英文幽默故事：Children are Wiser than Elders

Leo Tolstoy was a great writer. He was a Russian. Tolstoy was a man of peace. He wrote many good stories. Each story has a valuable moral¹. Some of his stories are log². And some of his stories are short. The following is one of his stories. It is written in simple English for your sake³.

 

It was rainy season in Russia. In a certain village in Russia the rain water was flowing in streams in a street. It had rained and stopped a little while ago. Two little girls were playing in the street water. It was festival time. They were wearing new frocks. Malasha was the younger of the two little girls. Akulya was the older girl. 

 

Malasha stamped her foot in the water. It was a little muddy. The muddy water splashed⁴. It fell on Akulya’s new frock. Akulya was just rubbing⁵ out the mud. At that time Akulya’s mother was walking that way. She looked at her daughter’s dress. She scolded her daughter. 

 

“How can you make your new dress so dirty?" she asked.

 

“Malasha splashed the water on me, mother," said Akulya.

 

Akulya’s mother caught Malasha. She gave two or three slaps⁶ on the back of Malasha. Malasha started weeping loudly. Malasha’s house was close by. Malasha’s mother heard her daughter Malasha’s weeping. She came out in hurry. 

 

“Why are you weeping?" asked her mother. 

 

“Akulya’s mother beat me on my back," said Malasha. 

 

Malasha’s mother turned to Akulya’s mother in an angry mood. Malasha’s mother abused⁷ Akulya’s mother. Soon they started quarrelling loudly. They called each other names. Their shouting continued.

 

Other women joined them soon. Some supported Akulya’s mother. Some supported Malasha’s mother. The two fighting groups became bigger and bigger. The men also joined in the fighting. The quarrel became never ending.

 

At that time the grandmother of Akulya came out of the house. She told the men and the women not to fight. “It is festival time. People should not quarrel," she told them.

 

No one listened to her. No one cared for her words. In the meantime⁸ Malasha and Akulya forgot about their quarrel. They became friends again. They moved away from the fighting crowd. They started letting paper boats in the running water. Now the old woman said to the fighting groups. 

 

“Look at the children. They have forgotten their quarrel. They have started playing again. They have become friends again. But you men and women still keep quarrelling. Are you not ashamed of your tendency?"

 

The men and the women looked at the little girls. They felt ashamed. They went back to their houses quietly. 

 

Children forget and forgive very easily. The elders learnt this lesson from the little girls. 

1 moral   

adj.道德(上)的，有道德的；n.品行，寓意，道德

参考例句：

• Moral beauty ought to be ranked above all other beauty.品德之美应列于其他美之上。
• He deceived us into believing that he could give us moral support.他骗得我们相信他能给我们道义上的支持。

2 log   

n.记录，圆木，日志；v.伐木，切，航行

参考例句：

• They log for a living.他们以伐木为生。
• And then what do you do with that log?然后你要拿那些记录做什么呢？

3 sake   

n.缘故，理由

参考例句：

• He loves poetry for beauty's sake.他因为爱美而喜欢诗歌。
• We can't risk big things for the sake of small ones.我们不能因小失大。

4 splashed   

v.使（液体）溅起( splash的过去式和过去分词 )；（指液体）溅落

参考例句：

• Water splashed onto the floor. 水哗的一声泼洒在地板上。
• The cowboy splashed his way across the shallow stream with his cow. 牧童牵着牛淌过浅溪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rubbing   

n. 摩擦, 研磨, 按磨

参考例句：

• This insect makes its strange noise by rubbing its back legs together. 这只昆虫摩擦它的两条后腿发出一种奇怪的声音。
• Jerry was already unhappy because he fumbled the ball,but his teammates kept rubbing it in. 本来杰瑞就很不高兴，因为他失了球，而他的队友们还一再提那件事。

6 slaps   

n.拍打声，类似拍打的声音( slap的名词复数 )v.掌击，拍打( slap的第三人称单数 )；制止；镇压；（尤指生气地）啪的一声放下

参考例句：

• I received two slaps on the face myself. 我自己脸上挨了两次刮。 来自辞典例句
• KRAMER: [slaps George on the arm] You keep me posted! 克雷默：那你得经常告诉我消息！ 来自互联网

7 abused   

v.妄用( abuse的过去式和过去分词 )；虐待；辱骂

参考例句：

• All the children had been physically and emotionally abused. 所有这些儿童的身心都受到了摧残。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This rule was brought into being because the old law was abused. 由于旧的法律遭到滥用，这条规则便应运而生。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 meantime   

n.其时，其间；adv.同时，当时

参考例句：

• I continued working,meantime,he went out shopping.我继续工作，这期间他出去买东西。
• In the meantime we pressed on with the airlift.与此同时，我们加紧进行空运。