Chinese · Episode 5
Trees Beneath a Roof
Spoken by 晓星
Walking the indoor garden with her mother, asking why the trees are never taller than the roof.
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我跟妈妈在新圆顶的花园里散步，走了半天， I was walking with Mom in the garden of the new dome. We'd been walking for a while,
也没走出多远。 but we hadn't gone very far.
她一会儿看土，一会儿看叶子，有人叫她， She kept looking at the soil, then the leaves. Whenever someone called her,
还得停下来答话。 she had to stop and answer.
我站在一棵树下面， I stood under a tree
发现上面的叶子都快碰到灯了， and noticed the leaves up top were almost touching the lights,
就问它还能不能再长高。 so I asked if it could still grow taller.
妈妈说不能让它一直往上长，灯和圆顶都在上面， Mom said we couldn't let it keep growing upward—the lights and the dome were above,
得把长得太高的地方剪短。 so we had to trim back the parts that grew too tall.
有的树还要让树枝往旁边长，这样叶子能展开， Some trees had to have their branches grow out to the sides so the leaves could spread out
又不会顶到上面。 without hitting what's above.
我说：“它们在地球上也要这样吗？” I said, "Do they have to do this on Earth too?"
她说那得看种在哪里，森林里的树上面没有圆顶， She said it depends on where they're planted. Trees in the forest don't have a dome above them,
有些就能长得比房子还高。 so some can grow taller than houses.
我想起王奶奶讲过的森林， I thought of the forests Grandma Wang had talked about
抬头又看了看我们的树。 and looked up at our tree again.
它已经算花园里高的了，可再往上没多远， It was already one of the taller ones in the garden, but not much farther up
就是灯。 were the lights.
我轻轻跳了一下，想看看上面的叶子， I gave a little hop, trying to see the leaves up top,
妈妈马上让我别碰着树。 and Mom immediately told me not to touch the tree.
“你有地方走，别把它的叶子弄坏了。” "You've got room to walk. Don't damage its leaves."
我站好，看她捡起一片掉下来的叶子， I stood still and watched her pick up a fallen leaf
放到我手里。 and place it in my hand.
花园里有湿土和菜叶的味道，我很喜欢。 The garden smelled of damp soil and vegetable leaves. I really liked it.
只是想到树总得剪短，还是替它觉得有点可惜。 But thinking about how the trees always had to be trimmed short, I still felt a little sorry for it.
妈妈又被人叫走了，我就拿着叶子跟过去。 Mom got called away again, so I followed with the leaf in my hand.
走到下一棵树时，这回换我停下来， When we reached the next tree, this time it was my turn to stop
看它的树枝是不是也在往旁边长。 and check whether its branches were growing out to the sides too.