A man once had four sons who never stopped quarrelling with one another. He was always telling them how much easier life would be if they worked together but they took absolutely no notice of him. One day he decided to show them what he meant.
He called all the sons together and put a tightly tied bundle of sticks on the floor in front of them.
"Can you break that ? " he asked the youngest son. The boy put his knee on the bundle but though he pressed and pulled with his arms he could not bend the wood. The father asked each son in turn to try to break the bundle, but none of them could do it .
Then he untied the string and scattered the sticks.
" Now try, " he said . The boys broke the sticks easily in their hands.
"Do you see what I mean ?" asked the father. "if only you stand together no one can hurt you . If you all disagree the whole time and insist on going your separate ways, the first enemy you meet will be able to destroy you. "
United we stand ; divided we fall.
一捆樹枝
從前有一個(gè)人，他有四個(gè)兒子。兒子們不斷地爭(zhēng)吵。他一再告誡他們說(shuō)，如果他們一起干活兒，生活會(huì)舒適得多，但他們絲毫不理會(huì)他的意見。有一天，他決定通過(guò)示范把自己的意思告訴他們。
他把四個(gè)兒子都叫來(lái)，又把一捆扎得很緊的細(xì)樹枝放在他們面前的地上。
"你能折斷這個(gè)嗎?"他問(wèn)最小的兒子。小伙子用膝蓋頂住，兩只手又壓又拉，都不能把那捆樹枝弄彎。父親讓別的兒子挨個(gè)兒試試，看他們是否能把那捆樹枝折斷，但誰(shuí)也做不到。
然后，他解開繩子，把樹枝撒開。
"試試吧。"他說(shuō)。四個(gè)小伙子用手輕輕一撅，樹枝就斷了。
"你們明白我的意思了嗎?"父親問(wèn)，"只要你們聯(lián)合起來(lái)，誰(shuí)也不能傷害你們。如果你們老吵架，一定要各行其是，那么你們一遇到敵人，就會(huì)被打敗。"
合則存，分則敗。
On a vacation trip, Duke Huan of the state of Qi came to the ruin of the capital of Guo Shi , which perished long ago.
Seeing the desolate and bleak prospects of broken tiles, collapsed walls, and clusters of weeds, he could not help asking the local people about the reason of the ruin of Guo Shi.
They replied,"Guo Shi was fond of doing good deeds, and averse to evildoing, which led to the perdition."
When the Duke could not understand the answer, people explained ," Though he liked doing good, he had never been able to do so; though he hated evildoing, never could he help not participating. That caused the ruin of his capital."
郭氏之墟
齊桓公出游途中，來(lái)到已經(jīng)滅亡許久的郭氏都城的廢墟。
看到瓦礫殘?jiān)�、雜草叢生的蕭條景象，忍不住問(wèn)當(dāng)?shù)匕傩展蠝缤龅脑颉?/p>
百姓們回答說(shuō)："郭氏由于喜愛善行善事。厭惡邪惡丑行而導(dǎo)致滅亡。"
齊桓公不能理解這種回答，百姓們便解釋說(shuō)："郭氏雖然喜愛善行善事，但從來(lái)都不能做到;盡管厭惡邪惡丑行，卻總是忍不住參與其中。這就是他的都城變成廢墟的原因。"
A mouse once took a bite out of a bull's tail as he lay dozing. The bull jumped up in a rage and, with his head low to the ground, chased the mouse right across the yard. The mouse was too quick for him, however, and slipped easily into a hole in the wall.
The bull charged the wall furiously again and again, but although he bruised his head and chipped his horns, the mouse stayed safely inside his hole. After a time the bull gave up and sank down to rest again.
As soon as the bull was asleep, the little mouse crept to the mouth of the hole, pattered across the yard, bit the bull again -- this time on the nose -- and rushed back to safety. As the bull roared helplessly the mouse squeaked:
"It's not always the big people who come off best. Sometimes the small ones win, you know."
老鼠和公牛
有一次，公牛躺著打盹，一只老鼠咬了他的尾巴。公牛怒氣沖沖地跳起來(lái)，低著頭追老鼠，一直追過(guò)院子。然而，老鼠跑得比他快多了，從容地鉆到墻洞里去了。
公牛一次又一次地猛撞墻壁，盡管頭撞腫了，角撞裂了，老鼠卻安然待在洞里。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，公牛不撞了，倒下歇著。
公牛剛睡著，小老鼠就爬到洞口，嗒嗒地跑過(guò)院子，又咬了公牛一口，這回咬了鼻子，又跑回安全的地方去。當(dāng)公牛毫無(wú)辦法地吼叫時(shí)，老鼠吱吱叫道：
"大人物并不總占上風(fēng)。有時(shí)小人物也會(huì)取勝。"
A boy was playing in the fields when he was stung by a nettle . He ran home to tell his mother what had happened.
"I only touched it lightly," he said, "and the nasty thing stung me."
"It stung you because you only touched it lightly," his mother told him." Next time you touch a nettle grasp it as tightly as you can. Then it won't sting you at all."
Face danger boldly.
男孩和蕁麻
有個(gè)男孩子在地里玩耍，被蕁麻刺痛了。他跑回家去，告訴媽媽出了什么事。
"我不過(guò)輕輕地碰了它一下，"他說(shuō)，"那討厭的東西就把我刺痛了。"
"你只輕輕地碰了它一下，所以它才刺痛你，"媽媽對(duì)他說(shuō)，"下一回你再碰到蕁麻，就盡量緊緊地抓住它。那它就根本不會(huì)刺痛你了。"
要敢于面對(duì)危險(xiǎn)。
A man once bought a brilliantly-coloured parrot. Instead of locking it up in a cage or chaining it to a perch, he allowed it to fly free all over the house. The parrot was delighted at this and flapped from room to room, shrieking and screaming with happiness. At last he settled on the edge of a rich curtain.
"Who on earth are you ?" said a cross voice from below. "Stop that terrible noise at once."
The parrot saw a cat staring up at him from the carpet.
"I 'm a parrot. I 've just arrived and I 'm to make as much noise as I can," he said.
"Well, I 've lived here all my life," replied the cat ."I was born in this very house and I learned from my mother that it is best to keep quiet here."
"Keep quiet then, "said the parrot cheerfully. "I don't know what you do around here, but I know my job. My master bought me for my voice and I'm going to make sure he hears it."
Different people are valued for different things.
鸚鵡和貓
從前，有人買了一只毛色鮮艷的鸚鵡。他沒(méi)有把鸚鵡關(guān)在籠子里，也沒(méi)有用鏈條把他拴在棲木上，而讓他在家里自由自在地飛來(lái)飛去。鸚鵡對(duì)此非常高興，撲動(dòng)翅膀，從一間屋子飛到另一間屋子，愉快地尖聲叫著，最后停在華麗的帷幔的邊上。
"你到底是誰(shuí)?"從下面?zhèn)鱽?lái)怒氣沖沖的說(shuō)話聲，"馬上住嘴，別發(fā)出那難聽的聲音。"
鸚鵡看見地毯上有一只貓?zhí)ь^看著他。
"我是鸚鵡�！∥覄偟剑乙箘诺爻吵�。"他說(shuō)。 "那你就一聲不響吧，"鸚鵡歡快地說(shuō)，"我不知道你在這兒干什么，可我知道我的活兒。主人為了我的聲音才買我，我一定得讓他聽到。"
不同的人因有不同的特點(diǎn)而受重視。