富人與石頭

Many years ago，there lived a rich man.He wished to do something for the people of his village. First， he wanted to find out whether they deserved his help.

很多年以前，有一個富人，他想為自己村子的人做點什么。他首先想知道的是他們是否值得他的幫助。

In the center of the main road into the village he placed a very large stone.Then he hid nearby and waited to see what would happen. Soon an old farmer passed with his cow.

他在進村的大路中央放了一塊很大的石頭。然后，他就躲在附近，等著看看將會出現什么情景。不多時就有一個老農牽著牛從這里經過。

center [＇sent] 中心，中央main [mein]主要的

place [pleis]放nearby [＇nibai]附近的

happen [＇hpn]發現

“What fool put this big stone right in the center of the road?”said the farmer.He made no effort to remove the stone.Instead，with some difficulty he went around the stone and continued on his way.

“誰干的這等蠢事？把這么大的一塊石頭放到了路當中?！边@個老農說。但他沒有設法把石頭搬開。他費了好大勁兒才從這塊大石頭旁邊繞過去，繼續走自己的路。

effort [＇eft] 努力

Another man came along，and the same thing happened.Another came，and another，etc.All of them complained about the stone in the center of the road.None of them took the time or the trouble to remove it.

In the evening，a young man came along.He was honest and hard-working.

不久，又有一個人走來，他也是繞著大石頭走過去的。接著，一個又一個的人走來，他們每個人都抱怨這塊放在路中央的石頭，但卻沒有一個用點時間或費點力氣把它搬走。

傍晚，一個年輕人走過來，他是一個誠實肯干的人。

trouble [＇trΛble]辛勞

honest [＇ nist]誠實的

He saw the stone and said to himself，“The night is falling.Some stranger or a neighbour will come along in the dark.He might stumble on the stone and hurt himself.”

他見到這塊石頭便自言自語道：“天就要黑了，要是某個外地人或者一個鄰居在夜里走過這個地方，就可能撞到這塊石頭上，說不定還會受傷。”

stranger[＇streind]外地人

neighbour[＇neib]鄰居

stumble[＇stΛmbl]絆倒

hurt[h:t]傷害

Theyoung man then began to remove the stone.He had to push or pull with all his strength to move it to one side.

然后，這個年輕人便開始搬這塊石頭。要想把這塊石頭移到一邊去，他必須使出全身力氣連推帶拉。

strength[stre]力氣，力量

But imagine his surprise when under the stone he found a bag full of money.He also found this message，“This money is for the thoughtful person who removes this stone from the road.That person deserves help.”

但是當他在這塊石頭下面發現一滿袋錢和一張紙條的時候，你可以想象到他驚異的程度。紙條上寫著：“這筆錢是送給能為別人著想而把石頭從路上搬走的人的。這種人值得幫助。”

message[＇mesid]訊息，信

thoughtful[＇ :tful]考慮周到的，有思想的

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