🍂 佳佳的英语绘本 · 第9期：The Last Season

The oak tree in Mr. Chen's garden had stood for 127 years. In spring, children would climb its branches. In summer, its shade covered the entire garden. In autumn, its leaves turned gold, red, and orange.

But Mr. Chen was 94 years old, and his children had long since moved away. Each year, fewer people came to see the tree.

One October morning, a young girl named Mei knocked on Mr. Chen's door. "I am writing a report for school. I want to learn about this tree. It is the oldest living thing in our neighborhood."

Mr. Chen showed her old photographs and said: "This tree has outlasted three families. It was here before the houses. It will be here after I'm gone."

"But what about when it's gone? Who will remember?" Mei asked.

Mr. Chen was silent for a moment. Then he said: "Everything that lives must change. But nothing that has ever been truly loved is ever really gone. You will remember. You will tell your children."

Months later, when Mr. Chen passed peacefully, Mei planted a tiny oak sapling — grown from one of the acorns she had collected — in the exact spot where the original oak's shadow used to fall.

"This," she told the other mourners, "is the first year of the second century."

最后一季

陈爷爷花园里的橡树已经站了127年。春天，孩子们会爬上它的枝条。夏天，它的树荫覆盖整个花园。秋天，它的叶子变成金黄色、红色和橙色。

但陈爷爷已经94岁了，他的孩子们早已搬到了遥远的世界各地。每一年，来观赏这棵树的人越来越少。

十月的一个早晨，一个叫梅的小女孩敲响了陈爷爷的门。"我正在为学校写一份报告。我想了解这棵树。它是我们社区最古老的生物。"

陈爷爷给她看了旧照片，说："这棵树比三户人家都长寿。它在房子之前就在这里了。在我走之后它还会在这里。"

"但是当它消失后呢？谁会记得？"梅问。

陈爷爷沉默了一会儿。然后他说："一切活着的都必须改变。但真正被爱过的东西永远不会消失。你会记得。你会告诉你的孩子。"

几个月后，当陈爷爷平静地离开时，梅把她从收集的橡果中培育的小橡树苗种在了原来橡树树荫落下的确切位置。

"这是，"她告诉其他哀悼者，"第二世纪的第一年。"