英语小故事集锦

Do not make rash and hasty decisions.不可急于求成The Master and his StudentOnce, a Master was walking on the banks of a river. Suddenly, he heard a cry. He ran to the riverside and saw his Student in the water. The Student was waving his arms and crying out loud. When he saw the Master, he shouted, “Master! Please help me. I will drown in the river.”The Master asked his Student to stay calm. He said, “Son! Do not panic! I shall find a way to bring you out. But how did you fall into the river?”The Student replied, “I was learning how to swim with the help of a log of wood. After a while, I felt I could swim without it. So, I left the log and started swimming without it. The force of the stream was very rough and I lost my balance.”The Master looked around for another log of wood, and found one lying upon the bank. He threw it towards his Student and said, “Let this be a warning to you. In future, never throw away the log until you are quite sure you have learnt to swim without it.”坚持不懈就能胜利。MORAL : Perseverance paves way to successThe King and The SpiderVikram was a brave king. Once, he had to fight against a large army with just a fewsoldiers, he was defeated. He had to run for his life.Vikram took shelter in a forest cave. He was very depressed. His courage had left him.He was blankly gazing at the ceiling of the cave. An interesting scene captured hisattention.A small spider was trying to weave a web across the cave ceiling. As the spider crawledup, a thread of the web broke and the spider fell down. But the spider did not give up. Hetried to climb again and again. Finally, the spider successfully climbed up and completedthe web.Vikram began to think, If a small spider can face failure so bravely, why should I giveup? I will try with all might till I win. This thought gave strength to the defeated king.Vikram got out of the jungle and collected his brave soldiers. He fought against the largearmy. He was defeated again. But now, he would not give up his fight.Vikram again and again fought against the large army and finally, after many attemptsdefeated the large army and regained his kingdom. He had learnt a lesson from the spider.骄傲自满之心不可有The Paper KiteA beautiful Paper Kite was flying high in the sky. It was brightly coloured, with long, curly tassels and a long string.The Paper Kite was so high up, above all the trees and other kites, that it was giddy with excitement.Admiring itself, it said loudly, “0 look at me flying so gracefully! If I were free, I could go far away.”The Paper Kite tugged at its string, as it wanted to fly right through the clouds and above the eagles.However, the string was strong and held it tight.The Paper Kite impatiently tugged at its string again, and the string broke.The Paper Kite was full of joy. It tried to fly higher but suddenly, it started falling. The Paper Kite tried with all its might to stay up, but it kept coming down. Free of its string, the Paper Kite had become too heavy and could not control itself. It drifted towards the sea and was washed away in the tide.The Paper Kite cried, “O poor me! I wanted to fly higher and higher. Look what I got for being so proud.”Think Before You SpeakIt was a sunny day. On a train, there were a group of youngsters who were going for vacation. Sitting next to them was a man with a young boy aged around 15. Upon getting on the train, the young boy was so surprised to see everything. He acclaimed at his father, “Dad, the train is moving and the things are moving backwards.”His father smiled and nodded his head. Just like a kid, the boy was watching everything with great happiness and loaded with tons of surprises. A fruit seller passed selling apples and oranges. The father bought the boy some apples. The boy said, “Oh, the apple looks so sweet than it tastes. I love this colour.” The group was watching all the activities of this boy and asked the boys father, Is your son having any problem? Why is he behaving very differently?A friend from the group made fun of him and shouted, His son is mad I think.The father of the young boy, with patience, replied to the group.My son was born blind. Only a few days before, he was operated and got the vision. He is seeing various things in his life for the first time.The young friends became very quiet and apologized to his father and son. Intelligence and courage will bring success.