How Grandfather Deals The Problem

比喻被譽為“修辭之王”，它是一種形象化的修辭手法。一個恰到好處的比喻，勝過一大篇平淡的議論；繁難玄奧的道理，一經比喻就能易解好懂。請大家閱讀下面短文，了解一下爺爺是用什么方法調解孩子們之間矛盾的？

That day， there had been quite a fierce （激烈的） fight between two adults and their grandfather was called in to mediate. The children were curious to hear what he had to say about it. One of the children asked a question to the grandfather that was puzzling him.

A group of children gathered around their grandfather. They were filled with excitement and curiosity. “Grandfather， why do people fight？”

The old man replied， “Well， do you know my child， we all have two wolves inside us？ They are in our chest （胸膛） ... and these wolves are fighting each other at times.” The eyes of the children had grown big by now.

“In our chests， too， Grandfather？” asked another child. The grandfather nodded his head in agreement and said， “Yes.” “And in your chest， too？” asked the third one. The grandfather replied， “Yes， in my chest， too.”

The grandfather surely had all the children’s attention now， and continued， “There is a white wolf and a black wolf. The black wolf inside us is filled with fear， lies， anger， envy， inferiority， sorrow， regret， jealousy， greed and arrogance. The white wolf is filled with peace， love， hope， courage， humility （謙遜）， compassion （同情）， kindness， empathy （同理心）， generosity （慷慨）， truth and faith. And do you know there is always a terrible fight between these two wolves？”

Then he stopped. There was complete silence and all the children were curiously looking toward him. Finally， the grandson that asked the first question could not wait anymore and broke the silence， “But Grandfather， which wolf wins？”

The old man smiled and replied， “That’s simple ... the one whom we feed the most.”

注釋：gather" v. 聚集 puzzle" v. 使困惑 nod" v. 點頭 agreement" n. 同意

跟蹤練習：

1. Why was the grandfather called in？

A. Because he had a fight with two other adults.

B. Because he was asked to solve the two adults’ fight.

C. Because the children had a fierce fight among themselves.

D. Because the children wanted to puzzle him with questions.

2. Hearing everyone had two wolves inside their chest， the children felt

quite .

A. curious

B. scared

C. happy

D. regretful

3. According to the grandfather， the white wolf might .

A. fear to fight

B. tell lies

C. get angry easily

D. stick to the truth

4. The grandfather was teaching the children that .

A. a good person only has the good points

B. a bad person only has the bad points

C. a person can’t be either white or black

D. they should develop the good side more