Two Windows



"Sweetheart, what are you crying for?"

Della did not answer. She continued to cry, cry and cry. Ida had no choice but to leave, sighing. Ida, Della's elder sister, looked after Della after their mother's death. Della was always crying, but nobody knew why she cried.

Maybe, Della was alone. She used to lock herself in her own room. She neither wanted to go out nor expected anybody to come to see her. What's more, she even did not want to talk to her sister or father. They didn’t know what to do.

There were two windows in Della's room. One was in the left of her bed, always open; the other was in the right, always closed. Through the left window, Della could not see any trees or houses, only miles and miles of wild land. Della appeared extremely sad each time she looked out of the window. Day by day, she got weaker and weaker, even unable to go out any longer. Her sister and father were quite anxious.

One morning, a crow flew into Della's room and perched on her bed, "Hi, Della, what are you crying for?" Della cried as usual. Coughed. A group of toads were hopping about on the moor. One of them waved his hand to Della: "Baby, what's wrong with you? Can you talk with me? We can be good friends. I am handsome, you see. "Della did not answer. “Could you say something?" The toad continued. Della cried without response. The toad gave up and left.

During the following several months, father never entered Della's room. Della still cried everyday.



One day in the following spring, Ida talked to Della: “Sweetheart, why not stop crying and open the window on the right. Maybe it is a big surprise." Then Ida left. Della walked towards the closed window. Having hesitated for a few minutes, she finally opened it. Ida had not left. She was hiding herself behind the door, watching Della. Happily, Della did not disappoint her.

Oh, God! What a big surprise! It was a fantastic garden in front of her! Flowers were in full bloom. Butterflies were flying from flowers to flowers in the spring sunshine. Della could not help going out and hurrying to the garden. Magically, she did not seem weak as before. In the garden, she talked with the flowers, played with the butterflies and sang with the birds.

Roses smiled gently, "There is happiness everywhere." Butterflies, flying around Della, said, "Can you smell the spring in the air? " One nightingale sang at her heart's content: happiness is priceless.

Della wondered where the garden came from. It seemed to spring up over night. She came to ask Ida. Ida hesitated for a while, and said, “Dad.” “Papa? Where is he?” asked Della eagerly. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry, Dad is ill.” Hearing this, Della dashed to father's room immediately. "Papa, papa, what's wrong with you?" Father lay in the bed, weak, "I'm all right, my sweetheart. Do not worry. As long as you are happy, I'm glad to do anything.” Father was so weak that he fainted.

Later, Ida told little Della, "Several months ago, Dad decided to build a garden for you. He planted varieties of flowers in the garden. Every day he watered them with his own blood. Because God told Dad that you will be happy if you see the flowers watered by his own blood. Dad did so. It is a garden built on Dad's love.” Ida could not continue. Della burst into tears, “Papa…”

Della went to open all the windows in father's room. Outside, the sunshine was beautiful. Magically, father woke up.



姐妹窗

“小甜心，你在哭什么呢？”

黛拉不说话，只是继续哭，哭，哭。艾达别无选择，只能叹息着离开。自从妈妈去世后，姐姐艾达一直悉心照顾着妹妹黛拉。黛拉总是不停地哭，但是没有人知道她为什么哭。

或许，黛拉是孤独的，她总是把自己锁在房间里。她不想出去，也不希望任何人来看她。她甚至不愿意与姐姐和爸爸讲话。他们都拿她没有办法。

黛拉的房间里有两扇窗。一扇在床的左边，一直开着；一扇在床的右边，总是锁着。透过左边的窗子，黛拉看不到一棵树或一所房子，她只能看到无边无际的荒野。每次看到这种景色，黛拉都很悲伤。日复一日，黛拉越来越虚弱了，她甚至再也无法出去了。她的姐姐和爸爸都非常担心。

一天早晨，一只乌鸦飞到黛拉的房间，停留在她的床上：“嗨，黛拉，你在哭什么呢？”黛拉和往常一样哭着，咳嗽着。窗外的荒野上，一群蟾蜍正在四处跳跃。一只蟾蜍挥着手问：“宝贝，你怎么了？你能和我聊聊吗？我们会成为很好的朋友，我很帅气，你看。” 黛拉没有回答。“你能说点什么吗？”蟾蜍继续追问。黛拉没有反应，只是哭。最后，蟾蜍只能无奈地离去了。

在接下来的几个月里，爸爸再也没有进过黛拉的房间。黛拉仍然每天哭着。

转眼到了第二年春天，一天，艾达对黛拉说：“甜心，何不擦干眼泪，打开另一扇窗子呢？说不定有大惊喜哦。”然后艾达就离开了。黛拉走向那扇一直关着的窗子，犹豫了几分钟，最后还是把窗子打开了。事实上，艾达并没有走，她一直躲在门后看着黛拉。令人高兴的是，黛拉最后没有让她失望。

天哪，这是多大的一份惊喜啊！一座令人心驰神往的花园呈现在黛拉面前。花儿尽情绽放，蝴蝶在春日的花丛间欢快地飞舞。黛拉情不自禁地奔向这座花园，奇迹般地，她似乎没有过去那么虚弱了。在这座美丽的花园里，黛拉和花儿聊天，与蝴蝶玩耍，同鸟儿一起唱歌。

玫瑰温柔地笑着说：“人间处处有欢乐。”蝴蝶围着黛拉飞转，亲切地问候黛拉：“你能感觉到空气中到处弥漫着春天的气息吗？”夜莺尽情歌唱着幸福无价。

这座花园是从哪儿来的？它似乎是在一夜之间冒出来的。于是黛拉去问艾达。艾达犹豫了一会，告诉她：“是爸爸。”“爸爸？他在哪里呀？”黛拉急切地问。“小甜心，爸爸病了。”听到这个消息，黛拉飞速跑到爸爸的房间：“爸爸，您怎么了？”爸爸很虚弱地躺在床上：“爸爸没事，我的小甜心，不要担心。只要你能快乐，爸爸愿意做任何事。”爸爸是那么太虚弱，他昏倒了。

后来，艾达告诉黛拉：“几个月前，爸爸决定为你建一座花园。他在花园里种植各种各样的花，每天都用自己的血来浇灌它们。因为上帝告诉爸爸，只要你看到爸爸用血浇灌出来的花，你就一定会快乐起来的。爸爸毫不犹豫地按照上帝的指示做了。这实在是爸爸用爱建造出来的花园呀！”艾达说不下去了，黛拉放声大哭：“爸爸……”

黛拉随后又跑到爸爸的房间，打开了房间里所有的窗子。窗外，阳光明媚。爸爸神奇般地苏醒了。

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