It was a cold winter day in 1919. A small boy was walking along the street in London. His name was Tom. He was very hungry. He wanted to buy some bread, but he had no money. What could he do? When he was very young, he wanted to be a great man in the world of films. So he worked to sing and dance well. Thirty years later, the boy became one of the famous people in the world.
那是1919年的一个寒冷的冬天。一个小男孩正漫步在伦敦的街头。他的名字叫汤姆。他饿极了。他想买一些面包，可是他身无分文。他该怎么办呢？当他非常年幼的时候，他就想当一名电影世界中的伟人。所以他努力把歌唱好，把舞跳好。三十年之后，这个小男孩真地成为了电影世界中的著名人物之

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.
我有个朋友叫蒙提.罗伯兹，他在圣思多罗有座牧马场。我常借用他宽敞的住宅举办募款活动，以便为帮助青少年的计划筹备基金。

That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.”
“那晚他洋洋洒洒地写了七张纸，描述他的伟大志愿，那就是想拥有一座属于自己的牧马农场，并且仔细画了一张200亩农场的设计图，上面标有马厩、跑道等的位置，然后在这一大片农场中央，还要建造一栋占地4,000平方英尺的巨宅。”

“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, ‘See me after class.’”
“他花了好大心血把报告完成，第二天交给了老师。两天后他拿回了报告，第一页上打了一个又红又大的F，旁边还写了一行字：下课后来见我。”

“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’”
“这男孩回家后反复思量了好几次，然后征询父亲的意见。父亲只是告诉他：‘儿子，这是非常重要的决定，你必须自己拿定主意。’”
“Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.’”
“再三考虑好几天后，他决定原稿交回，一个字都不改。他告诉老师：‘即使不及格，我也不愿放弃梦想。’”
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.’”
蒙提此时向众人表示：“我提起这故事，是因为各位现在就坐在200亩农场内，占地4,000平方英尺的豪华住宅。那份高中时写的报告我至今还留着。他顿了一下又说：“有意思的是，两年前的夏天，那位老师带了30个学生来我农场露营一星期。离开之前，他对我说：‘蒙提，说来有些惭愧。你读高中时，我曾泼过你冷水。这些年来，我也对不少学生说过相同的话。幸亏你有这个毅力坚持自己的梦想。’”

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.
不论做什么事，相信你自己，别让别人的一句话将你击倒。
我觉得下面这个故事虽然简短但是这文章里的寓意很值得我们回味，希望对你有用英语小故事 ：
生病的狮子
A lion had come to the end of his days. He lay helpless under a tree.
The animals came around him. When they saw that he was going to die, they thought to themselves, "Now is the time to pay him back."
So the boar came up and rushed at him with his tusks.
Then a bull gored him with his horns. The lion still lay helpless before them.
So the ass felt quite safe. He turned his tail to the lion and kicked up his heels into his face.
"This is a double death." growled the lion.
●一头年老体衰的狮子病得有气无力，奄奄一息地躺在树下。
●动物们围在他的周围，看到狮子快要死了，就来报复他。
●一头野猪冲到他身旁，狠狠地咬他。
●接着，一头野牛也用角来顶他，狮子无助地躺在那里。
●当驴子看到可以对这庞大的野兽为所欲为时，也用他的蹄子用力去踢狮子的头部。这头快要断气的狮子说：“我已勉强忍受了勇者的施暴，但还得含羞忍受你这个小丑的侮
辱，真是死不瞑目啊。”
寓意: 无论过去多么辉煌，都难以避免辉煌失去后别人的不敬与报复。

The Old Cat
An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it.
Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, "Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young."
【译文】
老猫
一位老妇有只猫，这只猫很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了东西，因为它年纪太大了。一天，老猫发现一只老鼠，它跳过去抓这只老鼠，然而，它咬不住这只老鼠。因此，老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了，因为老猫咬不了它。
于是，老妇很生气，因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死。她开始打这只猫，猫说：“不要打你的老仆人，我已经为你服务了很多年，而且还愿意为你效劳，但是，我实在太老了，对年纪大的不要这么无情，要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情。”

