2 . As a child, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of stone walls, the house and field provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me.

Since my first visit to the farm, I had wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the houses. My parents would never agree because the walls were so old that some stones were loose and falling. However, my idea to climb across those walls grew so strong that finally I had all my courage to enter the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.

“I want to climb the stone walls.” I said. “Heavens, no! You’ll hurt yourself!” The response was just as I’d expected. But before I left the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s loud voice. “Now hold on just a minute.” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”

“Go,” he said to me, “and come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls —and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, smiling, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”

Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids will hear me say, “and people can like you exactly as you are.”

4 . In a small village there lived a lazy Brahmin Ramdas. He would do nothing but daydream all day. One sunny afternoon, Ramdas was very _________. He said, “What a beautiful day! How I wish I could go back to sleep. But I have to go out and get my food.” After bathing, Ramdas took out a bowl and out to _________. By begging the whole day he managed to get a pot full of _________.

“It is this pot of milk that is going to make me _________,” he thought. “I will use it to make butter. From the butter, I will be _________ to make ghee (酥油). I am really clever! I will then go to the _________ and sell the ghee,” his dream _________. “With the money I get, I will buy a pair of goats. They will have _________ after six months. Soon I would have an entire herd of goats.”

“How _________ I am,” he thought. “The day I become a rich businessman I will build a big house right in the middle of the village. There will be a splendid garden and a swimming pool in front of the house. Early morning I will __________ in the blue waters of the pool.”

Deep in his __________, he struck out with his foot, breaking the __________, and drenching (使湿透) himself with the milk. He saw the broken pot and cried. He lost whatever he had because of his __________ and daydreaming.

Laziness is the biggest __________ of our life. If you are lazy then you will not acquire any significant (重要的) position in your life and will always have nothing. Laziness is a __________ who slowly steals everything from us. If you want to become successful in your life and career, please overcome the devil laziness.

6 . Doing something without thinking is easy, but it’s hard for us to take back what we have done. There was once a _______who repeated a bit rumor (谣言) about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community _______the story. The person it concerned, was deeply _______and annoyed. Later, the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely _______. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to _______the damage.

“Go to the marketplace,” he said, “and _______a chicken, and have it _______.   Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them _______along the road.” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did _______she was told.

The next day the wise man said, “Now, go and collect all those ________you dropped yesterday and ________them back to me.”

The woman ________the same road, but to her disappointment, the wind ________ all the feathers away. “You see,” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, ________it’s impossible to get them back. So it is with rumor. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but ________you do, you can never completely make up for the wrong.”

8 . Once, Sviatozar’s nephew came to see him. As a child, the nephew often ________ the old man, but now he does this ________. At that time, the young man was sad and obviously ________ about something. Sviatozar asked what had happened to him. The young man said that he had a serious ________ and then would never be able to achieve his goal.

The nephew asked the old man to give him ________ —what he should do next, but Sviatozar just asked the nephew to help him climb the hills. That road was difficult and long. But the nephew ________ agreed to help his uncle. When they reached the hills, Sviatozar said that he needed to go to the top of the highest hill. The young man was surprised, but ________ to help his uncle, because the old man had never climbed there.

With great ________, the young man helped his uncle climb the hill, and sometimes even dragged the old man on his back. At the top of the hill, ________, he put Sviatozar on the ground and laughed happily. “Once upon a time, you sometimes returned home ________,” Sviatoza r asked him, “The boys teased you. Do you remember why?” “Exactly.” The young man ________ and nodded. He ________ that as a child, he often played there with other boys. And they called this hill an Everest because few people could get to its top.

“At that time, you were unable to get here. This hill seemed an ________ rock to you. And today you not only climbed here, but also dragged me up.” the old man said and looked at his nephew, “How do you think? Why?” “Perhaps I just grew up,” the young man ________, “I became stronger and fitter.”

“And the Everest suddenly ________ a harmless mound,” said Sviatozar. “You got my advice.”

9 . “This world is so unfair!” my daughter shouted as soon as she entered the door. It turned out that she was caught talking with others while having a math class. And finally she was punished by the teacher. “There were other students talking in class, but the teacher only punished me,” she said angrily.

I asked her, “Should you be punished for speaking when your teacher is in class?” She nodded but also defended, “It is unfair for me because the teacher didn’t punish the other students who spoke!” “Let’s just talk about you. Was the teacher wrong to punish you?” I asked again. She lowered her head and said, “No.”

“That’s fair!” I said. “You know what the price of speaking in class is. You did it and got the punishment you deserved (应得). The teacher didn’t punish others because she could choose to forgive (原谅). From your point of view, it seems unfair, but for those students she has forgiven, there’s no unfairness. It depends on from which angle (角度) you look at the thing.”

People are often like this. When they look at themselves, they are very clear about what they are doing, knowing what their prizes and punishments should be, but they think differently after looking at others. Because comparison with others makes people confused and even becomes a stumbling block (绊脚石) in their life. The most important thing is to understand fairness in a deeper way, not from your point of view only!