背诵为王 第 四 册 第 45 课

Lesson45 The Parable¹ of the Mule²
Once there was a farmer who owned an old mule. One day the mule fell intothe farmer's well. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmersympathized with the mule, but decided³ that neither the mule nor the wellwas worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbours together,told them what had happened and enlisted⁴ them to help haul dirt to bury theold mule in the well and put him out of his misery⁵.
Initially⁶, the old mule was hysterical⁷. But as the farmer and hisneighbours continued shovelling⁹ and the dirt hit his back, a thought struckhim. It dawned on him that every time a shovel⁸ load of dirt landed on hisback he could shake it off and step up. This he did, blow after blow.
"Shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up... shake it off andstep up!" He repeated this to encourage himself.
No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing¹⁰ the situation seemed,the old mule just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up.
It wasn't long before the old mule, battered¹¹ and exhausted¹², steppedtriumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like a burial actuallysaved him...all because of the manner in which the mule handled hisadversity.
That's life. If we face our problems and respond to them positively¹³, andrefuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity ...The adversities thatcome along to bury us usually have within them real potential to benefit us.

haul 　　　　　　拖拉, 拖运
hysterical 　　 歇斯底里的, 异常兴奋的

骡子的寓言
从前，农夫有一头骡子。一天，骡子掉进了农夫的井里。仔细估量了形势后，农夫虽然很同情骡子，他还是判定不管是骡子还是井都不值得挽救了。他把邻居们召集起来，告诉了他们所发生的一切，并要他们帮忙运土把老骡子埋在井里，使它不再痛苦。
开始，老骡子有点歇斯底里。但是当农夫和他的邻居们继续铲土并且土不断地打在骡子背上的时候，骡子突然想到了一个主意。他意识到，他可以把落在背上的每一锨土抖下来，踩在脚下，自己就可以站高一点。他这样做了，土一锨锨的砸下来。
“抖下来，站高一点...抖下来，站高一点...抖下来，站高一点！”他不断地重复着来激励自己。
不管土打在背上有多痛，不管形势是多么令人痛苦，老骡子坚持不懈地把土抖下来，站高一点。
没过多久，遍体鳞伤、精疲力尽的老骡子成功地从井里走了出来。看似葬礼的一件事居然救了他，这都是因为他以一种不同的方式来应对苦难。
这就是生活。如果我们能面对我们的问题并以积极的态度来应对，而不屈服于惊慌、悲伤或者自怜...
我们其实可以从看起来会埋葬我们的苦难中受益。

1 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

2 mule   

n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人

参考例句：

• A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
• He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

8 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

9 shovelling   

v.铲子( shovel的现在分词 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• The workers are shovelling the sand. 工人们正在铲沙子。 来自辞典例句
• They were shovelling coal up. 他们在铲煤。 来自辞典例句

10 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

11 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

12 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

13 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。