I will never forget the tenth summer of childhood with my grandfather in western Norway on the mountain farm where my mother was born. As a boy, I always thought people simply bought whatever they need. Whether Grandfather know this, I didn’t know. One day he said, “Come, I have something for you. ’’

I followed him to a workroom. “You should have a toy boat. You can sail it at Storvassdal,” he said. “Great,” I thought, looking around for the boat. But there was none.

Grandfather pointed to a block of wood. “The boat is there,” he said. Then he handed me some tools and showed me how to use them properly. “It’ll be a fine boat, and you’ll make it with your own hands,” he said, “No one can give you what you do for yourself.” The words rang in my head as I worked. The boat was finished. It wasn’t much to look at, but I was proud. Then I sailed it at Storvassdal.

We had to return to America. “You cannot bring that boat home with you,” my mother said. We had too much baggage. Feeling sad, I hid my boat under a big rock at Storvassdal.

I said good-bye to Grandfather, not knowing I would never see him again.

In 1964, I went to Storvassdal with my parents and my wife and children. To my surprise, for 34 years my treasure stayed here, waiting for my return. I felt we three were together again although my grandfather had died 22 years before.

I carved(雕刻) “1930” and “1964” on its side and put it back.

I returned to the lake in 1968,1971,1977 and 1988. Each time I had the boat and carved the year, my grandfather seemed near.

My last trip to Storvassdal was in 1991. I brought my granddaughters: Catherine, 13; Claire, 12. I hoped they would understand the importance of the little boat and its simple message. At Storvassdal, Claire said softly, “Grandpa, someday I’ll come back.” She added, “And I’ll bring my children.”

A king in Africa had a close friend that helped him grow up. The friend had a habit of looking at everything positively(肯定)that happened in his life and saying “This is good”.

One day the king and his friend were out hunting. The friend would prepare the guns for the king. The friend did something wrong in preparing one of the guns, and after the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb(拇指) was blown off. On seeing the situation the friend said as usual, “This is good!” The king replied, “No, this is not good!” He was very angry and sent his friend to jail(监狱).

About a year later, the king was hunting in a forest. Cannibals(食人者) caught him and took him to their village. As they were going to kill him, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. They never ate anyone who was less than whole, so they s ent the king back.

When he returned home, he felt sorry for his treatment of his friend. He went quickly to the jail to speak with his friend. “You were right”, he said. “It was good that thumb was blown off.” And he told the friend all that had just happened. “An d so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”

“No,” his friend replied, “this is good!” “What do you mean? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”

“If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you, and I would have been eaten!”

It is eight o’clock in the morning. The children go to school by car every day, but this morning they are going to school on foot. It is ten o’clock in the morning. Mrs. Sawyer usually stays at home in the morning, but this morning, she is going to the shops. It is four o’clock in the afternoon. Mrs. Sawyer usually drinks tea in the living room at this time, but this afternoon, she is drinking tea in the garden. It is six o’clock in the evening. The children usually do their homework at this time, but this evening, they are not doing their homework. They are playing in the garden. It is nine o’clock at night. Mr. Sawyer usually reads his newspaper at this time, but he’s not reading his newspaper tonight. He’s reading an interesting book.