柠檬树教学文案

柠檬树

Lemon Tree

The world only goes round by misunderstanding.

~Charles Baudelaire

It was a bright and sunny spring afternoon. As I washed dishes, I looked out my kitchen window and saw Pat, mu roommate, admiring her miniature lemon tree. It had been three years since she planted that tree, and each year she would baby it, hoping it would grow lemons. The tree had reached approximately four feet. There were three leaves growing on a single branch. Pat looked so happy and content. This year, it seemed it would finally grow those long-awaited lemons.

“Grandma, do you have any work for me? I need fifteen dollars.”

I asked, “What do you need fifteen dollars for, Anthony?”

My twelve-year-old grandson wanted to make some extra money to go to the local amusement park. I was a little hesitant to pay him for doing work that I felt he should have done for free. After all, I decided it would be nice for him to mow the backyard. I also wanted him to mow around the stone walkway close to the hedges and trim around Pat’s lemon tree.

“Okay, Anthony, I want you to mow the backyard. I want you to mow everything, especially the stone walkway and as close to the hedges

as possible.”

Anthony was a little more excited than I thought he would be.

He said, “You want me to mow everything?”

I told him yes, mow everything. I had to go to the store for an hour or so, but I would pay him when I got back. In exchange, he had no promise that he would take his time and do a good job.

He said, “Okay. So , you want me to mow everything?”

Again, I said yes, “Everything.”

Pat was also on her way out. She said she would be back in a few hours.

As I drove up toward ht driveway on my return from the store, I noticed three little leaves on a lone branch sticking out of the trash can. I quickly parked my car and ran to the backyard.

“Oh, my goodness!”I was almost in a state of panic. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The tree was gone. The whole tree was gone!

I could imagine how Pat would yell. “You always have to be specific with children because they can only do what they comprehend,”she’d say. This was one of those moments; I should have been specific with Anthony. I should have told him to mow everything except the lemon tree.

“Anthony! Anthony!”I yelled, but no answer. What the heck had this kid done?

I ran back to the trashcan and looked inside, hoping to replant the tree, but it was cut up into six little pieces. I shoved all the pieces back into the trash can. I had to do something, but what? I decided I would buy another tree and plant it before Pat returned.

Rushing around town, I went to three home improvement stores, but no luck. I could not find a tree that remotely resembled Pat’s lemon trees. Oh, no! It was getting late, and Pat would be so angry if she got home and saw her tree missing. I had to do something, and I had to do it quickly.

“A nursery... I could go to a nursery.”

As I hurried toward the neighborhood nursery, I said a little prayer. “Please let there be a lemon tree.” My prayers were answered. There was a tree that kind of resembled Pat’s lemon tree. I asked the owner to cut a few of the branches and pluck the leaves. No perfect, but it looked a lot like Pat’s tree.

As soon as I got home, I rushed to the backyard to plane the lemon tree. I had to replant it once because I planted it with the leaves on the right side and remembered they had been on the left side. Just as I finished replanting the tree, Pat came home. I heard her calling my name.

I yelled back and told her I was in the backyard. As soon as she came outside, I could see her eyes focused on the tree.

“I can’t believe it!” she yelled. I couldn’t believe it, either. She had noticed the tree. I should have been honest with her. I should have told

her the truth. I should never have wasted my time and money. That’s what I deserved for trying to cover for my grandson.

“I can’t believe it!” Pat kept yelling. She looked at me and said, “I told you that you have to be specific when telling kids what to do.” She was shaking her hand, pointing to the tree. “You have to keep an eye on kids. You have to monitor them because they do what they want to do.” I could see the expression on her face, and she was reaching a state of anger.

“Where is Anthony?” she asked. “Don’t you pay him a dime!” She walked away toward the house. “Anthony! Anthony!” she yelled.

How could she have known? I thought I had trimmed the tree to look exactly as the old one. I was physically exhausted from running around town looking for that tree. I was also becoming emotionally drained. No matter how hard I had tried to replace that tree, Pat had noticed. Now, I had to hear her complaining for hours, maybe for days.

As soon as I entered the house, Pat looked at me and said, “I can’t believe Anthony didn’t listen to me.” She was angry. “Where is he?”

Just as she started to walk toward the living room, Anthony walked in the door. Pat said, “Anthony! Why didn’t you do as I told you?”Anthony looked confused. “Didn’t I tell you to cut down that tree?”I almost fainted; I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

Anthon said, “I did cut it down.”

“Well, if you cut it down, then what the heck is that in the backyard?!”

