故事类英文小短文

Covering the Eye with a LeafIn the State of Chu, there was a man whose family was very poor. Even at night the often dreamt of striking it rich, but the never worked hard.One day, when he was leafing through the book Huainan Zi, he came across a line saying:” When the mantis preys on the cicada, it relies entirely upon a leaf to conceal its body.” He thought that if one could get such a leaf, one could become invisible。

Thereupon, he ran into the woods, looking for just such a leaf among the branches. He had searched a long time before he discovered a mantis hiding itself behind a leaf and waiting to catch a cicada. He climbed up the tree at once, and plucked the leaf. But he was in such a big hurry that, out of carelessness. The leaf dropped to the ground. There were many, many fallen leaves on the ground. How could he identify the leaf he had plucked？ So he had to put all the leaves into a bamboo basket and carry them home.As soon as he got home, he held up one leaf after another in turn to cover h is eye, and kept asking his wife:“Can you see me?”In the beginning, his wife always answered:” Yes, I can.”After a long time, she began to feel weird: what was the matter with her husband today? Why did he keep holding up a leaf and asking her the same question?。

”He did this over and over again for one whole day. In the end, his wife got impatient and humoured him by saying:” No, I can’t.”Hearing this, he became wild with joy. He turned and ran out to the street. Holding the leaf in one hand, he grabbed with the other hand the goods in a shop. But before he could withdraw his hand, he was caught on the spot and handed over to the local yamen.Sighing over one’s Insignificance beWhen autumn came, all the water in the large and small rivers rose higher and flowed into the Yellow River.The surface of the River at once appeared much wider, On one side of the bank, one couldn’t see the cattle and sheep on the opposite side. The River deity Hebo was therefore immensely proud and considered himself the greatest in the world.Hero followed the Yellow River to the North Sea. Then he looked at himself and felt he could not see the bounds of the sea. Then he looked at himself and felt he was so tiny and insignificant. He sighed and said to Hairuo, the deityof the North Sea.“Asa the saying goes, a person who has gained a little learning tends to regard himself as the wiset person under the sky. I am just that kind of person. Seeing how broad and great you are today, I have come to realizehow insignificant an d ignorant I am. If I didn’t meet you , I’m afraid I would I would always be laughed at by people with knowledge.”Hairou said:“We cannot talk about the sea with a frog at the bottomof a well, for the frog is restricted by its dwelling place;we cannot talk about ice with a small insect is restrictedby the seasons; we cabbit talk about profound learning with superficial persons, for they have too little knowledge. Now you have come out of a small river to the North Sea, seen the greatness of it and realized your own insignificance. Since you have taken such a modest attitude, I can then talk with you about profound learning. ”The King of Chu Beats the DrumOne day, King Li of the State of Chu announced to the people: If any emergency occurs in our country, the drum will be beaten as a signal. The moment the people hear the drum, they must assemble outside the palace gate at once.One day, King Li out drunk, when he passed by the drum stand, he started to beat the drum at random. When the people heard the drum, they ran from all directions to the palace gate, thinking that some emergency had occurred in the country. They stood all around in a dense mass. King Li sent someone to tell them:”Just now the King beat the drum, but nothing urgent had happened, it was only because the King got drunk and when he passed by the drum stand, he beat the drum just for fun.”All the people returned to their homes , feeling angry.A few months later, some emergency really occurred in the State of Chu. The drum outside the palace gate sounded from early morning until night. Though the people heard the drum, they no longer cared about it and didn’t rush to the palace gate.An old horse knows the wayOne spring, Guan Zhong and xi peng followed Huan Gong, King of the State of Qi, in an expedition againstthe State of Gu back. They lost their way, Guan Zhong said:“Old horses are wise animals who know their way. Let them lead the way for us!”Thereupon, they let several old horses lead in front andthe army followed behind. Finally they found their way home.When the army entered the hills, they ran out of water. Then Xi Peng said:” In winter, the ants stay on thesouth side of a hill, and in summer, on the north side. There is sure to be water source un der their nest. ”Thereupon, the soldiers exerted strenuous efforts to dig the ground. Sure enough, they found water under the ants’ nest.Men of great learning like Guan Zhong and Xi Peng, when coming across difficulties, would also seek help from horses and ants of lower intelligence than human beingsto find a way out.Startling the world with a Single CryIt had been three years since King Zhuang of Chu ascended the throne, but he had neither issued a decree nor dealt with any state affairs. Furthermore, there no deeds worth mentioning. All the civil and military officials of the court couldn’t understand what was the matter.One day, a military official quietly asked King of Chu in the carriage. “Your Majesty, I heard that in the south, there was a big bird dwelling in the hills. Three years passed, it neither flew nor cried. Could Your Majesty tell me the reason.”King Zhuang of Chu smiled and answered: ”It didn’t spread its wings to fly for three years in order to growfull-fledged. It didn’t cry for three years in order to carefully observe the conditions of the people in the world. This bird, once it flies, will soar high into the sky; once it cries, it will startle the world with a single cry.”Another half a year passed before King Zhuang of Chu began to personally administer state affairs. He abolished ten outmoded rules and regulations, issued nine new policies, sentenced five ministers to death for their evil deeds and promoted six persons with real talents. From then on, the State of Chu became stronger and stronger.Striving to Be the First and Fearing to Lag Behind Wang yuqi was a well-known expert in driving carriages in the State of Zhao.When Xiang Zi of Zhao heard of this, he asked Wang to teach him to drive a carriage. Not long after, xiang Zi of Zhao thought he had already mastered the skills, and suggested a race against Wang. He didn’t expect that after he had changed horses three times in succession, he still lost the race to Wang.Xiang Zi of zhao was flustered and exasperated. He saidto Wang:“in teaching me to drive, have you held anything back and not taught me all your skills?””Hearing this, Wang smiled and said:“You ought to believe that I have taught you all the skills in driving a carriage. But, when your Highness was racing against me, you always tried to keep in front of me. Once you lagged behind, you strove to overtake me; but after you overtook me, you were afraid that I would catch up with you. You focused all your attention on me. You forgot that indriving a carriage, the most important thing is to take of the horses wholeheartedly and pay attention to the handlebars of the carriage and the harness to see whether they fit of not. Only then can you give the rein to the horses and let them gallop for 1000 li. But during the race, you not only strove to be the first but also feared to lag behind. How could you concentrate your mind on driving the carriage? ”Hearing this, Xiang Zi of Zhao was enlightened. He gave a deep sigh and said: ”Your words certainly hit the nail on the head. That is the very reason why I lagged behind.”。