英语幽默小故事
The Bear and the Two Travelers
TWO man were traveling together, when a Bear suddenly met them on their path.
One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and concealed himself in the branches.The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the Bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could.
The Bear soon left him, for it is said he will not touch a dead body.When he was quite gone, the other Traveler descended from the tree, and jocularly inquired of his friend what it was the Bear had whispered in his ear.\"He gave me this advice,\" his companion replied.\"Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger.\"
An ant went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the rush of the stream, was on the point of drowning.
A Dove sitting on a tree overhanging the water plucked a leaf and let it fall into the stream close to her.The Ant climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank.Shortly afterwards a bird catcher came and stood under the tree, and laid his lime-twigs for the Dove, which sat in the branches.The Ant, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot.In pain the bird catcher threw down the twigs, and the noise made the Dove take wing.
One good turn deserves another
Love Your Life
热爱生活
Henry David Thoreau/享利.大卫.梭罗
However mean your life is,meet it and live it ;do not shun it and call it hard names.
It is not so bad as you are.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor as it is.
You may perhaps have some pleasant,thrilling,glorious hour,even in a poor-house.
The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as
from the rich man’s abode;the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there,and have as cheering thoughts,as in a palace.
The town’s poor seem to me often to live the most in dependent lives of any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving.
Most think that they are above being supported by the town;
but it of ten happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means.
which should be more disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage.
Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,Turn the old,return to them.
Things do not change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.
不论你的生活如何卑贱，你要面对它生活，不要躲避它，更别用恶言咒骂它。它不像你那样坏。你最富有的时候，倒是看似最穷。爱找缺点的人就是到天堂里也能找到缺点。你要爱你的生活，尽管它贫穷。甚至在一个济贫院里，你也还有愉快、高兴、光荣的时候。夕阳反射在济贫院的窗上，像身在富户人家窗上一样光亮；在那门前，积雪同在早春融化。
我只看到，一个从容的人，在哪里也像在皇宫中一样，生活得心满意足而富有愉快的思想。城镇中的穷人，我看，倒往往是过着最独立不羁的生活。也许因为他们很伟大，所以受之无愧。大多数人以为他们是超然的，不靠城镇来支援他们；可是事实上他们是往往利用了不正当的手段来对付生活，他们是毫不超脱的，毋宁是不体面的。视贫穷如园中之花而像圣人一样耕植它吧！不要找新的花样，无论是新的朋友或新的衣服，来麻烦你自己。找旧的，回到那里去。万物不变，是我们在变。你的衣服可以卖掉，但要保留你的思想。
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning! I’m very glad to stand here and give you a short speech.
Man’s life is a proce of growing up, actually I’m standing here is a growth.If a person’s life must constituted by various choices, then I grow up along with these choices.Once I hope I can study in a college in future, however that’s paed, as you know I come here, now I wonder what the future holds for me.When I come to this school, I told to myself: this my near future, all starts here.Following I will learn to become a man, a integrated man, who has a fine body, can take on important task, has independent thought, an open mind, intensive thought, has the ability to judge right and wrong, has a perfect job.
Once my teacher said :” you are not sewing, you are stylist; never forget which you should lay out to people is your thought, not craft.” I will put my personality with my interest and ability into my study, during these proce I will combine learning with doing.If I can achieve this “future”, I think that I really grow up.And I deeply believe kindred, good-fellowship and love will perfection and happy in the future.
How to say future? Maybe it’s a nice wish.Lets make up our minds, stick to it
and surely well enjoy our life.
中文大意：）~
女士们，先生们，上午好。我很高兴在这里为大家作一个简短的讲话。
人的一生是一个成长的过程，事实上，我现在站在这里也是一次成长。如果一个人的一生必须面临不同的选择，那么我就是伴随着这些选择成长起来的。曾经我盼望将来能上大学，然而那已经过去了，现在我在这儿，只想知道我的未来会是什么样的。
当我来到这所学校，我告诉我自己：我不久的将来都从这里开始。接着我要学习如何做人，如何做一个正直的人，并且拥有一个健康的体魄，能承担重要的任务，能独立思考，思想开放，心思缜密，有判断是非的能力，有一份不错的工作。
我的老师曾经告诉我说：“你不是在修补而是在创造；永远不要忘记你向人们所展示的是你的思想，而不是你的手艺。”我会将我的性格，兴趣爱好和能力一起融入到学习中去。在这过程中，我边学习边实践。如果我能实现这个“未来”，我就认为我真的成长了。并且我深信我的亲人，好朋友以及爱会使我的未来更完美，更幸福。
如何来解释未来呢? 也许那只是一个美好的愿望。让我们下定决心，坚持到底，那我们的人生一定能过得很精彩。
世界节日（1）Spring Festival（春节）
作者：节日转贴自：本站原创点击数：578文章录入： 湖北华审
The New Moon on the first day of the new year-- the full moon 15 days later
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（满月）15 days later.The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵节）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements.The lunar cycle（月运周期）is about 29.5 days.In order to \"catch up\" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle).This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （闰年）.This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year\'s Eve and New Year\'s Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving.The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（万物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（仪式）, united the living members with those who had paed away.Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year\'s Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table.The spirits of the ancestors,
together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community.The communal feast called \"surrounding the stove\" or weilu.It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.The Origin of Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature).Its origin is too old to be traced.Several explanations are hanging around.All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means \"year\", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite.People were very scared.One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian.To Nian he said, \"I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?\" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harraed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian.He turned out to be an immortal god.Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life.Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year\'s end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation.The term \"Guo Nian\", which may mean \"Survive the Nian\" becomes today \"Celebrate the (New) Year\" as the word \"guo\" in Chinese having both the meaning of \"pa-over\" and \"observe\".The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around.However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
Traditional New Year Foods
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year.Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year\'s Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai.Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherne and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity.The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completene.Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet
steamed glutinous rice（糯米）pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed（芦苇）leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food.The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year
The first day of the Lunar New Year is \"the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth.\"Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods.They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.
The fifth day is called Po Woo.On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth.No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.
On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely.They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.
The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce.These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion.The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings.Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for succe.
On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.
The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.
The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner.After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.
The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night.
Auspicious words:
Treasures fill the homeBusine flourishesPeace all year roundWishing you prosperity
Harmony brings wealth May all your wishes come trueEverything goes wellThe country flourishes and people live in peace
Money and treasures will be plentifulWishing you every succePromoting to a higher positionSafe trip wherever you go
