丹芙妮 Daphne
Daphne was a lovely blooming fairy maiden．As she was playing merrily in the woods one day she saw Apollo the sun-god staring at her with more than amazement and ad miration in his eyes．The beaming face of the sun put her to flight．The eager Apollo followed her closely behind，calling out to her to stop．His passion had been lighted by her beauty and grace．He was afraid that this might be the last time he saw her．The quick footed maiden made the best of her
legs ，but the passionate Apollo pressed hard upon
her ．Through rough fields and pathless woods she ran，but the sound of his pursuing feet ever grew nearer．As he ran he begged his beloved maiden to slow down，for he feared that she might fall and hurt her sparkling skin on the rocky roads．But the escaping maiden never cared so much about that．She even threw one glance back wards ．At last she was quite breathless and cried to her father，a rivergod，for help．No sooner had her prayer been uttered than
answered ，for she had instantly found herself glued to the ground and a layer of soft bark growing over her fair
skin ．She had been turned into a laurel tree．Sighing，Apollo put his arms around the tree trunk．The trunk responded by turning thinner．To show his undying love for the maiden，he decided that the laurel would be his favorite tree and should be the prize of honour and fame for deathless poets and
poetry ．Thus the most outstanding poet always desires to be made a poet
laureate ．
丹芙妮是位嫵媚動人的仙女。有一天當她興高采烈地在林中游玩時，她發現太陽神阿波羅用異常驚奇與羨慕的目光盯著自己。光芒四射的太陽使她害怕得飛跑起來。熱切的太陽神緊隨其后，竭力叫喊讓她止步。她的美麗與優雅觸發了他的激情。他惟恐這將是他們的最后一面。快步如飛的仙女拚命地奔跑，但情緒激昂的阿波羅緊追不放。她越過曠野，穿過人跡罕至的樹林，但追趕的腳步聲愈加逼近。他一邊追趕，一邊懇求心愛的仙女放慢腳步。他害怕仙女在石道上跌倒會擦破她那閃耀的皮膚。但奔逃的仙女根本不顧及這些。她甚至沒朝身后瞥了一眼，最終她氣喘吁吁地向她的父親（河神）求救。她的懇求馬上得到了回答。她很快發現自己如膠似漆地緊附地面。接著，妖嫩的皮膚上長出一層松軟的樹皮，她變成了一棵月桂樹。太陽神唉聲嘆氣地擁抱著樹干，樹干縮細了。為了表示他對仙女未泯的愛情，他將月桂樹作為他最喜愛的樹種，并決定將它作為一種對榮譽與威望的獎勵，把它授予那些永恒的詩人和流芳百世的詩。因此最杰出的詩人總希望獲得桂冠詩人的尊號。
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