強壯、聰明和仁慈(To Be Strong, Wise and Good)
once upon a time, there lived three brothers in a faraway land. their names were strong-arm, wise-head and good-heart.
strong-arm spent all his time very happily running, jumping, throwing spears and swimming.wise-head, too, was very happy. he spent all his time reading, writing, learning and making things with his hands.good-heart was the happiest of all. he spent all his time helping his brothers and cooking their food.one day they saw a girl on the top branch of a great tree, which no one could ever climb, calling “help! help!”
good-heart was always ready to help anyone in trouble. so he asked his two brothers for help.wise-head thought about the problem. he worked out the height of the tree, made a piece of long string, and tied a stone to one end of it. then he told strong-arm to throw the stone over the highest branch.then wise-head tied a long thick rope to the string, and pulled the other end of the string until the rope, too, went right over the branch and down again.so strong-arm climbed up the rope, and brought the little girl safely to the ground.the three brothers all felt wonderfully happy because they had saved the girl.
the girl was actually a fairy. she changed herself into the queen of the good spirits. she had come to teach the brothers a lesson in cooperation.“look,”the queen of the good spirits said,“being only strong or only wise or only good is not enough. the best thing is to be strong and wise and good.”
so the three brothers lived happily all their life, doing things together.