智慧和勇敢将带来成功The Monkeys and a BellOnce, there lived a Thief in a kingdom. One day, he stole a Church bell and ran into the forest. Soon, a Tiger saw the Thief, pounced upon him and killed him. The bell dropped to the ground.Some Monkeys found the bell and started playing with it. When the people found the Thiefs body they thought, A monster must have killed him and then rung the bell? He will kill all of us now!They got scared and started leaving the kingdom.One day, a brave and clever woman was passing through the forest and saw the Monkeys playing with the bell.She had a plan and told the King, “Your Majesty! The monster can be conquered. But it will cost money.”The King agreed to pay her a large sum of money as he was concerned about the safety of his people.Then, the woman collected a lot of fruits and pretended to pray. Later, she kept them under a tree in the forest, and waited, nearby. When the monkeys saw the fruits, they dropped the bell and rushed down.She quickly picked up the bell and ran back to the city.劳动创造财富。MORAL : Fruits of hard work are always sweetThe farmer and his lazy sonsIn Madhanpur, there lived a very hardworking farmer named Gopal. He has three sons Ram,Laxman and Hanuman. All three were strong and healthy. But they were all lazy.Gopal was sad thinking about his sons and the future of his farmland.One day, Gopal got a flash of an idea. He called all his sons and said, Ram! Laxman!and Hanuman! I have hidden a treasure in our farmland. You search and share thetreasure among you.The three sons were overjoyed. They went to the fields and started searching Ram startedfrom one end. Laxman searched from the other end. And Hanuman did so from thecentre. They dug each and every inch of the field. But they could not find anything.Gopal said to his sons, “Dear boys! Now you have tooled and conditioned the field, whynot we sow a crop! Off went the sons to sow the crops. Days passed. Soon, the crops grew lushly green. The sons were delighted. The father said, Sons, this is the real treasure I wanted you to share.Do not judge anyone by the way he looks.人不可貌相The poor villagerThe Roman Kingdom was growing bigger. Roman soldiers controlled the cities that they won. Next, the Romans won a small village on River Danube. Seeing the cruelty of the Roman rulers, a poor villager decided to meet the Roman Ministers.The Villager was an ugly, hairy man. He had thick eyebrows and lips. He had a crooked nose and a squint in his eye! But, he bravely, faced the Roman Ministers. Everyone wondered what this ugly Villager would say.The Villager asked the Romans, “Why are you killing everyone and taking their lands? Why are you robbing the people and living in style? People were so afraid that they have left their homes and are hiding. The Romans are spoiling everything, instead of making life better.”“Please go back! We do not like the way the Romans treat us! We were happy before you Romans came!”The Romans were amazed at his wonderful speech. The Villager was right!They made the Villager, the Governor, and called the Roman soldiers back! They also wanted his speech written down for others to read.The city on the River Danube was happy again.学会自省才能进步One should not blame others for their own faults.The farmers wife and the crowA farmer and his wife lived in a village. The farmer grew vegetables on his farm. His wife sold them in the market. One day, after selling her vegetables in the market, the farmers wife bought some eggs. Then she sat on her horse to go home and carried the basket of eggs on her laps. She rode carelessly and dreamt of things she would buy with the rest of the money. Suddenly, all the eggs in the basket fell on the ground and broke.The farmers wife was very unhappy. She blamed a crow on a tree branch, “Fool! Why did you make so much noise? I was surprised to hear your unpleasant voice and so all the eggs broke.”The crow replied, “Lady, you were not careful while riding, and were lost in your thoughts. You should not blame me for your fault!”The farmers wife was ashamed (羞愧的) of her mistake and apologized to the crow.A rich mouse and an old man打击敌人的力量来源。