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Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well.

在他们控制住火情前，消防员已经努力扑灭山火接近三周了。不久之前，茂密的树林覆盖了方圆几英里的地方。现在，浓烟仍然从温热的大地上升起，笼罩在荒凉的山丘上。冬日已至，山丘对周边的村庄形成了毁灭性的威胁，因为大雨不仅会冲刷掉泥土，也会引起严重的洪水。

When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grassseed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however,in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

当大火最终被扑灭后，森林管理部门订购了几吨能快速生长的特殊草籽。飞机将种子大量喷洒在地面上。飞机已经播种了将近一个月，这时开始下雨了。然而，到那时，许多地方的草已经生根了。在发黑的土壤中，已经开始出现成片的绿色，取代了在那里生长了几个世纪的大树。