导语

  

    《水孩子(英文版)》为英国十九世纪著名作家查尔斯·金斯利的一部儿童文学经典名著，亦为其儿童文学创作的代表作。书中从头到尾充满着春风般轻快的情调。作者始终感觉在为自己的孩子写书，语调轻松而幽默，读来亲切。另外，由于金斯利平时爱好自然，同时也是个博物学家，所以书中关于自然界的描写都极其真实而生动。可以说，这是一本根据19世纪中叶的科学成就写成的童话。书中有不少讽喻和劝诫的成分，但那些劝诫寓于故事中，幽默风趣，寄托了作者对所有孩子的希望。本书为英文原版，同时提供配套朗读免费下载，扫描图书封底二维码即可直接进入收听页面。让读者在阅读精彩故事的同时，亦能提升英文阅读水平。

内容提要

  

    查尔斯·金斯利著的《水孩子(英文版)》讲述了：The Water-Babies is a novel published in 1863 by English author and reverendCharles Kingsley．This novel is his most famous work and it is a children’S fable’a moral story and a response to Charles Darwin’S theory of evolution．The bookis also a satire of Victorian England and the issues of child labour and povertyat that time．The Water—Babies is the story of Tom the chimney sweep who fallsunderwater and becomes a water baby．Tom has many adventures and meetsother water babies while he undergoes a moral evolution and，eventually，travelsto the end of the world．
    The Water-Babies is a classic of British children’S literature，and it influencedlegal reform to limit child labour in England throughout the 1860s and 1870s．It has been said that the book influenced Lewis Carroll’S writing of Alice’SAdventures in Wonderland，which was published two years after The Water—Babies．The book’S popularity has endured and it has been adapted into amusical，a play，a radio series on BBC and an animated film．
    The novel remains a classic tale of moral redemption that teaches childrenacross the world the golden rule：to do unto others as you would have them dounto you.

    查尔斯·金斯利（1819-1875），英国19世纪著名作家、诗人、历史教授，他还是当时英国的皇家牧师、威尔士王子的教师、牛津大学历史学教授。代表作有剧作《圣者的悲剧》，长篇小说《酵母》《奥尔顿·洛克》《痕迹》，历史传奇小说《西去》等。尽管与皇室来往密切，但金斯利竭力为穷人提供教育，关心穷人幸福，针砭社会弊病，反对当时不合理的儿童教育，强调正确的教育对儿童的重要性，被认为是社会改良主义者。这些观点在他最为著名的作品《水孩子》里都得到充分的体现。

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Moral