22 Daphne
道芙奈

Daphne was a lovely blooming fairy maiden． —
道芙奈是一位美丽盛开的仙女少女。 —

As she was playing merrily in the woods one day she saw Apollo the sun-god staring at her with more than amazement and ad miration in his eyes． —
有一天，她在森林中欢快地玩耍时，看到太阳神阿波罗眼中的惊奇和仰慕远不止于此。 —

The beaming face of the sun put her to flight． —
太阳的灿烂面庞让她惊慌逃跑。 —

The eager Apollo followed her closely behind，calling out to her to stop． —
渴望的阿波罗紧随其后，呼唤她停下来。 —

His passion had been lighted by her beauty and grace． —
他被她的美和优雅点燃了激情。 —

He was afraid that this might be the last time he saw her． —
他害怕这可能是他最后一次见到她。 —

The quick footed maiden made the best of her legs ，but the passionate Apollo pressed hard upon her ． —
脚步敏捷的少女全力奔跑，但热情的阿波罗紧追不舍。 —

Through rough fields and pathless woods she ran，but the sound of his pursuing feet ever grew nearer． —
她奔跑穿过崎岖的田野和没有路径的树林，但追赶的脚步声却愈发接近。 —

As he ran he begged his beloved maiden to slow down，for he feared that she might fall and hurt her sparkling skin on the rocky roads． —
他在奔跑中请求他心爱的少女放慢脚步，因为他担心她可能会摔倒受伤，皮肤在崎岖的道路上受到伤害。 —

But the escaping maiden never cared so much about that．She even threw one glance back wards ． —
但逃脱的少女并不在乎那么多。她甚至向后瞟了一眼。 —

At last she was quite breathless and cried to her father，a rivergod，for help． —
最后，她气喘吁吁地向自己的父亲，一个河神，求助。 —

No sooner had her prayer been uttered than answered ，for she had instantly found herself glued to the ground and a layer of soft bark growing over her fair skin ． —
她的祈祷一出口，立刻得到了回应，因为她立刻发现自己被固定在地面上，一层柔软的树皮长在她美丽的皮肤上。 —

She had been turned into a laurel tree．Sighing，Apollo put his arms around the tree trunk． —
她变成了一棵月桂树。阿波罗叹息着抱住树干。 —

The trunk responded by turning thinner．To show his undying love for the maiden，he decided that the laurel would be his favorite tree and should be the prize of honour and fame for deathless poets and poetry ． —
树干回应着变得更细。为了表达对少女永恒的爱，他决定月桂树将成为他最喜欢的树木，也将是永生诗人和诗歌的荣誉和奖赏。 —

Thus the most outstanding poet always desires to be made a poet laureate ．
因此，最杰出的诗人总是渴望成为桂冠诗人。