FEATHER IN THE WIND 风中的羽毛

A certain good woman one day said something that hurt her best friend of many years. She regretted immediately and would have done anything to have taken the words back. What she said hurt the friend so much that this good woman was herself hurt for the pain she caused. In an effort to undo what she had done, she went to an older, wise woman in the village, explained her situation, and asked for advice.

Listening to her, the older woman sensed the younger woman's distress and knew she must help her. She also knew she could never alleviate the pain, but she could teach. She knew the outcome would depend solely on the character of the younger woman. She said, “Tonight, take your best feather pillows and put single feather on the doorstep of each house in the town before the sun rises.”

The young woman hurried home to prepare for her chore , even though the feather pillows were very dear to her. All night long, she labored alone in the cold. Finally the sky was getting light, she placed the last feather on the steps of the last house. Just as the sun rose, she returned to the older woman.

“Now,” said the wise woman, “go back and refill your pillows with the feather you have put on the steps. Then everything will be as it was before.”

“You know that's impossible! The wind blew away each feather as fast as I placed them on the doorsteps!” The young woman was surprised.

“That's true,” said the older woman. “Never forget each of your words is like a feather in the wind, once spoken, no amount of effort, regardless of how heartfelt or sincere, can never return to your mouth. Choose your words well and guard them, especially in the presence of those you love.”

有个好心肠的女士对自己多年的好友说了些伤感情的话。她说完就后悔了，恨不能把话收回来。伤害已经造成，不但朋友很受伤，连她自己也很受伤。为了弥补过错，这位好心肠的女士去村里找到一位年纪较长的智慧女人，她说明了来意，想问问看该怎么办才好。

年长女人听明来意，感觉到了来人的沮丧，决定帮忙。她知道自己不能减轻事情已经造成的痛苦，但是她可以教她点儿道理。她也知道事情的结果完全要看来人的性格了。智慧女人说：“今天晚上，拿出你最好的羽绒枕头，天亮之前，挨家挨户把里面的每一片羽毛放在村里每一户人家的台阶上。”

年轻女人急忙回家准备开始干活儿，尽管这些羽绒枕头对她来讲是十分珍贵的。一整晚天寒地冻的，她独自一人忙活着。终于天快亮了的时候，她在最后一户人家的台阶上放完了最后一片羽毛。太阳升起的时候，她去找这位年长的智者。

“现在开始，”智者说，“你回去把放在台阶上的羽毛都收回来，塞回枕头里去。所有的事情就都恢复原样了。”

“你明知道那不可能！我刚在台阶上放下羽毛，风就把它们都吹走了。”年轻女人吃惊了。

“说得没错。”智者说，“永远别忘了，你说的每一个字都像风里的一片羽毛。一旦轻易说出口了，别管多么真心，多么有诚意，都无法再回到嘴里。要注意措辞，慎重出口啊，尤其在你爱的人面前。”

-alleviate [əˈliːvɪeɪt] v. 减轻；缓和

-chore [ˈtʃɔː(r)] n. 零星工作(尤指家常杂务)

-guard [ɡɑːd] v. 谨慎使用

鉴于覆水难收(What is done cannot be undone.)，还需谨言慎行。

THE FIRE 火场救人

A couple, whom we shall call John and Mary, had a nice home and two lovely children, a boy and a girl. John had a good job and had just been asked to go on a business trip to another city and would be gone for several days. It was decided that Mary needed an outing and would go along too. They hired a reliable woman to care for the children and made the trip, returning home a little earlier than they had planned.

As they drove into their home town feeling glad to be back, they noticed smoke, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a home in flames. Mary said, “Oh well, it isn't our fire, let's go home.”

But John drove closer and exclaimed, “That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn't be off work yet, maybe there is something we could do.” “It has nothing to do with us,” protested Mary. “You have your good clothes on. Let's not get any closer.”

But John drove up and stopped and they were both horror stricken to see the whole house in flames. A woman on the lawn was in hysterics screaming, “The children! Get the children!” John grabbed her by the shoulder saying, “Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!” “In the basement,” sobbed the woman, “down the hall and to the left.”

In spite of Mary's protests John grabbed the water hose and soaked his clothes, put his wet handkerchief on his head and bolted for the basement which was full of smoke and scorching hot. He found the door and grabbed two children, holding one under each arm like the football player he was. As he left he could hear some more whimpering . He delivered the two badly frightened and nearly suffocated children into waiting arms and filled his lung with fresh air and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him two more and Mary grabbed his arm and screamed, “John! Don't go back! It's suicide! That house will cave in any second!”

But he shook her off and went back by feeling his way down the smoke-filled hallway and into the room. It seemed an eternity before he found both children and started back. They were all three coughing and he stooped low to get what available air he could. As he stumbled up the endless steps the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely familiar about the little bodies clinging to him, and at last when they came out into the sunlight and fresh air, he found that he had just rescued his own children. The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.

一对夫妇，就叫他们约翰和玛丽吧，有一栋不错的房子和一双可爱的儿女。约翰有个好工作，最近要被派去另一个城市出差，几天后才能回来。夫妇俩商量决定玛丽不妨也出门走走，陪约翰一起去。于是，他俩先雇了一个可靠的保姆照看孩子，之后就出门了。回程比计划稍有提前。

夫妇俩开着车回到自己居住的城市，开心极了。这时，他们看到了浓烟，他俩驶离回家的路线，前去一看究竟。他们发现有一处人家着火了。玛丽说：“哎呀，又不是咱家着火，还是回家吧。”

可是约翰把车开近一看，喊道：“那是我们厂同事弗雷德·琼斯家。这个时候他还没有下班，也许咱们能帮上忙。”“这和咱们没关系。”玛丽不同意。“你穿着好衣服，咱们别再靠近了。”

可是约翰把车开过去停下，看到整栋房子已经是一片火海，他俩都吓坏了。草坪上有个女人正在歇斯底里地喊：“孩子！救救孩子们！”约翰抓住她的肩膀说：“先别慌，告诉我们孩子在哪儿？”“在地下室，”女人哽咽道：“沿着走廊直走，左手方向。”

约翰不顾玛丽的劝阻，一把抓起水管浇湿了衣服，他把湿手绢罩在头上，向地下室冲去。地下室里浓烟弥漫，万分灼热。他找到了门，里面有两个孩子，他像足球运动员那样一只胳膊下面夹住一个，把他们抱了出来。离开地下室的时候，他听到还有人在啜泣，就先把两个几乎快要窒息的孩子送到亲人怀抱里，大口吸了几口新鲜空气，再次冲去询问到底还有多少孩子还困在下面。人们说还有两个。玛丽抓住他的胳膊喊道：“约翰！你不能去！你这是送死！那栋房子随时会倒塌的！”

可是约翰甩开了玛丽，顺着浓烟弥漫的走廊摸索到房间里去。他费了很大功夫才找到两个孩子，开始往外冲。三个人咳嗽着， 约翰弯下腰来呼吸着仅有的空气。当他跌跌撞撞爬上多到无休无止的楼梯，突然感觉紧紧抱着的小家伙的身体有种莫名的熟悉。最后他们从火场里出来，看到阳光、呼吸到新鲜空气的时候，他发现刚刚救出来的居然是自己的孩子。原来保姆去买东西的时候，拜托这家的主人照看孩子来着。

-lawn [lɔːn] n. 草地

-hysterics [hɪsˈterɪks] n. 歇斯底里发作

-whimper [ˈwɪmpə(r)] v. 啜泣

-suffocate [ˈsʌfəkeɪt] v. 窒息

帮助别人就是帮助自己。