Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family were rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem.” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Mark Twain, the famous American writer and a great master of humour, liked to play jokes on others. But once a joke was played on him. One day Mark Twain was invited to give a talk in a small town. At lunch he met a young man, one of his friends.

The young man said that he had an uncle with him. He told Mark Twain that his uncle never laughed or smiled, and that nobody and nothing was able to make his uncle smile or laugh.

“You bring your uncle to my talk this evening,” said Mark Twain. “I’m sure I can make him laugh.”

That evening the young man and his uncle sat in the front. Mark Twain began to speak. He told several funny stories and made everyone in the room laugh. But the old man never even smiled. Mark Twain told more funny stories, but the old man still kept quiet. Mark Twain continued to tell his funny stories. Finally he stopped. He was tired and quite disappointed.

Some days later, Mark Twain told another friend what had happened. “Oh,” said his friend, “I know that man. He’s been deaf for years.”

Do you remember your first day of school? Were you excited or a bit scared? When I started school, I lived in an area of southern Germany. I remember how frightened I was, mostly because I didn’t know what to expect.

My mother and I walked quietly, downhill into the center of town. When we entered the classroom, I noticed all the children were sitting quietly in their seats. Anxiously, I picked a spot next to a friendly-looking girl.

In my nervousness, I had totally forgotten I was to receive a Schultuete (school cone) on the first day of school, but as I looked at my teacher's desk I remembered. Her desk was covered with huge cardboard cones. I knew that my mother had filled my Schultuete with goodies and brought it to my classroom the day before, but I didn't know which one was mine.

That morning, the focus of my attention remained with those cones. All of the fear slowly disappeared. When the teacher asked me to approach the desk, she did not seem threatening at all. When she smilingly handed me my Schultuete, I was the happiest girl.

Proudly, I carried my gift home. The hill did not seem steep at all. Hurriedly, I unwrapped my Schultuete and discovered candies, chocolates, and oranges. This day stayed in my mind as one of the sweetest in my life.

When I was older I asked my mother about her first day of school. She told me she hadn't received a Schultuete from her parents because the custom had not been established all over Germany at that time.

The custom began in the cities in the 1800s and then spread to the towns and villages. By the early 1950s, the tradition of the Schultuete was established all over the country. And it has been passed on even in the present day.