1、The Silver Shillingby Hans Christian Andersen（1862） theRE was once a shilling， which came forthfrom the mint springing and shouting， Hurrah！now I am going out into the wide world. And truly itdid go out into the wide world. The children held itwith warm hands， the miser with a cold andconvuls
2、ive grasp， and the old people turned itabout， goodness knows how many times， whilethe young people soon allowed it to roll away fromthem. The shilling was made of silver， it contained very little copper， and considered itselfquite out in the world when it had been circulated for a year in the
3、country in which it had beencoined. One day， it really did go out into the world， for it belonged to a gentleman who wasabout to travel in foreign lands. This gentleman was not aware that the shilling lay at thebottom of his purse when he started， till he one day found it between his fingers.
4、Why， criedhe， here is a shilling from home； well， it must go on its travels with me now！ and theshilling jumped and rattled for joy， when it was put back again into the purse. Here it lay among a number of foreign companions， who were always coming and going，one taking the place of another， b
5、ut the shilling from home was always put back， and had toremain in the purse， which was certainly a mark of distinction. Many weeks passed， duringwhich the shilling had travelled a long distance in the purse， without in the least knowing wherehe was. He had found out that the other coins were
6、French and Italian； and one coin said theywere in this town， and another said they were in that， but the shilling was unable to make outor imagine what they meant. A man certainly cannot see much of the world if he is tied up in abag， and this was really the shilling's fate. But one day， as he
7、 was lying in the purse， henoticed that it was not quite closed， and so he slipped near to the opening to have a little peepinto society. He certainly had not the least idea of what would follow， but he was curious，and curiosity often b
