daphne was a lovely blooming fairy maiden1. as she was playing merrily in the woods one day she saw apollo the sun-god staring at her with * than amazement2 and ad*ation3 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 passionate4 apollo pressed hard upon her. through rough fields and pathless woods she ran, but the sound of his pursuing feet *r 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 n*r cared so much about that. she *n threw one glance backwards5. at last she was quite breathless and cried to her father, a rivergod, for *. 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（月桂） 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 decided6 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. __