7-08 Cinderella

名称：7-08 Cinderella
内容简介：
体验英语少儿阅读文库-7级，快乐阅读，强调阅读通畅性和趣味性，满足学生的成就感。
Once upon a time, there was a rich man who had a beautiful daughter called Ella. His wife had died long ago, and he had married again. His second wife was unkind to Ella. She made her work hard all day long, and Ella’s clothes became ragged and torn.
The stepmother had bought her two ugly daughters with her.
They were both as unkind as their mother.
“Go and make the beds, Ella. Then do the washing and scrub the floors.”
When evening came, Ella was always very tired. She would sit down by the fire in the ashes and cinders to rest and keep warm.
“Look at you, down there in the dirty ashes,” they would say.
“We are going to call you Cinder-Ella, because you are always sitting in the cinders”
“Oh, why are they unkind to me?　I am so sad and lonely. ”
Cinderella felt very sad and lonely.

Then one day, a special invitation arrived, saying that the king was going to hold a Grand Ball at the palace.
Cinderella’s stepmother and two ugly sisters were very excited.
“Look! The king is going to hold a Grand Ball at the palace!”
“You can make new dresses for all of us,” one of them said to Cinderella.
“We must have the most beautiful clothes to wear to the ball.”
“The king’s son will be there,” said the other sister,
“and I have heard that he is looking for a wife. He might choose me!”
On the night of the grand ball, Cinderella helped her stepmother and her ugly sisters to get dressed in their new gowns. Then she watched them driving away.

As Cinderella went over to sit by the fire, tears began to roll down her cheeks(面颊).
“Oh, how I wish I could go to the ball,” she said.
Suddenly, a kindly old woman appeared beside Cinderella.
“I am your Fairy Godmother（仙女婆婆），” she said,
“ and I can help you go to the ball. Follow me.”
Cinderella followed her Fairy Godmother into the garden.
She went out into the garden, and tapped an enormous pumpkin with her magic wand. Immediately, it turned into a fine coach(四轮大马车)！
Then six grey mice from the mouse trap(老鼠夹) became six grey horse to pull the coach.
An old rat became the coachman.
“I will turn this pumpkin into a coach!
I will turn these six grey mice into six grey horse to pull the coach.
And a rat will become your coachman.”
“There!” said the Fairy Godmother. “Now you can go to the ball, Cinderella!”
“But I can not go to the ball in these ragged clothes!” cried Cinderella.
The Fairy Godmother touched Cinderella with her magic wand.
“Look!” she said. “You are now wearing the loveliest gown in the land.”
Cinderella was delighted. She watched as her old slippers changed into the most beautiful glass shoes she had ever seen.
“And I have beautiful glass shoes, too!”
“Oh，thank you! thank you! Fairy Godmother,” she cried.
“You can be on your way now, my child,” said her Fairy Godmother.
“But there is one thing to remember!
You must leave the ball by midnight,
because then the magic will end, and your clothes will be rags again.”
“I will not forget,” said Cinderella, as she climbed into her coach.

When Cinderella walked into the castle ballroom(舞厅), everyone turned to look at her. The Prince came towards her, amazed(惊奇的) by her beauty.
As the music began to play, he took her hand. Then he danced with her all night.
The ugly sisters sat beside their mother and said,
“Who is that beautiful girl? We have never seen her before.”
Everyone at the ball wanted to know who she was.
Cinderella was having such a wonderful time that she forgot to look at the clock.
All too soon, the chimes(钟声) of midnight began to ring out.
“It is midnight! I must go!” she gasped(喘息) to the prince.
She ran out of the ballroom and down the palace steps.
One of her glass shoes came off, but Cinderella could not stop.
The prince called to her, but by the time he reached the doorway, she had gone.
“Come back! Come back! Oh, no! She has gone!”
The prince walked slowly down the steps. He picked up the dainty（小巧玲珑的） glass shoe and smiled to himself.
“Tomorrow I will get my servants（仆人） to take this shoe to every house in the land,” he said. “Whoever it fits will become my wife.”

So the very next day, the prince’s servants went from house to house with the glass shoe.
Every woman in the land tried to put it on.
At last, the servants arrived at Cinderella’s house.
The ugly sisters ran to meet them. “Let me try the shoe! It will fit me.”
“No! Give it here!” cried the other. “It is my shoe!”
“Stop fighting over that shoe. I will try it. Oh, no! It will not fit me, either.”
The ugly sisters fought(fight的过去式) over the shoe. They tried to squeeze(挤压) their feet into it, and so did their mother. But it did not fit any of them.

Then the servants looked at Cinderella and said, “Every woman in the land must try this shoe.”
The ugly sisters started to laugh.
“But thai is only Cinderella,” they said. “She is too poor to wear such a fine shoe!”
“Let me see if this shoe will fit you.”
One of the servants knelt down（跪下，knelt室kneel的过去式） in front of Cinderella. He held out the shoe and she slipped her foot into it. It fitted perfectly（完美的）!
“It fits me because it is my shoe.”
Suddenly, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother appeared again. She waved her wand, and once more Cinderella was wearing her beautiful ball gown and both glass shoes.
“So it was Cinderella at the ball!” Cried the ugly sisters
“She was the beautiful girl who danced all night with the Prince!” Cried their mother.
“Come to the palace with us, Cinderella,” “The Prince will be waiting for you.”
The servants took Cinderella back to the palace where the Prince was waiting.
He was delighted to see her again.
“Will you marry me,” he asked, “and become my wife?”
“Oh, yes,” smiled Cinderella.
And so Cinderella and the Prince were married, and they lived happily ever after(从此以后一直).

Invitation 邀请 Grand Ball 盛大的舞会 stepmother继母