when george washington was quite a little boy，his father gavehim a hatchet.it was bright and new，and george took great delight in going about and chopping things with it.
he ran into the garden，and there he saw a tree which seemed tosay to him， “come and cut me down！”
george had often seen his father's men chop down the greattrees in the forest，and he thought that it would be fine sport to seethis tree fall with a crash to the ground.so he set to work with islittle hatchet，and，as the tree was a very small one，it did not takelong to lay it low.
soon after that，his father came home.
“who has been cutting my fine young cherry tree？”he cried.“it was the only tree of this kind in this country，and it costme a great deal of money.”
he was very angry when he came into the house.
“if only i knew who killed that cherry tree，”he cried，“iwould——yes，i would——”
“father！”cried little george.“i will tell you the truth about it.ichopped the tree down with my hatchet.”
his father forgot his anger.
“george，”he said，and he took the little fellow in his arms，“george，i am glad that you told me about it.i would rather lose adozen cherry trees than that you should tell one falsehood.”
乔治·华盛顿小的时候，他的父亲给了他一把斧子。这把新斧子闪闪发亮，乔治非常喜欢带着它四处走动，用它砍东西。
他跑进花园，看见一棵树，这棵上好象在对他说：“来吧，来砍倒我吧！”
乔治经常看见他父亲的工人们在森林里把大树砍倒。他想，看着这棵树轰隆一声倒在地上，一定是一种很有趣的游戏。于是乔治用他的小斧子砍了起来。因为这棵树很小，所以他没用多长时间就把它砍倒了。
过了不久，他的父亲回家了。
“谁砍了我那棵可爱的小樱桃树？”他喊道，“这是本地唯一的一棵这种树，是我花了很多钱买来的。”
他进屋时非常生气。“如果一发现是谁砍了那棵樱桃树，我就要——，是的，我就要——。”
“父亲！”小乔治喊道，“我告诉您是怎么回事儿。是我用我的那把斧子把树砍倒了。”
他父亲的气消了。
“乔治，”他说，把这个小家伙搂在怀里，“乔治，你把事情对我说了，我很高兴。我宁愿失去一打樱桃树，也不愿意你说一句谎话。”