Shake it off and step up
《井中老騾》抖掉泥土，邁步向上

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying'—or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer felt sorry for the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth saving. Instead, he called his neighbours together and told them what had happened and asked them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
這是一則關于一位農夫和他的老騾子的寓言。騾子掉進了農夫家的井里。農夫聽到了騾子的叫聲，或者騾子掉進水井時發出的掙扎聲。在仔細評估情況后，農夫對騾子的遭遇感到很遺憾，但還是決定騾子和井都不值得挽救。他隨后把鄰居們召集到一起，告訴他們發生了什么事情，并請求他們幫忙拉些泥土來，把這頭老騾子埋在井里，將它從痛苦中解救出來。
Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbours continued shovelling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back: he should shake it off and step up!
最初，老騾子變得情緒非常激動！但是當農夫和他的鄰居們繼續將泥土鏟到它的背上時，它的腦子里產生了一個念頭。它恍然大悟，每當一鏟泥土落到它背上時，它都應該抖掉泥土，邁步向上！
This is what the old mule did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself.
老騾子就是這樣做的，對抗著不斷砸在它背上的一鏟又一鏟的泥土。“抖掉泥土，邁步向上...... 抖掉泥土，邁步向上...... 抖掉泥土，邁步向上！”它反復地鼓勵著自己。
No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!
無論泥土砸在它背上時有多么疼痛，無論情況看上去有多么窘迫，老騾子都與“恐慌”斗爭著，堅持著抖掉泥土，邁步向上。
You guessed it! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him, actually end up blessing him. All because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
你猜對了！不久后，那個老騾子變得狼狽不堪，但最終成功地跨越井壁走了出來！看起來好像要埋葬它的做法，實際上最終使它獲救。之所以會有這樣的結果都是因為它處理逆境的方式。

How rich are we?
《鄉下旅行 》父子談論富與窮

One day a father and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "Very good Dad!" "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Yeah!" "And what did you learn?"
一天，來自一個富裕家庭的一位父親帶著全家及他的兒子，來到鄉下旅行，想要以此向他的兒子展示窮人能有多么貧窮。他們在一個非常貧困的家庭農場里住了一天一夜。旅行結束后，父親問他的兒子：“這次旅行怎么樣？”“很好啊，爸爸！”“你看到窮人有多窮了嗎？”父親問。“看到了！”“那你都了解到了什么？”
The son answered: "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have a whole horizon."
兒子回答說：“我了解到，我們家有一條狗，他們家有四條；我們家的水池延伸到花園中央，他們家的小溪沒有盡頭；我們家的花園裝了進口照明燈，他們家可以看到滿天的星星；我們家的露臺可以看到前院，他們家可以看到整個地平線。”
When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how 'poor' we are!"
這個小男孩的回答結束時，他的父親已無言以對。小男孩補充說：“謝謝您，爸爸，謝謝您讓我看到我們家有多么‘窮'！”
Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humour and a positive attitude towards life—you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things. You may have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc.; but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing!
難道這一切不是都取決于我們看待事物的方式嗎？如果你有愛、朋友、家人、健康、愉快的心情和對生活的積極態度，你已經擁有了一切。這些是你無法用金錢買到的。你可能會擁有你可以想象的所有物質財富，未來衣食無憂；但是，如果你精神貧窮，你其實一無所有。

The blind man and the lamp

《盲人的燈》眼睛可以看不見，但是心要亮著

Once upon a time, there was a small town. There lived a man by himself who couldn't see. He was blind. Yet, he carried a lighted lamp with him whenever he went out at night.
從前，有一個小鎮中獨居著一個盲人。雖然他眼睛看不見東西，但每當晚上出門時，他都會挑著一盞點燃的燈。
One night as he was coming home after having a dinner outside, he came across a group of young travellers. They saw that he was blind, yet carrying a lighted lamp. They started passing comments on him and made a fun of him. One of them asked him, "Hey Man! You are blind and can't see anything! Why do you carry the lamp then?!"
一天晚上，在外面吃完晚飯回家的路上，他遇到了一群年輕的旅客。他們看到他是盲人，還挑著一盞點燃的燈，就開始對他品頭論足，并取笑他。其中一個人問他：“嘿！你是個盲人，什么也看不見！可你為什么要挑著燈？！”
The blind man replied, "Yes, unfortunately, I am blind and I can't see anything but the lighted lamp that I am carrying is for the people like you who can see. You may not see a blind man coming and end up pushing me. That is why I carry a lighted lamp". The group of travellers felt ashamed and apologized for their behaviour.
盲人回答說：“是的，很不幸，我是個盲人，什么也看不見，但是我挑著的點燃的燈是為了你們這樣能看到的人準備的。你們可能看不見一個盲人走過來，弄不好會撞到我身上。這就是我挑著點燃的燈的原因。”這群旅客聽后，為自己的行為感到羞愧和抱歉。
Moral: We should think before judging others. Always be polite and learn to see things from others' point of view.
寓意：在評判他人之前，我們應該三思而行。要時刻保持禮貌，學會從別人的角度看待事物。