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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
1. The parrot who didn't fly
篇一 不飞的鹦鹉
Once upon a time, there was a king who had gone to visit neighbouring kingdoms. He was given a pair of baby Macaw Parrots by the king of the last kingdom where he was visiting. They were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. So, upon returning to his kingdom, he called for a bird trainer and asked him to train the Macaw parrots.
从前有一位国王去邻国访问。他访问的最后一个王国送给他一对小金刚鹦鹉。这对鹦鹉是他见过的最美丽的鸟儿。于是，回国后，他请来了一位驯鸟师，训练这对金刚鹦鹉。
The king also arranged a place in the palace garden for the parrots. He often looked at them from his palace window. As time passed, one day the trainer came to the palace and informed the king that though one of the parrots was flying majestically1 high in the sky, the other one was not moving from its branch since the day it had arrived.
国王还在宫廷花园里为这对鹦鹉专门安排了一个地方。他经常透过宫殿的窗户看着这对小鸟。过了些日子，有一天驯鸟师来到宫殿，禀告国王，其中一只鹦鹉已经可以在高高的天空中飞翔，但另一只从来到王宫的那一天起就从来没有离开过它站立的树枝。
Upon hearing this, the king summoned2 trainers and healers from the nearby kingdoms. They all tried their best, but couldn't make the parrot fly! He even asked his courtiers to try to find a way to make the parrot fly but they all failed. The parrot was not moving from his branch at all. Finally, after trying everything, the king thought that maybe he needed someone who is more familiar with the parrot's natural habitat. He asked his courtier to get a farmer from the countryside and take him to the parrot to see if he can understand the problem with the parrot.
国王听后，从邻国召来了几位驯鸟师和治疗师。但他们竭尽所能也没能让这只鹦鹉展翅飞翔！国王甚至要求大臣们想办法让鹦鹉飞起来，但都以失败告终。鹦鹉就是站在它的树枝上，一步也不动。最后，在尝试了各种办法后，国王觉得也许他需要一个更熟悉鹦鹉自然栖息地的人来解决这个问题。他派了一位大臣从乡下找到了一个农夫。农夫被带到鹦鹉跟前，看看他能否找到鹦鹉的问题。
The next morning, the king was thrilled to see the parrot flying high above the palace gardens. He asked his servant to call that farmer, to meet him. The servant quickly went and located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make the parrot fly?"
第二天早上，国王非常兴奋地看到鹦鹉正在宫廷花园的上空高高地飞翔。国王让仆人找来那个农夫，要见见他。仆人很快就找到了农夫，并把他带到了国王面前。国王问他：“你是怎么让鹦鹉飞起来了的？”
With his hands folded out of respect, the farmer said to the king, "It was very easy, your majesty3. I simply cut the branch on which the bird was sitting."
农夫双手交叉表示尊敬，然后对国王说：“这很简单，陛下。我只是把那只鸟站立的树枝剪了下来。”
Moral: We are all gifted with energy to find success in our life, but often fail to gather the courage which is required to reach heights of success and end up clinging4 to the things that are familiar to us. We need to free ourselves from our comfort zone to explore new opportunities and find success beyond our capacity.
寓意：我们生就都会精力充沛地去寻常我们生活中的成功，却往往缺乏达到成功高度的勇气，最终只能依偎于自己熟悉的环境中，故步自封。我们需要从舒适的环境中释放自我，超越我们自身的能力，去探索新的机会，寻求更大的成功。
篇二 不再懦弱——面对恐惧，迎难而上
One cowardly person came to a master of martial6 arts and asked to teach him bravery. The master looked at him and said:
一个懦弱的人找到一位武术大师，要从这位武术大师那里学习勇敢。大师看着他说：
I will teach you only on one condition: one month you will have to live in a big city and tell every person that you meet on your way that you are a coward. You will have to say it loudly, openly, while looking straight into the person's eyes.
要想从我这里学习勇敢，你得首先答应我一个条件：你必须去一座大城市住一个月，告诉在那里遇到的每一个人，你是一个懦夫。你必须大大方方地把这句话大声说出来，同时要直视对方的眼睛。
The person got really sad, because this task seemed very scary to him. For a couple of days, he was very sad and thoughtful, but to live with his cowardice7 was so unbearable8 that he travelled to the city to accomplish his mission.
这个人感到非常难过，因为这项任务对他来说似乎太可怕了。几天后，他依旧感到非常难过，且忧心忡忡，但他实在无法再忍受自己的懦弱，因此还是动身前往那座城市，去完成自己的任务。
At first, when meeting passers, he quailed9, lost his speech and couldn't contact anyone. But he needed to finish the master's task, so he began to overcome himself.
起初，当遇见路人时，他会感到恐惧，说不出话来，无法与任何人接触。但他需要完成大师交给他的任务，于是他开始尝试战胜自己。
When he came up to his first passer to tell about his cowardice, it seemed to him that he would die from fear. But his voice sounded louder and more confident with every passing day. Suddenly came a moment, when the man caught himself thinking that he was not scared anymore, and the further he continued doing the master's task, the more convinced he was that the fear was abandoning him. That way the month passed. The person came back to the master, bowed to him and said:
当他第一次走向一位路人，说出自己是个懦夫时，感觉自己好像要被吓死了。但此后，随着一天天过去，他的声音变得越来越响亮，也越来越有自信。忽然间，他一下子就觉得自己已经不再害怕了。而且，他越是继续完成大师交给他的这项任务，他越是确信自己已经摆脱了恐惧。就这样，一个月过去了。这个人回到大师面前，向他鞠躬说：
"Thank you, teacher. I finished your task. Now I'm not afraid anymore. But how did you know that this strange task will help me?"
“谢谢您，老师。我完成了您交给我的任务。现在我不再害怕了。但是，您是怎么知道这个奇怪的任务会帮到我？”
"The thing is that cowardice is only a habit. And by doing the things that scare us, we can destroy stereotypes10 and come to the conclusion that you came to. And now you know that bravery—is also a habit. And if you want to make bravery a part of yourself—you need to move forward into your fear. Then your fear will go away, and bravery will take its place."
“其实，懦弱只是一种习惯。而通过做一些令我们恐惧的事情，我们会打破这种一成不变，重新面对现实。而现在，你知道了勇敢其实也是一种习惯。要想让自己变得勇敢，你就需要面对恐惧，迎难而上。这样，你的恐惧就会烟消云散，勇敢自然取而代之。”
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1
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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summoned
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| 传唤( summon的过去式和过去分词 )； 召唤； 传讯（出庭）； 鼓起（勇气） | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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clinging
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| adj.执着的；有黏性的；紧靠着的；紧贴着的v.附着于( cling的现在分词 )；抓紧或抱住；坚持；依恋，依附于 | |
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coward
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| n.懦夫，胆小鬼 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stereotypes
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| n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 ) | |
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