抒情散文:乡间散步-A Walk in the Country

乡间散步
【内容提示】
在一个初夏的下午，天气明媚，温暖惬意。课后，你和同寝室的同学沿着校外的一条河流散步。你们走着走着，不觉夜幕降临了。你们之中的一位同学突然指着路旁发出红光的东西喊起来。那是一株挂果的植物。你摘了一颗放到嘴里尝了尝，挺好吃。于是每个同学都摘了一些吃。不一会，走来一位农妇，对你们说那果子是用来毒蛇的。这意味着你们的生命很危险。返校的路上你想了好多。回到学校，你们把果子拿给生物老师一看才知道不是毒果而是野草莓。
【作文示范】
A Walk in the Country
It was an early summer afternoon. The sun was shining brightly and warmly. Everything on the campus looked as if it had been sleeping for years. After school my roommates and I decided to take a walk along the river near our school, instead of staying with our “Mr. Formula”① and “Mrs. Theorem”② in the classroom.
A fresh breeze③ played with our hair. In the blue sky, clouds were drifting④ here and there. We told each other stories and jokes. Songs and laughter could be heard now and then. It seemed that the world belonged to us and the earth was full of joys.
We walked and walked. Before we knew it, it was nearly nightfall⑤ and all glowed red in the evening sunlight. Standing on the narrow country road, we felt a bit tired, thirsty and hungry.
“Look, what is it?” one of us said, pointing to something red growing by the side of the road. It was a plant, bearing some fruit, which looked so inviting⑥ that we all eager to taste it. I picked one. To my happy surprise, it was a bit sweet. Everyone of us picked a lot. While eating the little red fruit, we talked of the wonderful time we had that afternoon. Then a country woman came. When she saw us eating the wild fruit she let out a cry of surprise. She told us it was used to poison snakes. That meant, we thought with horror, that we were in danger.The story that some poison for mice left in the kitchen killed a lovely baby came to my mind. The more we talked, the more we were frightened. All of a sudden someone mentioned the word “death”. We looked at each other not knowing what to do.
Thinking of the coming death I felt the world was so dear that I was quite unwilling to leave her and time was so precious that I had no right to waste it.
“I should have valued my life. How I love life!” I thought, “If I am still living tomorrow morning, it will be my second life. I will not waste time any longer.”
As soon as we were back at school we showed the red fruit to our biology teacher. She told us with a smile, “That is wild strawberry⑦. It is not poisonous.
As the bell rang announcing it was time for self study, we had to enter the classroom without supper. Though I was hungry, I should waste no time, and I worked harder than ever. How valuable life is! How precious time is!
（选自1986年9月23日《上海学生英文报》）
【词语解释】
①formula [＇f&:mjul+] n．公式，方程式
②theorem [＇Ii+r+m] n．定理；原理
③breeze [bri:z] n．微风
④drift [drift] v．漂流；游荡
⑤nightfall [＇naitf&:l] n．黄昏
⑥inviting [in＇vaitiR] a．吸引人的；诱人的
⑦strawberry [＇str&:b+ri] n．草毒