July 15 2007 I have rested for 10 days. In these days, I felt very bored. I didn’t know to do what. Although I had a lot of things to do, I felt uncomfortable. I was ill because of the hot weather. I was tired, sleepy and had no strength. My parents are worried about my health. in fact, it didn’t matter. I was always in the room with air-conditioner and opened it in a low temperature. So when I went out, the high temperature disagreed to me.At last, I was ill. 我已经休息了10天。在这些日子里，我觉得很无聊。我不知道做什么。虽然我有很多事情要做，我觉得不舒服。我生病是因为炎热的天气。我累了，困，也没有力量。我的父母担心我的健康。事实上，这并不重要。我总是在房间空调打开了它在低温。因此，当我走了出去，高温不给我.在最后，我被虐待。
In my dream Last night ,I dreamed I became a very beautiful bird, I dreamed that I was in a forest. In tht forest, there were a lot of animals. Then, an old bird told us, "we have a very beautiful forest, we should therefore protect it from pollution. "All the animals agreed with him. But the second day ,people came into our forest .Many animals were caught. The people wanted to build house and parks in our forest. Many old trees were felled. And then suddenly, nothing was left standing. I was so shocked and then I bursted out crying. I woke up at midnight. It was only a dream.
二月五日 星期五 雨 在梦中 昨晚我梦见我变成一只非常漂亮的鸟.我梦见我在一座森林,森林里有很多动物.然后有一只老鸟告诉我们,"我们有一座非常美丽的森林,因此我们应该保护它,免受污染"所有的动物都赞成他. 但是第二天,人们进入我们的森林,许多动物被逮捕.这些人要在我们的森林地上建造房子和公园.许多年老的树木被砍下,然后,突然间,一切都被夷平了. 我很震惊,接着突然大哭起来.我在半夜醒来,原来只是个梦.

One day the girl left the door to the cage open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. As he flew close, she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. Suddenly she felt the bird go limp. She opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate love had killed him.
一天，女孩敞开了鸟笼的小门。那只较大较壮的鸟儿飞出了鸟笼。女孩非常害怕鸟儿会飞走。鸟儿飞近时，她死命将它抓住。她十分高兴，终于又把它捉了回来。突然间，她感觉到鸟儿四肢无力。她张开手，惊恐地盯着手中的死鸟。她不顾一切的爱害死了鸟儿。
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. He needed to soar into the clear, blue sky. She lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times.
她注意到另一只鸟儿在笼边扑闪着翅膀。她可以感觉到它对自由的无限向往。它渴望冲向明净的蓝天。她将它举起，轻轻抛向空中。鸟儿盘旋了一圈，两圈，三圈。
The girl watched delightedly at the bird's enjoyment. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss. She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest melody that she had ever heard.
看到鸟儿快乐的样子，女孩很高兴。她的内心不再计较自己的得失。她希望鸟儿幸福。突然，鸟儿飞近了，轻轻落在她的肩上，唱起了她从未听过的最动人的歌。
The fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight, the best way to keep love is to give it WINGS!
失去爱的方法，最快莫过于将其牢牢地抓在手心；令爱长驻的方法，最好莫过于赋予它一双翅膀——让爱自由飞翔！

Wings
The fried-chicken restaurant where I was working had a big rush just before closing one day, leaving us with nothing to sell but wings. As I was about to lock the doors, a quietly intoxicated customer came in and ordered dinner. When I asked if wings would be all right, he leaned over the counter and replied, "Lady, I came in here to eat, not fly."
翅 膀
一天，我工作的炸鸡店在关门前出现了一阵抢购狂潮，结果除了鸡翅外所有的东西都卖完了。当我正准备锁门时，一名喝醉了的旅客进来要进餐。我问他翅膀行不行，他从柜台上靠过身子来，回答道：“女士，我到这儿来是吃东西的，不是要飞！”

The Fox and the Tiger
An Archer, hunting in the woods, was so successful with his arrows that he killed many of the wild animals. This frightened the rest so much that they ran into the densest part of the bushes to hide. At last the Tiger stood up, and pretending to be very brave, told the other animals not to be afraid anymore, but to rely on his courage, and he would attack the enemy on his own. While he was talking, and lashing his tail and tearing at the ground with his claws to impress the others, an arrow came and pierced his ribs. The Tiger howled with pain.
While he was trying to draw out the arrow with his teeth the Fox went up to him and asked, in surprise, whoever had the strength and courage to wound such a brave and mighty beast as the Tiger?
"Nay," said the Tiger, "I misjudged my enemy. It was that unbeatable man over there!"
MORAL: Knowledge is power.
狐狸和老虎
一个射手正在森林里打猎。他的箭法好极了，射死了许多野兽。这可大大地吓坏了余下的动物，它们都跑到最茂盛的灌木丛中躲藏起来。最后，老虎站了起来，装着非常勇敢的样子叫其余的动物相信它的勇敢，不必再害怕。它将独个儿向敌人进攻。它一边说着，一边甩动着它的尾巴，并用它的爪子刨着地上的泥土，想使别人更信任它。就在这时，一枝箭飞来，刺穿了他的肋骨，老虎顿时痛得吼叫起来。
正当它尽力用牙齿拔出身上的箭时，狐狸走上前来吃惊地问道：“谁能有这样的力气和胆量来伤害象老虎这样勇敢而强有力的野兽呢？”
“不，”老虎说，“我错误地判断了我的敌人，是那边那个不可战胜的人打败了我。”

