父親和孩子們

Father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarrelling among themselves. When he failed to stop their quarrel， he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion； and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so， he placed the bundle into the hands of each kid in turn， and ordered them to break it in pieces. They each tried with all their strength， and were not able to do it.

一位父親有幾個(gè)孩子，孩子們時(shí)常發(fā)生口角。他沒有辦法來勸阻他們，只好讓他們看看不合群所帶來害處的例子。為此，一天他叫孩子們替他拿一捆細(xì)柴來。他們把柴帶來時(shí)，他便先后將那捆柴放在每一個(gè)孩子的手中，吩咐他們弄斷這捆柴。他們一個(gè)個(gè)盡力去試，總是不能掰斷。

He next unclosed the sticks， and took them separately， one by one， and again put them into sons’ hands， on which they broke easily. He then told them in these words： “My sons， if you are of one mind， and unite each other， you will be as this bundle， uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies； but if you are divided among yourselves， you will be broken as easily as these sticks.”

然后他解開那捆柴，一根根地放在孩子們手里，如此一來，他們便毫不費(fèi)力地折斷了。于是他就告訴他們：

“孩子們！如果你們大家團(tuán)結(jié)一致，互相幫助，你們就像這捆柴一樣，不會(huì)被你們的敵人打??；但如果你們自行分裂，就將和這些散柴一般，不堪一折了?！?/p>