1 英语哲理小故事 (1) One day, the lion king announced that he was going to get married, and he invited all the animals to attend the wedding ceremony. So the tortoise thought, “I am an animal. I shall attend it as well.” Then he set out on the journey. On his way, he met other animals. They were stunned for a few seconds and then began to laugh at the tortoise, saying, “How silly you are! The ceremony is starting. Can you make it as you walk so lowly? I’m afraid you still can’t be there after the baby lion king is born, or grow up or even after he gets married.” But the tortoise had made his mind to go. Many years passed, and he finally got to the entrance of the lion king’s cave. No wonder that the lion king’s wedding had already been finished a long time ago. However, the tortoise found that the cave was so well- decorated and all varieties of animals were there. They told the tortoise, “Today, the son of the old lion king is going to get married.” How could the tortoise attend the little lion king’s wedding party if he had stopped half- way? (2) After a heavy rain, a spider was climbing hard towards his broken net on the wall. Because the wall was too wet, the spider fell down after reaching a certain height. But he continuously climbed up and fell down again and again. The first man saw it, sighed heavily and said to himself, “My life is just like that spider’s; busy all the time but getting nothing?” He became increasingly depressed. The second man saw it and said, “What a stupid spider. Why doesn’t it make a detour to a drier place? I’d never be that stupid.” So he became smarter. The third man saw it. He was quite moved by the spider’s perseverance and said to himself, “I won’t let a little spider be stronger and more persistent than me. I’ll learn from his example and become stronger,” and he did. 2 (3) There was a young flower in the desert where all was dry and sad looking. It was growing by itself, enjoying every day and saying to the sun, “When shall I be grown up?” And the sun would say, “Be patient! Each time I touch you, and you will grow a little.” She was so pleased because she would have a chance to bring beauty to this corner of sand. And this is all she wanted to do ---- bring a little bit of beauty to this world. But one day a hunter came by and stepped on the flower. She was going to die and she felt so sad. Not because she was dying, but because she would never have a chance to bring a little bit of beauty to this corner of the desert. The Great Spirit saw her, thinking that she should be living. So he reached down and touched her---- and gave her a second life. Finally she grew up to be a beautiful flower. And this corner of the desert also became so beautiful because of the small flower. (4) Soon after her little brother was born, Sachi began to ask her parents to leave her alone with the new baby. They worried that like most four-year-olds, she might feel jealous and want to hurt (hit or shake) him, so they said no. But she tried every effort to show she wouldn’t hurt him. (But they found her have no sign of jealousy.) She treated the baby with kindness, and her pleas to be left alone with him became more urgent. After a long time of observation, her parents finally allowed it. Elated, she went into the baby’s room and shut the door, but it opened a crack---- enough for her curious parents to peek in and listen. They saw little Sachi walk quietly up to her baby brother, put her face close to his and say quietly, “Baby, tell me what God feels like. I’m starting to forget.” (5) There are three brothers who all have doctor degrees and work for NASA. One day after finishing dinner in their mother’s home, again they started discussing the project of landing on the moon and establishing the space station. 3 One of the daughters-in-law washing dishes in the kitchen complained, “They three discuss those unimaginable things all the time, which makes us foolish compared with them.” But the mother said, “I used to think that I was foolish. However, I changed my mind remembering that they three spent the whole afternoon fixing all the screen windows around the house last autumn.” (6) A customer having lunch in a restaurant asked a waiter, “What will be the weather like tomorrow?” The waiter answered full of certainty, “It will be the weather I like.” Puzzled, the customer asked, “How can you know it will be the weather you like?” The waiter said, “I find that the surroundings can not always go with my mind. So I learn to face everything that I encounter joyfully. Then the weather tomorrow must be the one that I enjoy.” (7) Three criminals were sentenced to stay in prison for three years. The warden agreed to satisfy each a request. The American liked to smoke cigars so he asked for three cases of cigars. The Frenchman was the most romantic among them all. He wanted a beautiful lady for companion. The Jewish, however, would like to have a phone connecting the outside society. Three years later, the first man rushing out of the prison was the American, with his nostrils full of cigars, shouting, “Give me fire! Give me fire!” He turned out to forget to ask for fire. Then there came the Frenchman. He was seen to hold a child in his arms. The beautiful lady was followed by one child, too, perceiving the third one. The last coming one was the Jewish. He held the warden’s hand tightly and said, “Thanks to the telephone. I have been keeping contact with the outside society these three years. My business didn’t stop, but has increased by 200%. So I’ll send you a Rolls-Royce as a gift to show my thankfulness.”
