感悟语言的力量

 【原文】

The Power of WordsA group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit¹. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed² of what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled³ at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was a little deaf.

He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches us two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive⁴ word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way.

Anyone can speak words that tend to rob⁵ another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

 

1 pit   

n.深坑，核，矿井，陷阱，英国剧场正厅后排，凹陷疤痕；vt.使...有伤痕，去...的核，与...较量

参考例句：

• A sheep fell into a pit,and I helped it out.一只羊掉进坑里，我把它弄了出来。
• They dug a pit to bury the rubbish.他们挖了一个坑把垃圾埋掉。

2 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

3 yelled   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。
• The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着，希望林子里的人会听见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 destructive   

adj.破坏（性）的，毁灭（性）的

参考例句：

• In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
• It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。

5 rob   

v.抢劫；vi.抢劫，盗窃；vt.非法剥夺，使丧失，抢劫

参考例句：

• Two men formed a plot to rob the bank.两人制定了抢劫那家银行的秘密计划。
• They were scheming to rob the bank.他们在密谋抢劫银行。