There was once a king who often thought, “Nothing good can come to a nation whose people only complain and expect others to solve their problems.” One day, he had an idea.

Early one morning, the king disguised himself and went to a local village. He placed a largest one in the middle of the main street with gold coins under the stone. Then he hid behind a huge maple tree and watched.

The first person down the street was a milkman with his cart. He crashed into the stone, pilling the milk everywhere, “What fool put this stone here?” he shouted. He picked himself up and angrily went away.

Then a group of women came along, each balancing a pot of water on her head. One woman tripped over the stone and her water pot went crashing to the ground. She picked herself up and limped away in tears. Neither she nor her friends thought about moving the stone away.

The king watched all day as many people complained about the stone with nobody making an attempt to move it. The king was in despair. “does no one in this village feel any responsibility to keep their neighbours from harm?”

Just then, the king saw a young girl coming along. She was the daughter of a local farmer. She had been working all day and was very tired. But when she saw the stone, she said to herself, “This stone is a danger to anyone who comes down the street after dark. I’ll move it out of the way.”

After a great deal of effort, the girl pushed the stone with all her might. Imagine her surprise when she saw the gold coins where the stone had been! The king then stepped out from behind the tree.

“Oh sir,” the girl said, “does this gold belong to you? If not, we surely must find the owner, for he will certainly miss it.

The king said, “My dear, the gold is mine. I put it in the road and moved the stone over it. Now the gold is yours, because you are the only person who has learnt the lesson I wanted to teach my people.”

One bright Saturday morning, Mali and her mom walked around the neighbourhood. That is, her mom walked, but Mali ran, skipped, jumped over puddles and visited the neighbours’ dogs. Mali paused to look at the budding (发芽) trees on her block. “I can’t wait until summer,” she said, “especially for Mrs. Fair’s great tomatoes at her market stand.” She pointed.

Mali’s mom stood looking at the empty lot where the market was set up every summer weekend. She looked at Mali, “Honey, Mrs. Fair told me last week that she had to close her stand. She’s really getting too old to run it anymore.”

Mali turned, stared, and put her hands on her waist. “But Mrs. Fair’s stand can’t close!” she said. “It’s the only place in the neighbourhood we can buy fresh, delicious tomatoes.” Then she added, to show she wasn’t being selfish, “Everyone needs fruits and vegetables for a healthy diet.”

After they got home, Mali headed out to her backyard swing to think. “If only I could plant a garden,” she thought. “but our yard is way too small.” Just then, she noticed her neighbour, Mr. Taylor, looking at his daffodils. Mali knew he was thinking about how he had planted those flowers with his wife. This was the first spring since his wife had died, and Mali saw the sadness on his face. Then she had an idea.

Mali cleared her throat, and Mr. Taylor looked up. Mali decided to walk over to the fence. “Hi, Mr. Taylor,” she said. He waved, and turned away. “Wait!” Mali cried. Taking a risk while she still felt brave, she rushed to gather her thoughts. “Mr. Taylor, Mrs. Fair isn’t doing her tomato stand anymore because she’s getting old. So I’d like to grow tomatoes. I don’t want to get in the way of your flowers, but I really want tomatoes.”

Suddenly, Mr. Taylor smiled. “Mali, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but you’ve made me smile. Reasons to smile have been scarce lately. What do you want to do?” Mali repeated, “I wanted to plant tomatoes, but I have no big land.” She sounded a little awkward.

Just then, an idea came to Mr. Taylor.

When the fruit ripened, there were more juicy, red tomatoes than even Mali could have imagined.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Poppy,” said the tall, thin teenager. He bent down to hug his old friend goodbye. He stood up, hugged his parents, and smiled, trying not to let his emotions(情绪) get the better of him.

His parents were not quite able to keep theirs under control. They had driven their son several hours out of town to the university where he would soon be living and studying. It was time to say goodbye for now at least. The family hugged and smiled through misty eyes and then laughed.

The boy lifted the last bag onto his shoulder, and flashed a bright smile. “I guess this is it,” he said. “I’ll see you back home in a month, okay?” His parents nodded, and they watched as he walked out of sight into the crowds of hundreds of students and parents. The boy’s mother turned to the dog, “Okay, Poppy, time to go back home.”

The house seemed quiet as a tomb without the boy living there. All that week, Poppy didn’t seem interested in her dinner, her favourite toy, or even in her daily walk. Her owners were sad too, but they knew their son would be back to visit. Poppy didn’t.

They offered the dog some of her favorite peanut butter treats. They even let her sit on the sofa, but the old girl just wasn’t her usual cheerful self. Her owners started to get worried. “What should we do to cheer Poppy up?” asked Dad. “We’ve tried everything.”

“I have an idea, but it might be a little crazy,” smiled Mom. “Without anybody left in the house but us, this place could use a bit of fun. Let’s get a little dog for Poppy.”

It didn’t take long before they walked through the front door carrying a big box. Poppy welcomed them home as usual, but when she saw the box, she stopped. She put her nose on it. Her tail began wagging(摆动)ever so slowly, then faster as she caught the smell.

Dad opened the box and a sweet little dog appeared.

A few weeks later, the boy arrived home from the university.