Two men were staying in the same room in a hospital. One man was sick and he could not even move his body or look around the room. The other man could move, but was also very ill.

Over time, the two men became good friends. They shared lots of things together and even talked about what they hoped to do after they got better. But there was one thing about the room that was special for both of them. The man who could move would look out of the room’s only window, describing the scenery outside for his friend. He told him about the people walking by, the weather, anything that might interest a man who had not seen the world beyond his bed for some time.

One day, when a nurse came to check on the two men, she found that the man who often looked out of the window had died in his sleep. Sadly, she informed the other man that his friend had died and called for nurses to take the dead man away. The other man asked to be moved to the dead man’s bed so that he could look out of the window himself. The nurses moved him to the other bed. However, the man found that there was no window at all, just a blank wall.

The nurses explained that the dead man had been blind. He had never actually seen anything outside the window at all but he described beautiful scenes to encourage his friend. Sometimes all we need in life is a little encouragement, even if it comes from an unlikely place.

Our family went to the Yellow Stone National Park last summer vacation. Our son, Tom, wanted to see bears there. And what an experience (经历) it was!

When we got there, we put up our tent and went to explore(探险). As we returned, we heard our daughter Susie cry out. And then we saw a bear go into our camp.

Tom wanted his father to chase(追赶，驱赶) him away. His father said, “No, it’s dangerous to chase a bear. And don’t let him chase you.”

Susie said, “What should we do? Maybe we should climb a tree.”

Tom said, “No, we have to get him out of there. He might go to sleep in our tent.”

“Maybe we could make him leave if we put some honey outside for him to eat.” Susie suggested(建议).

Then I said, “How are you going to get the honey? It’s in the tent.”

We watched the bear go into the tent and heard him upset(翻倒，弄翻) everything inside. “It’s foolish of us to try to chase him away.” said my husband, “Leave him alone and wait for him to come out.” we waited, but the bear stayed inside. We had to sleep in the car that night.

One day an elephant wants to find friends. He sees a monkey on a tree. “Will you be my friend?” asks the elephant. The monkey says, “You are too big. You can’t climb trees like me.”

Next, the elephant meets a rabbit. He asks him to be his friend. But the rabbit says, “You are too strong to play.”

Then, the elephant meets a frog(青蛙). “Will you be my friend?” He asks. The frog says “You are too heavy to leap(跳跃) like me.”

The elephant is upset. He wants to cry(哭).

The next day, the elephant sees all the animals running for their lives(逃命). A panda says, “A tiger wants to eat us all!”

The elephant looks at the tiger, and says “Please, Mr. Tiger, don’t eat them.” “Oh! I will eat them!” says the tiger.

So the elephant kicks(踢) the tiger. The tiger runs for his life(逃命). All the animals thank the elephant. They say, “You are our friend.”