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.父亲和他的儿子 THE FATHER AND HIS SONS
Father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarrelling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the faggot into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They each tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it.
He next unclosed the faggot, and took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into their hands, on which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words： “My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this faggot, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies； but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks.”
一位父亲有几个孩子，这些孩子时常发生口角。他丝毫没有办法来劝阻他们，只好让他们看看不合群所带来害处的例子。为了达到这个目的，有一天他叫他们替他拿一捆细柴来。当他们把柴带来时，他便先后地将那捆柴放在每一个孩子的手中，吩咐他们弄断这捆柴。他们一个个尽力去试，总是不能成功。
然后他解开那捆柴，一根根地放在他们手里，如此一来，他们便毫不费力地折断了。于是他就告诉他们说：“孩子们！如果你们大家团结一致，互相帮助，你们就像这捆柴一样，不能被你们的敌人折断；但如果你们自行分裂，你们就将和这些散柴一般，不堪一折了。”
.狮子和老鼠 THE LION AND THE MOUSE
Lion was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up in anger, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying： “If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let him go.
It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came up, and gnawed the rope with his teeth, and setting him free, exclaimed: “You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, not expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor； but now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.”
一只老鼠从一只狮子面前跑过去，将它从梦中吵醒。狮子生气地跳起来，捉住老鼠，要弄死它。老鼠哀求说：“只要你肯饶恕我这条小生命，我将来一定会报答你的大恩。”狮子便笑着放了它。
后来狮子被几个猎人捉住，用粗绳捆绑倒在地上。老鼠听出是狮子的吼声，走来用牙齿咬断绳索，释放了他，并大声说：“你当时嘲笑我想帮你的忙，而且也不指望我有什么机会报答。但是你现在知道了，就算是小老鼠，也能向狮子效劳的。”
3.狮子和农夫 The lion and the farmer
An Indian farmer and his child were toiling in the fields. It was almost dark by the time they had finished their work and the farmer said to the child, "Wow! It"s getting dark! Quickly pack up the tools and run. Let"s run quickly!"
“Relax. We"re not far from home and we know the way home. Why are you in such a panic?” asked the child. “There"s something you don"t know. I"m generally fearless. I"m not afraid of tigers or lions. I"m only afraid of the night. When the night comes, I"m completely powerless. The night is most terrifying to me. I"m really frightened of it. I can"t stand it," answered the farmer.
It so happened that a lion was hiding nearby and overheard their conversation. “What"s this thing called ‘the night"? How could it be more fearful than I am? I must find out about it,” the lion mused as it moved closer to the farmer, hoping to learn more about this “night” that was even more frightening than itself.
Then darkness fell and the farsighted farmer couldn"t see nearby objects clearly. He only saw the vague outline of an animal approaching, thought it was the donkey he had recently lost, and beat the lion several times, saying, “I"ve been looking for you all day. Where have you been? How dare you come back so late?”
“This is the end of me,” the lion thought with regret. “How could I have been so stupid as to come so close to this thing called ‘the night" that beat me just now? It"s really horrifying. What should I do now?” As these thoughts flashed through the lion"s mind, the farmer again slapped it several times, urging it to go home with him. The petrified lion then obediently followed the farmer back to his house.
It was even darker when they reached home. Since the farmer continued to mistake the lion for his donkey, he tied it in a corner outside his house before he went to bed. That night, the lion stayed out in the cold, starving, petrified and not knowing what to expect of “the night” when morning dawned. It believed that the farmer was “the night.”
Early the next morning, before dawn broke, the farmer got up and took his “donkey” to the fields. On the way, another lion passed by and found it hilarious to see a lion obediently following a farmer. It then approached the captive lion and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you walking behind this man?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down and leave quickly. Don"t you know that this being walking in front is something called ‘the night?" He"s very terrible. Last night, he beat me and shackled me, leaving me cold and starving the entire night. I have no idea where he"s taking me now. Run along or your life will be in danger!”
After hearing this story, the other lion said, “You"re incredible. You idiot! You"re a lion, the king of animals! You"ve been deceived! Just roar at him now and you"ll know who is more terrifying.” The lion accepted his advice and roared loudly, so the farmer took a closer look. Now that the sky had become brighter, he saw that it was a lion. Wow! He bolted like lightning, and the lion was free again.
