There was once a lonely fisherman by the name of Troung Chi. Every evening, as he sailed, he played his flute (笛子) and all who heard his music agreed it was the most beautiful sound they had ever heard. But his face was ugly, and the girls in his village kept away from him. And so he lived alone.
At that time there lived a young lady who was both rich and beautiful. She spent her days sitting in her room, safe, but alone. Every evening she sat at her window and waited for the fisherman to slip past as the sweet notes of his flute thrilled her heart. She swore that she would marry him one day. So she begged her father to permit the boy into the house so that she could look him in the eyes. However, he shook his head and said that a fisherman was too poor.
She lay in her new room and sobbed (啜泣). She sobbed and sobbed until she became so ill that her father feared for her life. At last he compromised. The father sent for the fisherman and asked him to sit beside his daughter’s bed and play his flute. If his music proved to be strong enough medicine to cure her, he would be rewarded with a bag of gold.
Troung Chi sat by the bed and played. His sweet notes reached her inner soul, and the warmth of his love came over her body and revived (唤醒) her. At last she opened her eyes and looked up at him — the fisherman of her dreams.
But oh, he was ugly! How frightful! This was not at all as she had imagined. “Take him away!” she screamed. “I don’t want to look at his ugly face!”
The boy was driven out of the room. The secretary offered him a bag of gold, but he refused it. His heart was broken. He went to his boat, and as he sailed away, he threw his flute into the water. He was never seen again.
After Troung Chi had been gone for some days, the young girl regretted her behaviour. She never married. For the rest of her life she remembered the boatman’s tender love and his beautiful music.
1. Why did no woman want to be the boatman’s wife?2. How did the young girl know of the fisherman?
3. What was the woman’s reaction after she saw the fisherman’s face?
4. Why did the fisherman throw his flute away and never come back?
The Meaning of Struggle
One day, a man found the pupa of a butterfly. Seeing an opening in the pupa, he realised that the butterfly was ready to emerge. So he sat down and watched as the butterfly struggled to force its body through the little hole. However, minutes passed and the butterfly still couldn’t get out. The struggle was too hard for its weak body. The man then kindly enlarged the hole in the pupa so that the butterfly could finally break free. But instead of flying away, it just dragged itself around weakly, then died. The struggle to break out of the pupa was necessary for the butterfly’s survival because it enabled its wings and body to grow strong. Without the struggle, it was too weak to live. In the same way, we need struggle to grow strong and survive. We must go through some difficult things if we really wish to spread our wings and fly.
1. What does a butterfly do to get out of its pupa?2. Why did the man think he needed to help the butterfly?
3. What happened to the butterfly after the man enlarged the hole in the pupa?
4. What is the lesson behind this story? What else can you learn from it?
Todd cried out in shock and waved his arm at the pale blue screen hovering above the breakfast table. The hologram news paused. “Carolyn,” he called across the kitchen, “did you see this?”
His wife, Carolyn, was collecting her cereal from the breakfast robot. “What is it, honey?” she asked. Todd pointed at the floating blue screen. Carolyn read the headline:
Another prison breakout: faulty robotics blamed.
“Oh, don't worry,” Carolyn chuckled. “That's an old facility. The robots there were bound to break down sooner or later. Plus, I know for a fact that they weren't well maintained,” she added. “Julius was telling me about it. That place isn't as advanced as ours.”
“But the report says that even new, regularly-maintained robots can break down,” Todd protested. “And in a maximum-security prison like yours, one small error could cause a lot of problems.”
Carolyn smiled at him. “You worry too much,” she said. “Now, I'd better be going or I'll be late for work.” She grabbed her bag from the kitchen counter and rushed out of the door. Todd heard the air car start up outside. It was not until an hour later that he noticed that Carolyn had left her emergency call device on the breakfast table.
1. What happened to the prison and what was the cause?2. What kind of job do you think Carolyn has?
3. Are there any sentences that might foreshadow what will happen next? Underline them.
THE STONE IN THE ROAD
Once upon a time there was a king who often thought, “Nothing good can come to a nation whose people only complain and expect others to solve their problems.” One day, he had an idea.
Early one morning, the king disguised himself and went to a local village. He placed a large stone in the middle of the main street and hid gold coins under the stone. Then he hid behind a huge maple tree and watched.
The first person down the street was a milkman with his cart. He crashed into the stone, spilling the milk everywhere. “What fool put this stone here?” he shouted. He picked himself up and angrily went away.
After a while, a group of women came along, each balancing a pot of water on her head. One woman tripped over the stone and her water pot went crashing to the ground. She picked herself up and limped away in tears. Neither she nor her friends thought about moving the stone out of the road.
The king watched all day as many people complained about the stone, but he found nobody making an attempt to move it. The king was in despair. “Is there no one in this village who feels any responsibility to keep their neighbors from harm?”
Just then, the king saw a young girl coming along. She was the daughter of a local farmer. She had been working all day and was very tired. But when she saw the stone, she said to herself, “This stone is a danger to anyone who comes down the street after dark. I'll move it out of the way.”
The girl pushed the stone with all her might. After a great deal of effort, she finally succeeded in moving it to the side of the street. Imagine her surprise when she saw the gold coins where the stone had been!
Just then, the king stepped out from behind the tree. “Oh sir,” the girl said, “does this gold belong to you? If not, we surely must find the owner, for he will certainly miss it.”
The king said, “My dear, the gold is mine. I put it in the road and moved the stone over it. Now the gold is yours, because you are the only person who has learnt the lesson I wanted to teach my people.”
1. What was the king’s idea for teaching an important lesson to his people?2. What was the response from most of the people?
3. What did the young girl think and do when she saw the coins?
