A group of swans（天鹅） flew down to a beach where a crow（乌鸦） was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain（轻蔑）

“You have no flying skills at all! “ he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, I don’t think you can do it!   Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is! “

A strong young swan took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.

Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments（评价）about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so tired that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle （挣扎）to keep himself from falling into the water.

The swan said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother?   Is that another trick? “

“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride!   If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life.”

Without any words, the swan took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.

One day a dog saw a lion running to him. The dog quickly stood near some bones（骨头）on the ground. Then the dog began to “eat” the bones with his back to the lion. Just as the lion was about to jump, the dog said, “That was one delicious lion! I want to know if there are any more around here.”

Hearing this, the young lion felt scared and ran away.

A squirrel（松鼠） saw this. He told the lion about the dog’s trick（恶作剧）. The young lion was angry. “Jump on my back and see what’s going to happen to that dog!” the young lion shouted.

The dog saw the lion coming with the squirrel. But he didn’t run, he pretended he didn’t see them. When they got close, the dog said, “Where’s my squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another lion.”

Grace waved her hand in a dance pose with joy to show off her new painting to her mom. Her mom spoke quickly, "Shh…honey, I am busy with an important talk. I will see it later." She frowned and turned to her dad. "Dad, see what I have done," Grace said aloud in an excited voice. Her dad turned around while putting on his coat, and showed his thumbs up! Immediately, Grace complained, "Dad, you haven't seen it carefully yet." He smiled at her, saying, "No time, baby. I'll see it once again later. "Her elder brother was always busy in his own dream land! She didn't feel like wasting her time trying to show him the painting.

Grace stood there for a few seconds, and then stormed off to her own bedroom. She threw the paper on the table, banged the door and dropped herself on her bed. Looking up to the ceiling, she wove her anger net.

When her mom called her for dinner, she came late on purpose. She kept silent, and didn't look at anyone. Her mom was surprised to see the unusual behavior. Softly she asked, "Honey, are you OK? Did I do something wrong?" Grace was so angry that she ran away to her room.

Next day, when Grace came back home, she went to her bedroom straight away. When she turned on the light, she surprisedly found her oil painting was beautifully framed and put up on the wall. Just below the painting, it was written "We are so proud of you Grace, our little girl!”

Grace was so happy that she hugged her mom tightly. Her mom said, "Honey! I am so sorry, dear! We would never say 'no time' for anything in the future, whether big or small. Got it?" She kissed her mom and said, "Yes, mama, got it. You're my sweet mom!"