~Irene Estrada

柠檬树

这个世界只因误解而生生不息。

~查尔斯·波德莱尔

那是春天里一个阳光明媚的下午，我在洗碗，透过厨房的窗户看到我的室友帕特正在欣赏她的迷你柠檬树。三年前她种下那棵树，每年都会呵护它，希望树上能长出柠檬。柠檬树已经长到大概四英尺高了，一根树枝上长着三片叶子，帕特看上去那么的快乐和满足。看来今年这棵树终于可以长出那些被期待已久的柠檬。

“奶奶，你有什么活可以给我干吗？我需要十五块钱。”

我问：“安东尼，你要十五块钱干什么呢？”

我那十二岁的小孙子想要赚些外快去当地的游乐园，对此，我有些犹豫，因为我觉得他不应该为此要钱。但毕竟，我是他的祖母。

考虑了一会儿，我决定让他去后院割草，还想让他把树篱边上石子路附近的草也割了，再把帕特的柠檬树的周边清理一下。

“好啊，安东尼，你去后院割草吧。我要你把后院每块土地都清

理干净，尤其是树篱附近的石子路。”

安东尼比我想象的要更兴奋一些。

他说：“每块地方吗？”

我给了肯定的答案。我要去商店买点东西，大概一个小时，但等我回来，我会给他钱的。作为交换，他要保证用心做好这份工作。

他说：“好的。那你是要我把每块地方的草都割了？”

再一次，我肯定地回答：“每块地方。”

帕特也要出门，她说几个小时之后会回来。

等我从商店回来，把车开进车道的时候，发现垃圾桶里竖着柠檬树上那根长着三片小叶子的树枝，我赶紧停好车跑到后院。

“哦，老天爷！”我惊慌失措，简直不敢相信眼前看到的一切。柠檬树不见了，整棵树都不见了！

我可以想象帕特会冲着我大嚷：“你要跟孩子说清楚，否则他们只会按照自己的理解去做事情。”这只是其一。我应该和安东尼说清楚，应该告诉他把每块地方的草都割了，除了那棵柠檬树。

“安东尼！安东尼！”我大叫，但没有回音。这孩子到底都干了什么？

我跑回垃圾桶那里，看看里面剩下的，希望能把柠檬树再植回去。但整棵小树已经被分割成了六块，我把所有的碎块都倒回垃圾桶里。我得想想办法，但还有什么办法？我决定再去买一棵树，趁帕特没回来，赶紧种上。

我在城里到处转，去了三家家庭装修商店，但都没买到。我找不到一棵和帕特的柠檬树有一丝相像的树。哦，不！天要黑了，帕特回到家如果发现她的树不见了会很生气的。我必须想个办法，要快。

“苗圃……我可以去苗圃。”

我匆匆赶到小区里的苗圃，小声祈祷着：“那儿一定得有棵柠檬树啊。”上帝听到了我的祈祷，那里有棵树和帕特的柠檬树有点相似。我让店家砍掉一些树枝，摘掉叶子，虽然不算完美，但看起来已经很像帕特的柠檬树了。

我一到家就冲到后院，把树种下。期间我还返工了一次，因为我种下的时候，叶子在右边，但我记得帕特种下的时候，叶子是在左边的。我刚刚搞定，帕特就回来了。我听到她在叫我，就冲她大喊，告诉她我在后院。她一走出来，我就看见她的眼睛紧盯着柠檬树。

“我简直不敢相信！”她大叫。我也不敢相信，她已经发现这棵树的不同之处。我应该跟她坦白，应该告诉她事实，根本不应该浪费这么多时间和金钱。那是我替孙子收拾烂摊子的下场。

“我简直无法相信这是真的！”帕特不停地叫着，她看着我说道，“我告诉过你让孩子做事情的时候要跟他们说得具体一点。”她颤颤巍巍地用手指着那棵树，“你要留意孩子们做的事情，你要看着他们，因为他们想做什么就会去做的。”我能看到她脸上的表情，火山就要爆发了。

“安东尼在哪儿？”她问道，“你敢付给他一分钱！”她一边朝屋里走去，一边大喊，“安东尼！安东尼！”

她怎么会知道的？我以为自己已经把这棵树修剪得和原来那棵一样了。刚才我四处找树把自己累坏了，情感也几乎消耗殆尽。不论我多么努力地尝试去弥补，帕特还是发现了。现在，我不得不听到她抱怨好几个小时，甚至好几天。

我一走进屋里，帕特就看着我说道：“我不敢相信安东尼居然不听我的话。”她很生气，“他在哪儿？”

就在她要朝客厅走去的时候，安东尼进门了。帕特说：“安东尼！你为什么不照着我说的做？”安东尼一脸疑惑，“我不是让你把那棵树砍了吗？”我差点晕倒，简直不敢相信自己刚才听到的话。

安东尼说：“我的确把树砍掉了啊。”

“那好，如果你把树砍了，那后院里的东西究竟是什么？！”

——艾琳·埃斯特拉达