Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, was seated in his room when a petition (请愿书)was brought to him. The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other1, had so dazzled (使...目眩)his eyes that he found it difficult to 2 a single word of the writing.
So he called the servant boy. The poor boy 3 a poor reader, huddling (挤在一起) several words together 4 they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible. "Stop! Send me that little girl sitting there by the fountain." The girl 5 pointed out by the King was the daughter of a royal 6, who had come to help her father weed the flower beds. She was somewhat 7 but took courage when the King told her that he only wanted her to 8 for him, as his eyes were weak.
Ernestine, the little girl, was 9 of reading, and often many of the neighbors would10 at her father's house to hear her. Those who could not read themselves would come with their letters from friends or children, so she formed the 11 of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and well.
The King gave her the petition, and she rapidly 12 the opening lines to get some13 of what it was about. It was from a poor widow, whose only son had been14into the army, although his health was delicate. His father had been killed in battle.
Ernestine read the petition with so much 15, and in tones so pure and distinct, that when she had finished, the King, into whose eyes 16 had started, cried excitedly, "Oh, now I understand what it is all about; but I might never have known its 17 had I trusted to that young gentleman. As for you, my young lady," continued the King, "I know you will ask no better 18 than the pleasure of carrying to this poor widow my order for her son's immediate discharge."
How happy Ernestine was! Because of her good reading the poor widow 19 her son. Ernestine also 20 did the servant boy good for, sorry for his bad reading, he began studying in earnest and finally became a lawyer.
