Ali, who was working a long way from home wanted to send a letter to his wife, but he could neither read nor write, and he had to work all day, so he could only look for somebody to write his letter late at night. At last he found the house of a letter writer whose name was Nasreddin.

    Nasreddin was already in bed. "It is late," he said. "What do you want?" "I want you to write a letter to my wife," said Ali, Nasreddin was not pleased. He thought for a few seconds and then said, "Has the letter got to go far?" "What does that matter?" answered Ali.

  "Well, my writing is so strange that only I can read it, and if I have to travel a long way to read your letter to your wife, it will cost you a lot of money." Ali went away quickly.

    Mike is a factory worker. He is often very tired after a day's work. His wife, Jenny, has no job, so she stays at home to cook the meals. Every day he can have his dinner when he gets home from his factory.  

    One day, Mike came home very late because he was very busy in the factory. He was very hungry when he got home. He was not happy when he found his dinner was not ready. He was very angry with his wife. He shouted at her, "I'm going out to eat in a restaurant." "Wait for five minutes，" said his wife. "Why? Do you think that dinner will be ready in five minutes?" asked Mike. "Of course not," she answered. "But I can be ready to go with you in five minutes."    

    Jack Brown, an office worker, lives in Washington. He inherited（继承）a million dollars when he was 23, but he wasn't happy at all. When his college friends were looking for their jobs, he didn't have to. Jack decided to keep living a simple life like everyone else. He gave $ 10,000 of his money to a charity to help poor children live a happy life. Today he is 36. He still wears cheap shoes and clothes and drives a small car only, but he is very happy.

    Up to now Jack has helped some children from poor countries all over the world, by sending them each $200 a month. The money is used for the children's study, food, medicine and clothing. Jack receives a report each year on the children's progress(进步）They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English.

    When Jack first heard about these children, he wanted to help them. “It was nothing special,”he said.“Until I went to these countries and met the children I was helping, I didn't know anything about their life.” Once Jack went to meet a little girl in Africa, he said that the meeting was very exciting. “When I met her, I felt very, very happy,”he said.“And I saw that the money was used for a good cause. It brought me happiness. I want to do everything I can to go on helping these children.”

    It's seven o'clock in the morning in Chennai, India Lavin always has her morning bath before school. But she doesn't have a bath at home. She has a bath in a small river outside with her best friend, a baby elephant.

    Lavin lives at Arignar Anna Zoo with her parents, brothers and sisters. Her father works at the zoo and he is a special keeper for the baby elephants. Lavin is only six years old, but she can control(控制)the elephants and she has a very special friendship with them.

    At eight o'clock in the morning, Lavin goes to school, but she doesn't go on the school bus. She rides an elephant to school. After school, Lavin plays football with her elephants.

    Now it is the evening, and the baby elephants are tired Lavin sits next to them and sings to them. Sometimes, they all sleep together-friends together in the day and friends together at night.

    I remember one day in primary school, there were five of us who wanted to sit together and only one four-seated table. I, sadly, was the last to get my lunch, so I had to eat my food all alone at a table. Watching them laugh and have a good time while I was sitting by myself, I cried hard. Now, I am quite sure I overreacted a little bit that day, but my tears (眼泪) just show what everyone feels when he or she is alone at lunch or even in life.

    I had another lonely lunch situation in high school. There was not enough room for me at my usual table, so I had to sit with another group of students I had never talked to in my life. Now, I am not saying I heard some wonderful ideas that day, but I did hear quite new ones on life. It was really one of my most interesting lunchtime experiences.

    The point is, at least I sat with someone that day. I did not have to suffer (忍受)through eating my cold turkey sandwich all alone. No one felt pity for me, and I was not shy about having no friends.

    This lunch table is the same as life. No one wants to go through life on his or her own whether it is at lunch, class, or work, we all want to be included. So the next time you see one quietly sitting alone, you can invite him to sit with you. You could hear some interesting stories, and you could even possibly find a new great friend.