Three lazy Ones
When the time came for him to die he called them to his bed and said， “Dear children， I have thought of something that I will reveal to you. The one of you is the laziest shall become king after me.”
The oldest one said， “Father， then the kingdom belongs to me， for I am so lazy that whenever I lie down to sleep， and a drop falls into my eyes， I will not even close them so that I can fall asleep.”
The second one said， “Father， the kingdom belongs to me， for I am so lazy that when I am sitting by the fire warming myself， I would rather let my heels burn up than to pull my legs back.”
The third one said， “Father， the kingdom is mine， for I am so lazy that if I were going to be hanged and already had the rope around my neck， and someone put into my hand a sharp knife with which to cut the rope， I would let myself be hanged rather than to lift my hand up to the rope.”
When the father heard this he said， “You have taken it the farthest and shall be king.”
在一个遥远的地方，有一个国王，他有三个儿子，对每一个儿子他都非常喜爱，他不知道自己死后应该把王位传给他们三个中的哪一个。所以，当他快要死的时候，就把他们叫到身边说：“亲爱的孩子们，在我死后，你们三个中谁最懒，谁就继承我的王位。”老大说：“既然这样，这王位就是我的，因为我是最懒的儿子，当我躺下睡觉时，有任何东西落到我的眼睛里，我也懒得去擦掉，即使不能把眼睛闭上，我仍然会继续睡觉。”二儿子说：“爸爸，王位应该传给我，因为我是最懒的儿子。当我坐在火边取暖的时候，就是火燃到我的脚趾，我也懒得把腿收回来。”第三个儿子说：“爸爸，这王位是我的，因为我是你最懒的儿子，如果我就要被吊起来，绳子已经套在了脖子上，有人把一把锋利的小刀塞在我手里，要我切断绳子，我宁愿被吊起来也懒得抬起手把绳子割断。”父亲听到这里说道：“你是最合适的人选，你应该继承王位。”

《兔子和乌龟》的故事
The Rabbit And The Turtle
One day, a turtle is climbing. A rabbit sees the turtle. It asks the turtle: “Hi, turtle. What are you doing?” “I’m running.” The turtle says. “Haha, you are running? How slowly! Let’s play a game. Let’s see who runs fast.” The rabbit laughs. “OK.” The turtle says.
The next day is a sunny day. The turtle and the rabbit are ready for a game. Many animals are watching. “Three ! Two! One! Start!” monkey says. The rabbit and the turtle runs to the end. The rabbit runs very fast. The turtle is climbing so slowly. It’s behind the rabbit. The rabbit runs to a tree. It sees the turtle is behind. It thinks: “The turtle is very slow. I can sleep under the tree.” So the rabbit is sleeping.
The turtle climbs to the tree. It sees the rabbit is dleeping and doesn’t stop. In the end it gets to the end and is very happy! Now the rabbit wakes up. It thinks the turtle is still behind. The rabbit runs to the end. It sees the turtle there. “Haha, I win!” the turtle says. The rabbit is very sad. It is crying.
This story tells us: we can’t be pride.
以前有一只兔子，他对他能跑很快感到很自豪，一天他遇到了一只乌龟，他嘲笑乌龟跑的太慢。
乌龟反驳说要不然来场赛跑。
赛跑开始了，兔子能够跑的很快，把乌龟甩在了后边，时间过了一半，兔子感到继续跑下去很无聊，就休息了，睡得很香。这时乌龟一直在跑，最后超过了兔子睡觉的地方。最终乌龟赢得了这次赛跑。兔子醒后发现乌龟在他前边，赶紧跑起来想追上乌龟，但是太晚了。这个故事告诉我们“稳扎稳打才能赢得比赛”或者“不要对你的能力评价太高。”

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question: "Did God create everything that exists? And a student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!""God created everything? The professor asked. "Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied. The professor next asked, "If God created everything, then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, we can assume that God is evil."The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's hypothetical statement. So the professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the class that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course," replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is that? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The other students snickered at the young man's question.Then the young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460?F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reacting at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" And the professor responded, "Of course it does." The student replied, "Once again you're wrong, sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism（棱镜） to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by humans to describe what happens when there is no light present."Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I've already said. We see it every day. It's in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It's in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil. "To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It's just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when humans do not have God's love present in their hearts. It's like the cold that comes when there's no heat, or the darkness that comes when there's no light.?Finally, the professor sat down and asked, "Young man, who are you?" "Sir, my name is Einstein, Albert Einstein."