In the wood there was a man who was sawing a tree.
“What are you doing?” someone asked him.
“Can't you see?” the man sawing the tree answered impatiently, “I want to cut down the tree.”
“You look tired out!” he shouted, “How long have you been doing?”
“More than five hours,” the man sawing the tree answered, “I'm exhausted! This is a hard work.”
“Well, why don't you stop for a few minutes to grind the saw to sharpen it?” he asked, “I'm sure that will make you saw more quickly.”
“I don't have any time to grind my saw,” the man said firmly. “I'm so busy. How can I have time to grind the saw?”
树林里有个人在锯一棵树。
“你这是在干什么呀？”有人问他。
“没看到吗？”锯树的人不耐烦地说，“我要把这棵树砍倒。”
“我看你都筋疲力尽了！”他喊道，“你锯了多久了？”
“五个多小时了，”锯树的回答，“累死我了！这活儿真不好干。”
“那你干吗不停下歇几分钟，把锯子磨得快一点呢？”他问，“那样你肯定锯得更快。”
“我没时间磨锯子啊。”锯树的语气坚定，“我都忙死了，哪有时间磨锯子啊？”
-grind [ɡraɪnd] v. 磨快，使锋利
英文中有句谚语：“A beard well lathered is half shaved.”(磨刀不误砍柴工。)