一天，小乌龟嘲笑小鸟说：“你的家真寒酸! 它是用折断的小树枝做成的，没有屋顶，看上去很粗糙。更糟糕的是，你还要花时间去修建它。而我的房子就是我的壳，比你那可怜的窝好太多了。”
“没错，虽然它是用折断的小树枝做成的，看起来很破旧，很粗糙，但是我亲手建造的，我很喜欢它。”
“它和其他鸟巢没什么区别，不可能比我的好。”乌龟说，“你一定是嫉妒我的贝壳吧。”
“恰恰相反！”小鸟回答说。“我的家里有家人和朋友的空间，你的壳却只能容下你自己。也许你的确有一个更好的房子，但是我却有一个更好的家。”小鸟骄傲地说。
A tortoise was resting under a tree, on which a bird had built its nest. The tortoise spoke to the bird mockingly, "What a shabby home you have! It is made of broken twigs, it has no roof, and it looks crude. What's worse is that you had to build it yourself.
I think my house, which is my shell, is much better than your pathetic nest."
"Yes, it is made of broken twigs, looks shabby and crude, but I built it, and I like it."
"I guess it's just like any other nest, but not better than mine," said the tortoise, "You must be jealous of my shell, though."
"On the contrary," the bird replied, "My home has space for my family and friends, your shell cannot accommodate anyone other than you. Maybe you have a better house, but I have a better
home." said the bird happily.
小马和他的妈妈住在小河边。他生活得很快乐，时光飞快地过去了。有一天，妈妈把小马叫到身边说：“孩子，你已经长大了，可以帮妈妈做事了。今天，你把这袋粮食送到河对岸的村子里去吧。”
小马非常高兴地答应了。他驮着粮食飞快地来到了小河边。可是河上没有桥，只能自己蹚过去，可又不知道河水有多深。犹豫中的小马一抬头，看见了正在不远处吃草的牛伯伯。小马赶紧跑过去，问道：“牛伯伯，您知道河里的水深不深呀？”
牛伯伯挺起他那高大的身躯，笑着说：“不深，不深，才到我的小腿。”
小马高兴地跑回河边，准备蹚过河去。他刚一迈腿，忽然听见一个声音说道：“小马，小马，你别下去，这河里的水可深啦。”小马低头一看，原来是只小松鼠。
小松鼠翘着她漂亮的尾巴，睁着圆圆的眼睛，很认真地说：“两天前我的一个伙伴不小心掉进了河里，被河水卷走了。”
小马一听没主意了。
牛伯伯说河水浅，小松鼠说河水深，这可怎么办呀？他只好回去问妈妈。
马妈妈老远就看见小马低着头驮着粮食又回来了，心想他一定是遇到困难了，就迎过去问小马。小马哭着把牛伯伯和小松鼠的话告诉了妈妈。
妈妈安慰小马说：“没关系，咱们一起去看看吧。”
小马和妈妈又一次来到河边，妈妈鼓励小马自己去试探一下河水有多深。
小马小心地试探着，一步一步地蹚过了河。
噢，他明白了，河水既没有牛伯伯说的那么浅，也没有小松鼠说的那么深，只有自己亲自试过才知道。
金句拾遗
Real knowledge comesfrom practice.
实践出真知。
Little Horse and his mother lived by the river. He passed his days
happily, and time flew by. One day, Mother called Little Horse to her side and said, "Little Horse, you're all grown up, and you can help mother with a few things. Today, you take that sack of grain and carry it to the village on the opposite riverbank."
Little Horse happily agreed. Carrying the grain on his back, he flew to the river. Because there was no bridge over the river, however, he could only wade across, yet he didn't know how deep the river was. While he was hesitating, he lifted his head and saw Uncle Ox eating grass not far away.
Little Horse hurriedly ran over and asked, "Uncle Ox, do you know if the river is deep or not?"
Uncle Ox straightened his big, tall body and laughingly said, "Not very deep, not very deep. It only comes up to my calf."
Little Horse happily ran back to the riverside and prepared to wade across. He had only taken one step when suddenly he heard a voice saying, "Little Horse, Little Horse, don't go in, this river is so deep!" Little Horse lowered his head, looked down, and saw it was Little Squirrel.
Little Squirrel raised her pretty tail with her round eyes widely open and said earnestly, " Two days ago, my companion accidentally fell into the river, and the water swept him away."
Little Horse had no idea what to do.
Uncle Ox said the water was shallow, but Little Squirrel said the
water was deep. What should he do? He had to go back and ask Mother.
Mother Horse saw Little Horse returning with a lowered head from afar and carrying the sack of grain. She knew in her heart that he must have run into trouble, so she went to welcome Little Horse and ask about it. Little Horse told Mother what Uncle Ox and Little Squirrel had said.
Mother consoled Little Horse, saying, "Don't worry, let's go together and have a look."
Little Horse and Mother went back to the riverbank again, and
Mother encouraged Little Horse to test out how deep the water was.
Little Horse carefully tried it out, and step by step he waded across the river.
Ah! He understood. On the one hand, the river wasn't as shallow as Uncle Ox said, and, on the other hand, it also wasn't as deep as Little Squirrel said. You only know if you find out for yourself.
一天，史密斯先生去参加一个晚宴。他穿着旧衣服进入了宴会厅，但是屋里的人都不看他，也不请他入座。
史密斯先生回到家换上了他漂亮的衣服，返回宴会。屋里面的每个人都站起来向他微笑，给他非常好的食物招待他。
史密斯先生脱下他的外套，把它放在食物中说道：“吃吧，衣服！”
大家问道：“你在做什么？”
他回答说：“我在请我的衣服吃东西。当我穿旧衣服时，你们都不看我，也没有请我坐下。现在我穿上了这些衣服，你们就给了我精美的食物。我明白了，你们是把食物给我的衣服吃，而不是给我。”
One day, Mr.Smith went to a dinner party. He was wearing old clothes. He came into the room, but people in the room didn't look at him. They didn't ask him to sit at the table.
Mr.Smith went home, put on his good clothes, and then went back to the party. Everyone in the room stood up and smiled at him. They gave him very good food to eat.
Mr.Smith took off his coat, put it among the food, and said, "Eat, coat!" The other people asked, "What are you doing?"
He answered, "I'm asking my coat to eat the food. When I'm wearing my old clothes, you don't look at me. You don't ask me to sit down. Now I'm in these clothes, and you give me very good food. Now I see. You give the food for my clothes to eat, not for me."