乔尼遇见的第一场雪

　　在孩子们眼里，雪花是那样圣洁而美丽，它们是从天堂飞下的白色小鸟，是小天使不小心散落的羽毛……下雪的日子就是孩子们盛大的节日。还记得那些在雪地里撒欢打滚的日子吗？还有那一串串遗落在雪地里响亮的笑声？

　　乔尼·里德直到六岁才见到第一场雪。在这之前，他一直住在一个温暖的小村庄里，太阳照着桔林，田野里一直散发着迷人的花香。

　　但是现在，他要去看望他的祖母了。祖母住在一个冬天会下雪的地方。终于到了下雪的那一天，雪飘下来的时候，乔尼跑到窗前兴奋地看着。

　　“噢！妈妈。”他高兴地喊着，“快来呀，快来看这些从天堂飞下来的白色小鸟。”

　　“它们不是小鸟，乔尼。”妈妈笑着说。

　　“那么，是小天使们正在散落他们的羽毛吗！哦！快告诉我，它们是什么！它甜吗？让我尝尝它。”乔尼说。当他尝到雪花的味道时，他不由得打了个寒战，雪花真是太凉了。

　　“这只是雪花，乔尼。”妈妈告诉他。

　　“这些雪花是从云彩上掉下来的小水滴。但是它们在经过非常寒冷的大气层时，冷空气使它们凝结了，它们就变成雪花落了下来。”

　　说着，妈妈把一顶旧的黑帽子放到窗外。“看，乔尼！我已经捉到了一片雪花，它就在这顶帽子上，快用放大镜看看它。你就知道雪花有多漂亮了。”

　　乔尼急忙拿过放大镜观察雪花，洁白的雪绒花亮闪闪的，像一颗可爱的小星星。

　　“闪啊，闪啊，小星星！”他兴奋地嚷道，“噢！妈妈，请给我捉更多的雪花吧。”

　　于是，妈妈又接了几片雪花给他，它们都是一样的美丽。

　　第二天，乔尼在雪地里尽情地玩耍着。当他回到屋中，他宣布说：“我太喜欢雪了，我觉得雪球要比橘子可爱多了。”

　　Johnny's First Snowstorm

　　Johnny Reed was a little boy who never had seen a snowstorm till he was six years old. Before this, he had lived in a warm country, where the sun shines down on beautiful orange groves, and fields always sweet with  flowers。

　　But now he had come to visit his grandmother, who lived where the snow falls in winter. Johnny was standing at the window when the snow came down。

　　"O mamma!" he cried, joyfully, "do come quick, and see these little white birds flying down from heaven."

　　"They are not birds, Johnny," said mamma, smiling。

　　"Then maybe the little angels are losing their feathers! Oh! Do tell me what it is; is it sugar? Let me taste it," said Johnny. But when he tasted it, he gave a little jump — it was so cold。

　　"That is only snow, Johnny," said his mother。

　　"What is snow, mother?"

　　"The snowflakes, Johnny, are little drops of water that fall from the clouds. But the air through which they pass is so cold it freezes them, and they come down turned into snow."

　　As she said this, she brought out an old black hat from the closet. "See, Johnny! I have caught a snowflake on this hat. Look quick through this glass, and you will see how beautiful it is."

　　Johnny looked through the glass. There lay the pure, feathery snowflake like a lovely little star。

　　"Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" he cried in delight. "Oh! please show me more snow-flakes, mother."

　　So his mother caught several more, and they were all beautiful。

　　The next day Johnny had a fine play in the snow, and when he came in, he said, "I love snow; and I think snowballs are a great deal prettier than oranges."