Once, there lives an old man. He is poor and depends on alms (救助金) to support himself. He will eat a little food, keep the rest in a begging bowl and hang it high up on a peg (挂钩). A mouse sees this, and used to jump up and help himself to the food.One day, a friend of the old man visits him. After having the meal, they start chatting. But the holy man cannot concentrate. He keeps tapping on the ground with a stick to scare the mouse away.The friend asks, “What are you doing? Why dont you listen to me?” “Excuse me!” says the holy man. “Its just that dreadful (可怕的) Mouse! He eats away whatever food I manage(设法) to save.” The friend says, “How can the mouse jump so high? It must have put aside a lot of food, which must give him extraordinary (非同一般的) energy.”Then they dig for quite a while. They finally find the food that the mouse have gathered and take it away. The mouse returns and finds his hoard (贮藏物) of food missing. He is very sad and loses all interest in stealing food from the holy mans bowl. 智慧的力量胜过权力Wisdom can win might.The hare and the lionA lion is fed up with (厌烦) hunting. He calls all animals and passes an order, Everyday one of you should come by yourself as my prey(猎物). All animals start to obey this order. Now it is the hares day. The hare is very sad. On his way to the lions den, he comes across an old well. He looks into it. It is deep and dangerous. He makes a plan to his mind. The hare slowly comes towards the lion. The lion is very angry and roars, Why are you late? The hare humbly (谦卑地) replies, On my way another lion chased me. I got away with much difficulty to give my life to you, Your Majesty (陛下). The lion is pleased with the hare. But the thought of another lion in the jungle makes him angry. The lion roars, Where does he live? Take me to see him. The hare takes the lion to the old well and says, Sir, that lion lives in this well. The lion peeps into the well. He mistakes his reflection(反射) for another lion. He roars and there is an echo(回音). He thinks that the other lion is roaring too and jumps into the well. That is the end of the lion. 一分耕耘，一分收获MORAL : There are no gains without painsThe red hen and her friendsOnce, there lived a hen with her five chicks. The hen was as red as beetroot. She had three friends : a duck, a cat and a dog. They all lived happily. One day, the red hen stumbled on to a wheat seed. “Hey, who among you wish to plant this seed?” she asked.“Not me, friend” refused the duck.“Nor can I.” declined the cat.“Count me not.” the dog turned his back.“All right. I will do it then by myself,” said the hen. She planted the seed and watered it.Alas! It grew quickly to yield the brownish wheat. “Hi! There, who among you wish to harvest the wheat?” asked the red hen.“Not me, friend,” the duck sounded bored.“Nor can I.” shrugged the cat.“Count me not!” avoided the dog.“If so, I will do it by myself,” the red hen spoke up as she laboured all day along. Byevening she had two gunny bags full of wheat.“Hello pal! Who among you will lend me a hand to grind this wheat? She queried. All the three refused as usual. I will see that I grind this by myself. I will make flour, knead dough and bake bread!” she announced. The next day she baked delicious bread.“Howdy, who among you wish to eat this bread?” she asked merrily. “I want to!” answered the duck, smacking her lips. “Me too!” said the cat with his mouth watering. “Yummy, smells good,” spoke up the dog, shuffling his feet eagerly. “None of you can have a bite! I slaved in the field and at home. Only my children and I are entitled to eat this bread!” So saying the red hen fed her chicks and ate a sumptuous meal that day.人生有一次成功就够了There was a man who had many failures in his life. But he said, “One success is enough for me！”When he was five years old, his father died. Since then, his mother worked outside while he had to stay at home and take care of his siblings. He learnt cooking since then.When he was 14, he began a roving流浪的 life. He changed his job from electrician 电工to railway worker. All his jobs were tough for him.When he was 35, misfortune again happened to him. When he was crossing a huge bridge, the steel ropes were broken. He was badly injured and could no longer continue his job.When he was 66, he made a living by promoting推销 his chicken-frying techniques 炸鸡技术to restaurants in different places.When he was 83, he opened another fast-food restaurant. But later, he fell into a lawsuit with others.When he was 88, he achieved great success and became well-known to the whole world.He was the founder of KFC, Ha Lunde Sandoz哈伦德山德士. He often said, “People always complain about the bad weather. Actually the weather is not bad at all. As long as you are optimist 乐观主义者 and confident all the time, you will have a good weather every day.”