周游世界的艾伯蒂娜

Albertina was a child who neverstopped for even a moment. She ran aroundeverywhere and if she wanted to dosomething， she would do it there and then.

“Get out of my way. Here I come！ ”she would shout as she ran through the

magic kingdom1 at top speed2.

“Someday something will happen tothat girl，”said the lake fairies3.

“Or she’ll hurt someone，” said thesorceresses4 of the forest.

The lake fairies were right： On one ofher crazy runs she fell over and broke herleg. The fall was so hard that， unluckily，she could no longer run quickly.

Albertina was so unhappy that herparents， who were top wizards5， decided togive her a fast small horse made of sweetsto ride around the kingdom once again.

“Great！ Now as well as being fast， Ican eat all the sweets I want. Giddy up6，Rainbow. Let’s ran across the lake！ ”

Impulsive7 and impatient8 as ever，Albertina would bite off little sweets fromher horse Rainbow as she rode. At first itwas hardly noticed but， over time， thebeautiful horse began to realize that shewas being bitten everywhere.

“That horse is going too fast，”saidthe druids9.

“It’s too skinny10， and one day it will break，”said the nymphs11.

The nymphs were right： While runningat full speed， Albertina bit off thehorse’s left ear. The horse lost itsbalance12 and the few sweets left on itflew into the air.

Albertina ended up even worse offthan after her last fall. Her parents feltsorry for her and gave her a big chocolatedragon as a gift.

But once again Albertina couldn’tcontrol13 herself. Her urge14 to run andeat sweets saw her end up being badlyinjured15. The dragon turned into chocolatechips for breakfast.

The girl started crying again.

“She is very sad，”said her mother.“We’ll have to give her something.”

“All right， but this time it will have to be something different.”

“Yes， something that she can’t hurtherself badly doing and will help her eathealthier.”

So Albertina was given a snail made of spinach16， her most hated food.

She cried， stamped17 her feet， saidno and stamped her feet again. But it hadno use. Her means of transport18， herpet， her best friend， was to be a spinachsnail from then on.

She had to prepare her tripscarefully， cook her meals and think abouteverything before setting off.

At first she was impatient at havingto spend so much time on such things，but soon she found that she also enjoyedpreparing the best moments and thishelped her live them to the full. Shelearned to appreciate19 the slow pace20of her snail. It no longer seemed like asilly animal to her， and she no longerwanted to do things without thinkingabout them： Everything was much nicerwith a little bit of calm.

Now， when she crosses the magickingdom on the back of her snail， she hastime to hear what the fairies， sorceresses，druids and nymphs are saying.

“This girl will go far. Slowly， but far.”

This time， for sure， they are all right.

艾伯蒂娜是一个一刻也不能停下来的孩子。她到处跑，如果她想做什么，她会当场就做。

“让开，我来了！”当她以最快的速度穿过魔法王国时，她会这样大叫。

“总有一天那个女孩会出事的。”湖中小精灵们说。

“不然她就会伤到别人。”森林中的女巫们说。

湖中小精灵们是对的：在一次疯狂的奔跑中，她摔倒了，然后摔断了腿。这一跤摔得很重，很不幸，她再也跑不快了。

艾伯蒂娜非常不高兴，她的父母是顶级巫师，他们决定送她一匹由糖果制成的跑得很快的小马，让她再次在王国里四处骑行。

“太好了！现在，除了速度快，我还可以尽情吃糖。振作起来，彩虹。

我们跑过这个湖吧！”

像往常一样冲动和不耐烦，艾伯蒂娜会在骑马时从她的小马彩虹身上咬下小块糖果。起初，这几乎没有人注意到，但随着时间的推移，美丽的小马开始意识到自己身上到处都被咬伤了。

“那匹马跑得太快了。”德鲁伊们说。

“它太瘦了，总有一天会断的。”仙女们说。

仙女们是对的：在全速奔跑时，艾伯蒂娜咬掉了小马的左耳。

小马失去了平衡，身上仅剩的几块糖飞到了空中。

艾伯蒂娜最后摔得甚至比上次更严重。她的父母心疼她，送了她一条巧克力巨龙作为礼物。

但是艾伯蒂娜又一次无法控制自己了。她想狂奔和吃糖的冲动导致她严重受伤。那条龙变成了早餐吃的巧克力片。

女孩又开始哭了。

“她很伤心。”她妈妈说，“我们得给她送点什么。”

“好吧，但这一次必须有所不同。”

“对，一些不会让她严重伤害自己，并且会帮助她健康饮食的东西。”

于是艾伯蒂娜得到了一只菠菜做的蜗牛，那是她最讨厌的食物。

她大哭，跺着脚说不要，然后又跺脚。但是没有用。她的交通工具、宠物、最好的朋友，从此时起就是一只菠菜蜗牛。

她必须仔细准备她的旅行，烹饪餐点，并在出发前考虑好一切。

起初，她对不得不在这些事情上花费这么多时间感到不耐烦，但很快她发现自己也喜欢为最美好的时刻做准备，这有助于她充分享受这些时刻。她学会了欣赏蜗牛缓慢的步伐。对她来说，它不再像是一只愚蠢的动物，她也不再不经过思考就行动：只要多一点冷静，一切都会变得更好。

现在，当她骑在蜗牛背上穿过魔法王国时，她有时间听小精灵、女巫、德鲁伊和仙女们在说什么。

“这个女孩会走得很远。很慢，但是远。”

这一次，他们肯定是对的。

（英语原文选自：freestoriesforkids.com）