聰明的驢

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

有一天，農夫的驢掉進了井里。在農夫想辦法的時候，可憐的驢叫了好幾個小時。

Finally， he decided the animal was old， and the well needed to be covered up anyway； it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

最后，農夫覺得這頭驢已經老了，而且這口井也需要填平，把驢救出來不太值得了。

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.

他請了所有的鄰居來幫忙。他們都抄起鏟子，開始往井里填土。

At first， the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.

隨后，驢意識到發生了什么事，便發出了令人膽戰心驚的叫聲。

Then， to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later the farmer finally looked down the well.

后來，令大家奇怪的是，驢安靜了下來。又填了幾鏟土之后，農夫往井里看了看。

He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back， the donkey was doing something amazing.

他看到的情景讓他驚訝不已。驢對砸在背上的每一鏟土都做出了非凡之舉。

He would shake it off and take a step up.

他把土抖掉，然后往上走一步。

As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal， he would shake it off and take a step up.

隨著農夫的鄰居們不斷往驢身上鏟土，驢把土抖掉，再往上走一步。

Pretty soon， everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off.

很快，每個人都驚呆了——驢邁出了井口，歡快地跑了！

The donkey later came back and bit the shovel out of the farmer who had tried to bury him.

后來驢回來了，把鏟子從想埋他的農夫手中咬了過來。

The gash from the bite got infected， and the farmer died in agony from septic shock.

農夫被咬過的傷口感染了。最終，他在對感染的恐懼中痛苦地死了。

Life is going to shovel dirt on you， all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up.

生活會往你身上鏟土，各種各樣的土。從井里出來的辦法就是抖掉土，往上走一步。

Each of our troubles is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping， never giving up！ Shake it off and take a step up.

我們面對的每一個困難都是一塊墊腳石。我們只要不停滯、不放棄，就一定能戰勝一切困難。抖掉塵土，往上走一步。

Vocabulary

well n. 井

piteously adv. 可憐地

retrieve v. 找回

shovel v. 用鏟挖； 鏟起

horribly adv. 可怕地

amazement n. 吃驚

astonished adj. 吃驚的

shake v. 搖晃； 抖動

trot v. 小跑

bite v. 咬

bury v. 掩埋

infect v. 感染

agony n. 苦惱；極大的痛苦

trick n. 竅門