The Marble Behind the Green Stream- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Thick emerald dye seeped from a tilted tin beside the garden shed and crawled across the flagstones. The slow stream pressed against bumps in the path, then curved toward a shallow clay bowl buried in soft soil under the rosemary bush. A striped squirrel darted down the apple trunk; its tail flicked while it sniffed the creeping ribbon of colour. Inside the bowl lay a pile of dry seeds, gathered before dawn. The squirrel sprang forward, yet a narrow gutter, left open during the restoration of the old fountain, blocked the direct line. Viscous dye already pooled inside that gap and playful bubbles broke on its surface. Above, Dina adjusted a watering can and observed the scene without a word; her head tilted toward the small creature. Around them, the slow renewal of spring colour brightened every raised bed.

The dye thickened and overflowed the gutter, its current licking the first pebble beside the bowl. The squirrel halted; on the left stood a row of damp stepping-stones, wide but scattered, offering a slow and dry route. On the right lay a narrow plank that gardeners had propped across the gutter for tools; oil from fresh varnish gleamed on its surface. The animal lunged for the plank. Claws slid, then gripped, and the dash carried it across before pressure from the flowing dye lifted the board at one end. The speed cost a soaked tail tip as green liquid splashed upward. When the squirrel flipped the bowl, pinched the seeds between its teeth, a tiny glass marble rolled free, bright as dawn water. It bounded away with the find just as dye swirled into the empty hollow. The coloured stream slowed, trapped by coarse mulch spread under the hedge. A lazy bee circled once above the still patch of dye.

濃稠的祖母綠染料從園藝棚旁傾斜的錫罐滲出，沿著石板慢慢爬行。黏滑的細流撞到路面的突起，接著彎向迷迭香叢下、半埋在鬆土裡的淺陶碗。一隻條紋松鼠從蘋果樹幹俐落滑下；牠的尾巴擺動，嗅著這條爬行的彩色帶。碗裡是一堆乾種子，牠在黎明前收集好。松鼠向前一躍，但一條狹窄排水溝擋在正路上，那溝因古老噴泉的整修才被打開。黏稠染料已在溝中積起，表面冒著調皮的氣泡。上方的迪娜提著澆水壺，無聲地注視這一幕，頭微微側向小動物。四周，春天的色彩在花壇間悄悄復甦。

染料變得更濃，溢出排水溝，水流舔過靠近碗邊的第一顆卵石。松鼠停住；左側是一排潮濕跳石，寬卻散，走這裡乾燥但慢。右側是園丁為放工具而架在溝上的窄木板；新漆的油光閃閃發亮。牠猛衝向木板，爪子先滑後抓，衝刺帶牠越過溝前，流動染料的壓力卻把木板一端抬起。速度的代價是尾巴尖被綠液濺濕。當松鼠掀翻陶碗、用牙夾住種子時，一顆玻璃彈珠也滾了出來，亮得像清晨的水。牠帶著這意外發現跳離，正好彩流捲入空碗。彩色水流被樹籬下厚厚的覆蓋物困住而放慢。一隻慵懶的蜜蜂在靜止的染料上方盤旋了一圈。