On a cold winter night, two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the villa (别墅) or a rich family. The rich man was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the warm guestroom of the villa. Instead, he gave the angels a small room in the cold basement (地下室). As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

The next night the two angels came to the house of a very poor, but kind farmer and his wife. After sharing the only food they had, the couple let the angels sleep on their only bed.

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, died in the field. The younger angel was angry and asked the older one “How could you let this happen? The rich man was not kind, yet you helped him. The poor family had little but almost shared everything, and you let their cow die.”

The older angel replied, “When we stayed in the basement of the villa, I noticed there was gold behind the wall. Since the rich man was so mean (吝啬的) and unwilling to share his good fortune, I blocked (堵住) up the hole so he wouldn’t find it.” “Then last night as we slept in the farmers’ bed, the Angel of Death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.”

The young angel suddenly realized that _________.

A little stream (小溪) ran down from high mountains through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert. “I went through so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing the desert,” she thought. As she started, she found herself slowly disappearing into the sand. After many tries, she still failed. “Maybe I can’t reach the ocean,” she said sadly to herself.

At this time, a deep voice said, “If wind can cross the desert, so can a river.” It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered, “That’s because the wind can fly, but I can not.”

“That’s because you can’t give up what you are. Let yourself evaporate (蒸发) into the wind, and it can take you across me,” said the desert. “Give up what I am now? No! No!” The little stream could not accept this idea. “The wind can carry the vapor (蒸汽) across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again,” said the desert. “And whether you’re a river or vapor, your nature never changes.” After hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the wind. It carried her to the next stage of her life.

The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream. To succeed, you should think about things in a different way.

Once upon a time in a big forest, there lived a wise old owl (猫头鹰) named Oliver who loved to read in the tree at night. Nearby, a cheerful squirrel (松鼠) named Sammy spent his days collecting beautiful stones, never worrying about tomorrow.

One day, Sammy saw Oliver reading and asked, “Why do you read all day?” Oliver replied, “To learn and prepare for the future.” Sammy just laughed and ran off to play.

As winter came, food became less. Sammy, who had only played, found his food stock (食物储备) empty. At the same time, Oliver, who had learned about storing food from his books, had plenty to eat.

Seeing Sammy in trouble, kind Oliver shared his food and taught him how to prepare for hard times. Sammy realized the importance of balancing fun with responsibility. He learned to read and plan ahead, making sure he’d never be unprepared again.

From then on, Sammy read books alongside Oliver under the moonlight, becoming wiser every day. Sammy’s experience showed all animals the importance of reading books and also taught them a valuable lesson.