there was once a young man who studied to become a poet. he wanted to be a poet by next easter, so that he could marry and earn his living from poetry, which he knew was just a matter of making things up. but he had no imagination. he firmly believed he had been born too late. every subject had been used up before he had a chance at it, and there was nothing in the world left to write about.

"how happy were the people born a thousand years ago," he sighed. "then it was an easy thing to be immortal. even those who were born a hundred years ago were lucky compared with me. they still had things left to make poems about. but now every subject is worn out, and it's no use for me to try my pen on such threadbare stuff."

he thought about it, and worried about it, until he grew very thin and woe-begone, the poor fellow. no doctor could help him, but there was one person who would know just the remedy he needed to set him right. she was a little old lady, wonderfully wise, who lived in a tiny gate-house in the turnpike. she opened and closed the toll gate for everyone who rode by, but she was learned in the ways of the world. she was a clever woman, who could do more than open a gate, and she knew far more than the doctor who drives in his own carriage and pays taxes.

"i must go to her," the young man said. he found her house small and tidy, but most uninteresting. not a tree, not a flower, grew anywhere near it. there was a beehive by her door - very useful; there was a potato patch - very useful; and over the ditch a blackthorn bush had flowered, and now bore fruit - very sour berries that puckered your mouth if you tasted them before they were ripened by frost.

编辑:Liuxuepaper.Com

作文地带知识拓展:

• 英语（English）属于印欧语系日耳曼语族西日耳曼语支，最早被中世纪的英国使用，并因其广阔的殖民地而成为世界使用面积最广的语言。英国人的祖先盎格鲁部落是后来迁移到大不列颠岛地区的日耳曼部落之一，称为英格兰。这两个名字都来自波罗地海半岛的Anglia。该语言与弗里斯兰语和下撒克森语密切相关，其词汇受到其他日耳曼语族语言的影响，尤其是北欧语（北日耳曼语），并在很大程度上由拉丁文和法文撰写。

  英语的英文释义：

  English 名词 uk  /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ/ us  /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ/

  the language that is spoken in the UK, the US, and in many other countries

  英语

  American/British English

  美式／英式英语

  Do you speak English?

  你会说英语吗？

  English   形容词 adjective   uk  /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ/ us  /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ/

  in or relating to the English language

  英语的

  an English teacher

  英语老师

  relating to or from England

  英格兰的;英国的

  English films/food/people

  英国电影／食品／人

  English law

  英格兰法律