文章背景

《桃太郎》是日本童话故事中最受儿童喜爱的一篇古老童话。虽然经历了很多世纪后，故事的讲述形式和内容略有变动，但是大多数版本都紧紧地围绕着同样的主题：一对无儿无女的老夫妇意外地在一颗桃子里发现了一个小男孩。这个孩子长大后，立志去征服邪恶的食人怪。他带着一袋老婆婆做的小米饼上路了，途中遇到了一条狗，一只猴子和一只野鸡。后来，在这几个忠实伙伴的帮助下，桃太郎把食人怪打得落花流水，光荣地凯旋故里。

故事的语言简短，结构明快，生动塑造了日本的一个传奇形象--桃太郎。值得一提的是，童话在颂扬桃太郎这样一个勇敢，机智，善良，强壮人物的同时，也反映了他幼年时的懒惰，从而使这个形象变得丰满起来。和世界上其他童话相似，该故事中也用丰富的想象，为桃太郎安排了很多得力的助手，从而使故事在一系列巧合中体现“善良最终战胜邪恶”的主题。

Once upon a time an old man and woman lived in the mountains. Everyday the old man went to the mountain and collected firewood, while the old woman went to the river and did the laundry. One day, she was doing the washing when a big peach came floating down the river towards her. As it was a big and juicy-looking fruit, she thought that her husband would be glad to eat it so she took it home. When the old man came back for lunch and saw the nice peach, he was really happy. The old woman cut the big peach open with a knife. What a surprise! A lovely little boy was in the peach.

The old man and woman had no children so they were really grateful the gods had sent them a boy in this peach. Since he was born in a peach, they decided to call him Momotaro which means "peach-boy". The old woman cooked a meal for the little boy who ate as much as he could; the more he ate, the more he grew. Soon he became a tall and strong boy.

No matter how tall or strong he was, Momotaro was a lazy boy. Day after day, all he did was sleep and eat. In the village the other boys went to the mountain and picked firewood while Momotaro was the only one doing nothing. This worried the old man and the old woman, so they asked the other boys to try to make Momotaro go and work with them.

The boys then invited him, "Momotaro, would you come with us? We're going to collect firewood."

But he answered, "I haven't a basket, so I can't go with you" and went back to sleep.

The following day, they invited him again, "Momotaro, would you come with us? We're going to collect firewood."

And he answered them, "I haven't any sandals, so I can't go with you" and went back to sleep. Upon hearing this, the old woman got angry with Momotaro for being so lazy, so the next day he went to collect firewood with the other boys.

While the boys were working and collecting firewood, Momotaro took a nap. When the work was finished, the boys decided to go back to the village. Just then, Momotaro awoke and said to them, "I'll collect firewood and come back with you."

They retorted, "If you start working now, we'll get back too late."

Momotaro turned a deaf ear to them and went to a very big tree. Holding it by the middle, he uprooted it. Astonishing! All the boys could not believe their eyes! Thus the tall and strong Momotaro carried the big tree, while the other boys carried bundles of firewood back to the village. The old man and the old woman were amazed when they saw Momotaro carrying this very big tree as if it was a mere bundle of firewood.liuxuepaper.com