人生变幻富二代成了鞋钉匠。Jones is a blacksmith (铁匠). The son of his rich neighbor Mr. Smith likes to watch him work every day.Young man, why not learn to make shoe tacks鞋钉, even if it is only to pass the time?says Jones. Who knows, it may be useful to you one day.The boy begins to see what he can do. After some practice, he becomes very skilled and makes some of the finest tacks.Old Mr. Smith dies and the son loses all his money during the war. He moves to a village in another country. There, many shoemakers spend much money to buy tacks for their shoes.Our young Mr. Smith remembers that he has learned the art of making tacks. He makes a bargain（达成协议） with the shoemakers. He will make the tacks if they help him open a shop. The shoemakers are very glad. After a while, Mr. Smith finds that he is making the finest tacks in the village.How funny it seems, he says, Even making tacks can bring a fortune财富. It is more useful to me than my former riches (财产).” 慷慨的图书管理员与偷书贼。Mr. Hall and the book thiefA librarian should be responsible for the librarys safety. Mr. Hall is a qualified 合格的librarian. He has his license执照 for 10 years. The days become longer in March, so he spends more time in the library.One afternoon, Mr. Hall hears some steps. He follows them and finds more than three books are stolen. He closes the door first. Then he chases the thief and says, “Stop or I will let off the gun开枪!” Mr. Hall catches the thief but is surprised to find it is a boy. He lets the boy loose释放 and takes him to his office. The boy speaks in whisper耳语 and fears that Mr. Hall will blame him. He says he has no money for food, let alone更不用说 books. Mr. Hall lets out a sigh. He is a generous man. Compared with相比于 stealing money, stealing book is the less evil. He says to the boy, If you are a liar, you will let me down. People often make mistakes when they are poor. I let you off this time.The boy gains his liberty自由. To his surprise, the librarian even gives him some money and books. The boy leaves with grateful tears. 谦卑的一课A lesson of humilityBooker Taliaferro Washington布克托里佛华盛顿 was a famous black educator教育家 and a man of humility.One day, when Professor Washington was walking in a small town, he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. The woman did not know the famous president of Tuskegee Institute杜斯凯吉大学 at all. She asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her.Because he was not busy at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and did the humble 低下的 work. When he was finished, he carried the logs木柴 into the house and put them by the fireplace壁炉. A little girl recognized认出 him and later told the lady. The next morning, the embarrassed 尴尬的woman went to see Mr. Washington and apologized to him. Its all right, Madam, he replied. Sometimes I enjoy a little manual labor体力活. And it is always a pleasure to do something for a friend.The woman was moved by his meek谦恭的 attitude. Not long afterwards, she donated thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute. 给别人的幸福让道，何乐而不为？Make Way for Others HappinessIn the morning, a bus is rolling on. It is full of people who are going to work. Suddenly, a car rushes out from the road nearby. The bus stops with an urgent brake紧急刹车. It is a car for taking photographs of the wedding and is followed by a long wedding motorcade车队. The passengers start to complain that they may arrive at work late. But the bus driver sits in his seat quietly and rings the horn喇叭 from time to time不时地.Someone on the bus says to the driver, “It is no use ringing the horn. They will not make way for you. Youd better rush through the gap间隙 between the motorcade.”The driver turns back and smiles, “I ring the horn not to urge them to make way for me, but to bless祝福 them. Marriage is a happy thing. And we have a chance to make way for others happiness. Isnt it a happy thing, too?”The passengers on the bus calmed down instantly立即地.勇敢的母亲为立法禁止驾驶员在车辆行进时使用手机而斗争。A brave mother Partricia Pania帕特丽夏帕尼亚 never wanted to be a public figure人物. All she wanted to be was a mother and a homemaker. But her life changed when another car crashed into the side of her car and killed her two-year-old daughter. The driver was distracted by his cell phone. 帕特丽夏帕尼亚从未想过要成为国家公众人物。她只想当一位母亲和家庭主妇。