Every girl dreams and Li Xie is no exception. She has read dozens of books on how to be a ballerina and Swam.

每一个女孩都有梦想，李协也不例外。她读了很多书，都是关于如何成为一个芭蕾舞演员的

Lake is her favorite. She hopes one day her dream will come true. She has taken ballet lessons and all her teachers confirm she is a good student.

她最喜欢的是天鹅湖。她希望有一天能梦想成真。她参加了芭蕾舞培训班，所有老师都认为她很优秀。

One day she saw an advertisement that a famous ballerina troupe¹ will be performing in her hometown.

一天，有一则广告说一个著名的芭蕾舞团要在她的家乡演出

Her thoughts ran wild, "I must meet up with the leader of the troupe and show him my skills, " she murmured to herself.

她看到后顿时思绪纷杂，自言自语道：¨我必须要见见团长，展示一下我的才艺。¨

She dressed herself in her ballerina costume and managed to evade² the guards and hid in the dressing³ room.

她穿上芭蕾服，尽量避开门卫躲进了化妆室。

To her luck the leader entered and she timidly knocked at the door.

很幸运，团长进来了，她胆怯地敲了敲门。

She bravely approached him and handed him a bunch of red roses and in her excitement the thorns pricked⁴ her hand but she did not make much ado about the pain.

她鼓足勇气走近他，送上一束红玫瑰。激动之余，玫瑰的刺戳到了她的手，但她根本没有在意。

The leader observed her action as she told him her dream. "Alright, you dance and I will give you my verdict."

在她给团才讲自己的梦想时，团长注意到了她的举止。“好吧，你先跳，我再说我的意见。"

But half way through the dance he stopped her and said, "I'm sorry you're not good enough!"

但是她只跳了一半，团长就让她停下来，说道： ¨我很抱歉你跳得还不。

On hearing this Li Xie ran as fast as her legs could carry her and was ashamed. She gave up her dream.

听到这话，李协非常羞愧，拼命地跑开了。从此，她放弃了梦想。

Many years later, she heard that the same ballet troupe was performing in her town again.

多年以后，她听说原来那个芭蕾舞团又一次来到她家乡演出。

Bitter memories of the leader's harsh words came flooding back to her.

团长尖刻的话语涌上心头，这是一次痛苦的记忆。

This time she was determined⁵ to find out Why the leader had told her she was not good enough when all her teachers thought otherwise.

这次她决定向团长问个究竟，为什么别的老师都认为她跳得很好，而他却不这样认为。

This was his reply, "I tell this to every student." She angrily shot back, "You've ruined my life!一 Then she got a further shock, "

团长回答道：u我对每个学生都这样说。¨她生气地反驳说：“可是你毁了我的一生！”团长的回话让她更震惊了：

I remember your gift of roses and how the thorns had pricked your fingers but you carried on bravery.

“我记得你送的玫瑰，刺戤到了你的手指，而你却勇敢地继续表演。

If you only had treated bal}et like that and did not give up so easily; therefore, you still deserve my verdict! "

如果你能以那种精神对待芭蕾舞，就不会轻易放弃了。因此，我的意见对你仍然受用。¨