On a wild mountain, two goats met on a road just over a high cliff (悬崖). The road was so narrow (狭窄) that there was neither room for them to pass each other nor to turn round and go back. What do you think the two goats did?

One of them with great care laid himself down on the narrow road, pressing as close to the rock as he could. Then the other goat softly walked on his friend, till, safely past him, he could lightly jump away.

The goat that had lain down then stood up slowly from his place, safe and sounds, free to jump again from rock to rock, and enjoyed the sweet grass on the hills happily.

However, two other goats met on the banks (河岸) of a rushing river. A tree had fallen across the river, and became a bridge from the one side to the other.

The two goats looked at each other, and each wished to pass over first.

They stood for a while with one foot on the tree, each thinking that the other would turn back. But neither of them would give way, and they met at last on the middle of the narrow bridge!

They then began to push and fight with their horns (角), till at last their feet missed, and both the goats fell into the running river, and were lost in the water!

Both might have been saved, if either of them had known how to give way at the right time.

Winnie the Pooh is about 100 years old. It is my favourite, and I’m sure it’s also yours. Do you know how it came to our life?

Winnipeg is a place in Canada. Many years ago, Harry, a soldier (士兵) , went to Europe from here. When he stopped at a train station, he saw a man selling a little black bear. Harry bought it and named it Winnipeg. The name became Winnie in short later.

Harry went to a lot of places. When he got to London, he left Winnie in the London Zoo. He thought they could look after Winnie.

Near the zoo, there was a boy named Robin. He loved to visit the London Zoo with his dad. Winnie was his favourite animal. Robin’s father was a writer. He wrote the bear in one of his poems for the first time. Later he wrote stories about Winnie and Robin. Slowly, the father wrote more characters (人物) like Piglet, Rabbit, Roo and Tigger and so on in his stories.

One night in July at an all-girls summer camp, the students sat around a fire and chatted a bit. Their teacher asked if any of the girls wanted to share something. It could be anything that happened that day and what they learned from it. One girl put up her hand. She said that another girl said something mean to her and it hurt her feelings. She felt quite sad about it.

The teacher went to the bathroom and got a tube of toothpaste (一管牙膏). She held the tube high in the air so that every student could see it. She squeezed (挤) it just a bit so some toothpaste came out. She then tried to put the toothpaste back in the tube, but it just made a mess. She squeezed the tube even more, pushing out more toothpaste and making even more of a mess. But none of it would go back into the tube.

The teacher then told the students quietly and slowly, “This toothpaste is just like the words you say. When you say something mean, it’s hard to take it back. It only makes a mess. Think before you speak and make sure your words are kind before you let them out.”