英文哲理故事

英文哲理故事

Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."

The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.

After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."

【释义】

城里老鼠和乡下老鼠 从前，有两只老鼠，它们是好朋友。一只老鼠居住在乡村，另一只住在城里。很多年过后，乡下老鼠碰到城里老鼠，它说："你一定要来我乡下的家看看。"于是，城里老鼠就去了。乡下老鼠领着它到了一块田地上它自己的家里。它把所有最精美食物都找出来给城里老鼠。城里老鼠说："这东西不好吃，你的家也不好，你为什么住在田野的地洞里呢？你应该搬到城里去住，你能住上用石头造的漂亮房子，还会吃上美味佳肴，你应该到我城里的家看看。"

乡下的老鼠就到城里老鼠的家去。房子十分漂亮，好吃的东西也为他们摆好了。可是正当他们要开始吃的时候，听见很大的一阵响声，城里的老鼠叫喊起来："快跑！快跑！猫来了！"他们飞快地跑开躲藏起来。 过了一会儿，他们出来了。当他们出来时，乡下老鼠说："我不喜欢住在城里，我喜欢住在田野我的洞里。因为这样虽然贫穷但是快乐自在，比起虽然富有却要过着提心吊胆的生活来说，要好些。"

The House of 1000 Mirrors

Long ago in a small, faraway village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself,“This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often.” In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself,“That is a horrible place, and I will never go backthere again.” All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kinds of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?

千镜之屋

很久以前的一个很远的小村庄里，有一个以“千镜屋”而著名的地方。一只乐观的小狗听说了这个地方并决定去参观。当来到这个地方，他蹦蹦跳跳地上了台阶，来到房门口，高高地竖起耳朵，欢快地摇着尾巴，从门口往里张望，他惊奇地看到有1000只欢乐的小狗像 ……此处隐藏15280个字……好苹果，他说："我不打算吃那些苹果，因为富人会给我更多的食物，他会给我很好吃的东西。"然后他拿起苹果，一把扔到土里去。 他继续走，来到河边，河涨水了，因此，他到不了河对岸，他等了一会儿，然后他说："今天我去不了富人家了，因为我不能渡过河。"

他开始回家，那天他没有吃东西。他就开始去找吃的，他找到苹果，很高兴地把它们从尘土中翻出来吃了。 不要把好东西扔掉，换个时候你会觉得它们大有用处。

How Important It is

There isa suitcase for you with a million US dollar in 。

Thesuitcase is placed in a building away from you about one hour driving。 Thecondition is，you need to get there within two hours。 If you did，I will giveyou the suitcase with a million US dollar。 Or if you late for only one minute，nothing will you get。 When would you get about?

Manywould say: “Now。” will you?

Now youset out。 You hurry into your car，start it，drive for the building。 You are soexcited and wonder what to do about the one million US dollars。 All of a sudden，you are stopped by the traffic jam。 You turn on the radio and find there is noany way to get there because of the accident on your way。 What will you do neststep? Go back? Or step out your car，go to the building on foot (running oremploy a helicopter or other ways)?

If，youare on the way to the dentist’s office and there is a traffic jam，surely youwould turn back and appoit for another time。

Why isthere difference between these two thins? Because of the destination。 If it isquite important for you，you will conquer it，regardless any hardship; or ifyit is not so serious，you may call it a day。

Samantha, like many renters, is tired of renting. One reason is that her annual rent goes up like clockwork. Every year her landlord raises the rent five percent. Another reason is her neighbors. “New neighbors always seem to be more inconsiderate than the ones who moved out,” she said. “My first neighbor was a door-slammer; I always knew when he came home or left home. After he moved out, a saxophonist moved in. A saxophonist! He practiced two hours a day. On Saturday his friends would come over and I’d get to listen to a whole band. I called the police, but they said saxophone playing is permitted in apartments for up to four hours a day, because saxophone playing is job-related. They told me I was lucky that the guy was only playing two hours a day!”

There are many unhappy renters, but there are also happy renters. “I’ve been lucky my whole life,” said Howard, a middle-aged man. “My neighbors couldn’t have been any better if I had picked them myself. One neighbor was a chef. He’d bring me the best leftovers in the world. Another neighbor was a pianist. She played the most delightful music. Another neighbor was a mechanic who did my tune-ups and changed the oil in my car. My latest neighbor is a birder; we go birding every weekend with our binoculars.”

Different persons have different attitudes. Samantha saw the saxophone player as irritating, yet Howard saw the piano player as delightful. Millions of people would be happy just to have a roof over their head. Yet there are millions who would complain that their roof is the wrong color.