有一个印度的农夫跟他的小孩子出去耕田，耕完了地以后，天快要黑了，他就跟小孩说：“哇！天快黑了！不行、不行了！快收东西，快点走，我们赶快走吧！”
小孩说：“哎呀！你别紧张嘛！回家的路不远，而且我们也知道路，你干什么这么紧张呢？”农夫说：“不行啊！你不知道啊！我什么都不怕，我不怕老虎、不怕狮子，我最怕那个‘晚上"！只要‘晚上"一来，我就软趴趴。那个‘晚上"最恐怖了，我好怕、好怕，我受不了！”
刚好有一只狮子躲在旁边听到了，它就想：“这个‘晚上"是什么东西？它怎么可能比我还恐怖呢？我倒要试试看！”它就靠近农夫，想查看‘晚上"是什么种类的东西，竟然比狮子还要恐怖。
那个时候天已经黑了，那个农夫有老花眼，看不清楚，只看到一个动物跑过来靠近他，认为是他那头刚走掉的驴子，就打它几下，说：“找你整天找不到，去哪里了？现在才回来！”
这只狮子心想：“完了！我怎么那么笨，跑来靠近‘这个"，刚刚打我就是叫‘晚上"的东西吧！好恐怖啊！现在怎么办呢？”它在想的时候，农夫又打了它好几下，催它赶快回家去，这只狮子怕死了，就跟着农夫走回去。
回家时天更黑了，因为农夫认为是他的驴子，就把狮子绑在屋外的角落边，然后进去睡觉。那只狮子在那边又饿又冷整个晚上，又害怕，不晓得明天早上那个“晚上”会再对待它怎么样？它认为农夫就是所谓的“晚上”。
隔天一大早，天还不怎么亮的时候，农夫已经起来了，出门带那头“驴子”要去耕田。走到半路时，刚好有另外一只狮子经过，它看到这只狮子乖乖地跟着农夫走在后面，就感觉到好笑，它靠近这只狮子，问：“你做什么啦？为什么跟着那个人的后面走呢？”
被绑的狮子说：“嘘！你不要那么吵，赶快离开！你不知道前面走的那个，就是叫‘晚上"的东西，他很恐怖啊，昨天我被他打，然后被绑了整个晚上又饿又冷，现在不晓得要带我到哪里去。你赶快跑，不然的话你生命难保啊！”
另外那只狮子听说这样，就说：“你真好笑，你笨蛋！你是狮子、是动物之王啊！你被骗了！你现在吼他一声，就知道谁才恐怖。”果然，这只狮子听它的话大吼一声以后，那个农夫就靠过来看，现在天亮了，一看是只狮子，哇！跑得要命。然后这只狮子就自由了。
4.熟能生巧小故事 Skill comes from practice
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a skilled archer. One day he drew a big crowd while he was practicing on the drill ground. He shot so accurately that the on-lookers cheered with excitement. He became very proud of his skill. But among the crowd an old oil peddler only nodded his head indifferently. This hurt his Pride.
“Can you do this?” he asked the old oil peddler.
“No, I can"t.”
“What do you think of my skill?”
“Just OK, but nothing special. You"ve gained your accuracy from persistent practice. That"s all.”
“What can you do, then?” the old man said nothing. He put a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper coin. He then scooped out a ladle of oil from his big jar, held it high and began to fill the bottle.
Now, a thread of oil came down from the ladle into the bottle just through the hole of the coin. Everybody looking on watched with amazement. But the old man said, “This is nothing special, I can do this because I have practiced it a lot.” And with these words, he left.
Later, people use this phrase to mean “Practice makes perfect”.
北宋时期，有个技艺高超的射手。有一天，他在训练场上练习射箭，引来了一大群人观看，大家都称赞他的技艺，他感到非常骄傲。但他发现人群中有个卖油翁只是淡淡的点点头，这使得他很不高兴。
他就问那老头：“你会射箭吗？”
“不会。”
“你认为我的技术如何？”
“一般。没什么特别的，你只能对付固定的东西，仅此而已。”
“你会干什么？”
这个老头没有回答。他把一个葫芦放在地上，接着把一枚铜钱放在瓶口。然后从他的大油壶里舀起一勺油。
从高处往放在地上的葫芦里倒。只见那油就像线一样从铜钱中间的小洞里滴下去，一滴都没有漏出来。围观者都惊呆了。而这个卖油翁却说：“其实没什么大不了的，只不过是天天练的结果。”说完，他就离开了。
后来，人们用“熟能生巧”这个成语来表示熟练了就能作得好。
再也不做稀饭了-
故事1.圆桌骑士The Round Table Knights
The Round Table Knights were a group of greatest knights who had the honour to sit at the Round Table at King Arthur"s court. According to a story, Arthur had a carpenter build the Round Table to show that no knight, not even Arthur himself was “head of the table”. All were equal and the king was just “first among equals”. The table was so large that it had enough seats for 1600 men and yet could be folded up and carried on horseback. According to another source.. Merlin the magician had the table built for Uther, Arthur"s father. Uther gave the table to King Leodegan. Later,Leodegan gave the table to Arthur after Arthur married Guenevere, Leodegan"s daughter. Still another story says that the Round Table had 12 seats around it, like the table at the Last Supper, with an empty place representing Judas"s seat. This seat was called the Siege Perilous, and was reserved for the knight so pure in heart that he would someday find the Holy Grail, the cup or dish used by Jesus at the Last Supper.Any other knight who sat in the seat would die. One day, Sir Galahad"s name appeared on the seat. From then on, he occupied the Siege Perilous .Later, as expected, he found the Holy Grail with the other two knights.
