里有了光明，全国的人都很高兴。
Many years later, one of the men was ill and dying, he said that a quarter of the moon belonged to him. And he wanted to take it into the tomb. When he died, they cut a quarter of the moon to put in the coffin. The other three men also wanted to be buried with their share of the moon when they died. So it was done as they wished. When the last one died the sky was dark.
许多年之后，四个人中的一个人病了，快要死了，他说月亮的四分之一是属于他的。所以他要把它带到坟墓里去。后来他死了，大家爬上树去，剪下月亮的四分之一，放进他的棺材里。当其他三个人临死的时候，也都提出了同样的要求。大家觉得这些要求很合理，于是就满足了他们的心愿。在最后死去的那个人下葬时，夜里到处又是一片漆黑了。
In the heaven, the four men rose from their graves and put the moon back together. The people in heaven sang, danced, drank and enjoyed themselves. Their noise spread in throughout heaven. The guard, St. Peter, thought the people had rebelled, he took his horse and rode quickly to the place. When he got there he ordered the dead to lie in their tombs. He took away the moon to hang back in the sky. From this time on, the moon belonged to the people on earth.
在天堂里，那四个人又把月亮复原。于是生活在天堂里的人们有了光明，就整天唱歌、跳舞、酗酒、打闹。他们的喧哗声传遍了天堂。天国里的卫士——圣彼得，以为他们要造反，骑马赶到了那里。到达以后，他命令所有的死去的人躺回到他们的坟墓里去。然后他把月亮带走，挂在了天上。从那以后啊，月亮就属于整个人类了。
英语单词学习：
ancient: adj. 古代的
hang: v. 悬挂
native: n. 当地人
chief: n.酋长；首领
carriage: n. 四轮马车
moonlit: adj. 月光照耀的
belong to: 属于
tomb: n. 坟墓
coffin: n. 棺材
bury: v. 埋葬