Page 92 - 高职英语口语大赛辅导及教学创新

Tutoring and Teaching Innovation for Vocational English Speaking Competition
高职英语口语大赛辅导及教学创新

her sisters lived in the sky with their grandmother, the Queen Mother of the West. One
night, there was a terrible storm. Zhinu looked down at a cozy farmhouse, wishing she
were with the family inside. But not everyone was inside. She watched a young farmer

and his old ox trying to stop the water from flooding the wheat fields. The ox stumbled
and sank in the mud. The farmer gently helped her up.He sang of the stars of the ox
constellation as he led her to the barn. He was interrupted by a shrill voice yelling
from the farmhouse, “Hey lazy Niulang, sleep in the barn tonight. Your brother and I
don’t want mud in the house!”The next morning, Zhinu pulled on her dress made of

the dawn’s red clouds. She wanted to see the farmer again. “Let’s go swimming,”
she suggested to her sisters.“Grandmother won’t like it,” her sisters warned. But
Zhinu convinced them. They grabbed their swimsuits and slid down the clouds to the

ground. While the others jumped into the pond, Zhinu tiptoed to the farmer’s barn.
She heard the shrill voice again. “Your brother and I have done our duty. It’s time for
you to go, Niulang. Your parents wanted you and your brother to split everything. So,
we’ll keep the farm. But you’re lucky, you get the ox!”Niulang said quietly, “Okay,
she’s my best friend.” Zhinu peeked through the doorway. The ox looked older than

her grandmother! The ox turned toward Zhinu. Then Zhinu thought she heard the ox
say, “Moo—marry her!”Zhinu ran as fast as she could to the pond. She hung her
dress over a tree branch and hid underwater. She thought of the farmer and the strange

ox.Soon, everyone was drying off and rising into the sky. But where was Zhinu’s
red dress? Without it, she couldn’t return home with her sisters!Suddenly, Niulang
appeared, carrying her dress. “Please marry me,” he said. “I promise to be a good
husband.”To her surprise, Zhinu said yes. Perhaps it was his shining eyes, so like the
night sky. She felt at home with him. But Zhinu’s grandmother wanted Zhinu home—in

the sky.For years, Zhinu and Niulang hid from her grandmother in their cozy farmhouse
deep in the forest. Niulang would sing Zhinu to sleep with songs of the night sky. Zhinu
would wake up Niulang by draping the trees with the colors of dawn. One night, they

were awakened by angry clouds beating against the sky.The wind howled. Niulang
went outside as flood waters rose higher.Once again, he tried to save the wheat. The
old ox sank in the mud and couldn’t get up. She told Niulang to always keep her hide

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