A father had one son and one daughter—the former was remarkable for his good looks, the latter for her extraordinary ugliness. While they were playing one day as children, they happened by chance to look together into a mirror that was placed on their mother’s chair. The boy congratulated himself on his good looks; the girl grew angry, and could not bear the self-praises of her brother, interpreting all he said into reflection on herself. She ran off to her father to be avenged on her brother, and spitefully accused him of having, as a boy, made use of that which belonged only to girls.

 The father embraced them both, and bestowing his kisses and affection impartially on each, said, “I wish you both would look into the mirror every day: you, my son, that you may not spoil your beauty by evil conduct; and you, my daughter, that you may make up for your lack of beauty by your virtues.”

【日积月累】

remarkable adj. 不平常的，非凡的，值得注意的，显著的

accuse vt. 控告，谴责，非难

spitefully adv. 充满恶意地，怀恨在心地

embrace vt. 拥抱

bestow vt. 把…给予，把……赋予

impartially adv. 公平地，无私地

【参考译文】

哥哥和妹妹

一位父亲有一个儿子和一个女儿，儿子因容貌俊俏而引人注意，而女儿引人注意则是因为长得十分难看。小时候，他们有一天在一起玩耍的时候，他们有机会在放在妈妈椅子上的镜子里看到了彼此的长相。男孩夸赞自己有一张好面孔;女孩非常生气，她无法忍受哥哥的自我表扬，觉得他说的所有的话都在影射自己。她跑向他的爸爸去报复哥哥，指责他作为一个男孩子，使用了只属于女孩子用的东西。

这位父亲拥着他们两个，公平地给每个孩子亲吻和慈爱，说道：“我希望你们两个每天都照镜子：你，我的儿子，不可以用不良的行为来损坏你的帅气;而你，我的女儿，你可以用你的美德来弥补美貌的不足。”

【人生启迪】

镜子不但能看到人的容貌，有时候也能真实地反映出人们的内心所想，所以面对镜子的时候，我们要怀着诚实、谦虚地心态，不要因为自己容貌的美丑而得意或是沮丧，要记住：心灵美才是最重要的，美德可以弥补容貌的不足。