犀牛的皮肤是如何变粗糙的？

高莺嘉

Long long ago， in Africa there was a rhino named Rhys. He was a cheeky2 rhino and loved to eat cookies. Of course， man cant find cookies in the wild， so Rhys had got a really bad habit of stealing cookies from African tribes3. Whenever Rhys wanted cookies， he would never ask politely for it or even ask！Instead， he would just steal them. Not just one. He stole all of them. When the tribes went hungry， they blamed it on Rhys. Well， Rhys didnt care at all， as long as he had got his cookies.

很久很久以前，在非洲有一只名叫瑞斯的犀牛。它脸皮很厚，喜欢吃饼干。当然，人们是无法在野外找到饼干的。于是瑞斯养成了从非洲部落偷饼干的坏毛病。只要瑞斯想吃饼干了，它从不向人们讨要饼干，更不用说礼貌的请求了，而是直接偷饼干。不是一块，它把所有的饼干都偷走了。当非洲部落的人们挨饿的时候，他们就会骂瑞斯。瑞斯压根不在乎，只要它有饼干吃就行。

One day， Rhys had a vision of the African God. The God warned him that stealing cookies was not allowed， and asked him to stop doing that. Or he would pay a price. Well， Rhys didnt care， but said：“Mind your own business.”

有一天，瑞斯看见了非洲之神。神警告它不许偷饼干，要求它停止偷窃，否则要付出代价。但瑞斯毫不在意，它说：“管好你自己的事吧！”

So， the African people had a great meeting， to discuss about what they would do. A little boy named Carl spoke up， “We can play a trick on him.” “What trick？” People asked curiously4. “We all know that Rhys likes to take baths in the pond next to a huge bread tree. He leaves his coat on the bank. And I can climb up the tree and hide there. When Rhys takes off his coat， I am going to put cookie crumbs5 in his coat and glue6 the buttons with melted amber7. Once he puts on the coat after bath， the buttons and coat will stick together. Then he wont be able to take it off again.” Carl said. The tribes all agreed.

因此，非洲人召开了一个会议，讨论该怎么办。一个名叫卡尔的小男孩说：“我们可以捉弄一下瑞斯。”“怎么捉弄？”人们好奇地问。“大家都知道，瑞斯喜欢在一棵巨大的面包树旁的水塘里洗澡。它会把衣服脱了放在岸上。我可以爬到树上藏起来。等瑞斯脱下衣服后，我就把饼干屑撒在它的衣服里，然后在扣子上粘上融化的琥珀。等瑞斯洗完澡后一穿上衣服，扣子和衣服就会粘在一起，它就再也没法脱下衣服啦。”卡尔说。大家纷纷赞同。

Then， on a very hot day， when Rhys went to the pond as usual， Carl hid in the tree. He had a bag of cookie crumbs with him， and put all into Rhys coat and poured melted amber all over the buttons. Rhys didnt realize that at all. When he came out of the pond and put on his coat， he felt itchy8 everywhere. He tried to put off the coat. But it was stuck！Rhys had to scrape9 himself against the bread tree again and again till the coat was torn to pieces and his beautiful smooth skin became rough and wrinkled10.

于是，在一個炎炎烈日里，当瑞斯和往常一样去水塘里洗澡时，卡尔藏到了树上。他把带来的满满一袋饼干屑全部撒在瑞斯的衣服里，并把融化的琥珀浇在扣子上。瑞斯对此毫无察觉，在出了水塘穿上衣服之后，它感到全身都痒。它想把衣服脱下来，衣服却牢牢地粘在了身上！瑞斯只得使劲在面包树上一遍一遍地蹭，直到衣服碎成一片片，而它光滑的皮肤也从此被磨得粗糙起皱纹了。

Now， Rhys understood that “Good will be rewarded with good， and evil with evil”.

此时，瑞斯才终于明白了那句话：“善有善报，恶有恶报！”