Knights considered it a great honour to have a seat at the Round Table. Brave men came to Arthur"s court from many countries hoping to become a Round Table Knight. Many stories describe the heroic deeds of various Knights of the Round Table. Several tell of the adventures of Sir Tristram and Sir Gawin. Other famous Round Table Knights included Lancelot, Bedevere, Bors, Galahad, Perceval and Modred..
The greatest adventure of the Round Table was the search for the Holy Grail. However, only the three knights---Bors, Galahad and Perceval were pure enough to be able to find the Grail. All the others had various moral defects. This fact damaged the reputation of the Round Table. To make things worse, a love affair developed between Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot, who was perhaps the greatest of the Round Table knights. This scandal destroyed the bonds of respect and friendship that had united all the knights.
The mortal blow to the Round Table ws given by Sir Modred, who tried to seize Arthur"s power. In a battle between the forces of the two men, Arthur killed Modred but he mimself was seriously wounded and soon died. The Round Table broke up following the death of Arthur.
圆桌骑士是亚瑟王宫廷里有权在圆桌旁就座的骑士。据传，亚瑟之所以让人造一圆桌，是因为圆桌无首席，所有骑士平起平坐，即使亚瑟本人也只是“众平等骑士之首”而已。这张桌子可坐1600人，但又可以折叠起来，一匹马就能驮走。据另一说，圆桌是墨林为尤瑟造的，尤瑟将它赠给了利奥德根王，而当亚瑟娶利奥德根王的女儿圭内维尔时，利奥德根又将它赠给亚瑟。也有人说圆桌周围有12个座位，与耶稣和他的门徒共进最后的晚餐时用的桌子相仿。其中有一个空位，代表犹大。这个座位被称为“危座”，留给能够找到圣杯的最圣洁的骑士。圣杯是耶稣在最后的晚餐上用过的杯子。不够圣洁的骑士若胆敢就座，就会马上死去。有一天，加拉哈爵士的名字出现在“危座”上，此后，这个座位就归他了。他后来果真与另外两位骑士找到了圣杯。
骑士们将能在圆桌旁就座视为最大的荣誉。各路豪杰纷纷前来，希望在圆桌旁得到位置。很多故事讲各圆桌骑士的英雄业绩。特利斯特拉姆和高文爵士的故事脍炙人口。其他著名的圆桌骑士还有朗斯洛、拜德维尔、博斯、加位哈德、珀西瓦尔、莫德雷德等人。
圆桌骑士们最伟大的历险是寻找圣杯。但其中只有博斯、加拉哈德和珀西瓦尔三人足够圣洁，有资格找到圣杯。所有其他骑士都有各种各样的道德缺陷，败坏了圆桌骑士们的名声。使事情更糟的是，圆桌骑士中最骁勇善战的朗斯洛爵士与亚瑟的妻子圭内维尔私通，违反了骑士道，破坏了骑士们的团结。
最后，莫德雷德爵士试图篡位，给圆桌骑士这一集体以致命的一击。亚瑟王率军与莫德雷德作战，在战斗中杀死莫德雷德，但自己也受了致命伤，不久死去。亚瑟死后，圆桌骑士各奔东西。
故事2.驴和买驴的人The ass and his purchaser
A man wanted to buy an ass. He went to the market, and saw a likely one. But he wanted to test him first.
So he took the ass home, and put him into the stable with the other asses. The new ass looked around, and immediately went to choose a place next to the laziest ass in the stable. When the man saw this he put a halter on the ass at once, and gave him back to his owner.
The owner felt quite surprised. He asked the man, "Why are you back so soon? Have you tested him already?" "I don"t want to test him any more," replied the man, "From the companion he chose for himself, I could see what sort of animal he is."
一个买主到市场上去买驴，他看中一头外表不错的驴，但是他想要牵走试一试。
他把驴牵回家，放在自己其他的驴之间，这驴四处看看，立即走向一头好吃懒做的驴旁边。
于是，买驴的人立刻给那头驴套上辔头，牵去还给驴的卖主。
卖主感到很奇怪，他问买主：“你怎么这么快就回来了？”买主说：“不必再试了，从他所选择什么样的朋友来看，我已经知道他是什么样了。”
寓意: 物以类聚，人以群分。人们往往喜欢跟与自己相同的人交往，所以，我们可以根据一个人的朋友来推断他的为人。
故事3. Big Head
“All the kids make fun of me”the boy cried to his mother.“They say I have a big head”
“Don"t listen to them.”his mother comforted him.“You have a beautiful head .Now stop crying and go to the store for ten pounds of potatoes”
“Where"s the shopping bag?”
“I haven"t got one,use your hat.”
大脑袋
“所有的孩子都拿我开玩笑，”小男孩哭着跟妈妈说：“他们说我长了一个大脑袋。”
“别听他们的，”他妈妈安慰说：“你的脑袋长得很漂亮。好了，别哭了，去商店买10磅土豆来。”
“购物袋在哪？”
“我没有购物袋，就用你的帽子吧。”
可乐-
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