57. A color of his own 自己的颜色 by Leo Lionni

A COLOR OF HIS OWN --- by Leo Lionni Parrots are green goldfish are red elephants are gray pigs are pink All animals have a color of their own- except for chameleons. They change color wherever they go. On lemons they are yellow. In the heather they are purple. And on the tiger they are striped like tigers. One day a chameleon who was sitting on a tiger’s tail said to himself, “If I remain on a leaf, I shall be green forever, and so I too will have a color of my own.” With this thought he cheerfully climbed onto the greenest leaf. But in autumn the leaf turned yellow – and so did the chameleon. Later the leaf turned red, and the chameleon too turned red. And then the winter winds blew the leaf from the branch and with it the chameleon. The chameleon was black in the long winter night. But when spring came, he walked out into the green grass. And there he met another chameleon. He told his sad story. “Won’t we ever have a color of our own?” he asked. "I’m afraid not,” said the other chameleon, who was older and wiser. "But,” he added, “why don’t we stay together? "We will still change color wherever we go, but you and I will always be alike.” And so they remained side by side. They were green together and purple and yellow and red with white polka dots. And they lived happily ever after. THE END