Each morning a rich man found a poor man sitting on a bench(长凳) in the park. The poor man always sat there, looking at the big hotel in which the rich man lived. One day, the rich man got out of his car and said to the poor man, "Excuse me. I want to know why you sit here and look at my hotel every morning." "Sir," said the poor man, "I am a failure. I have no money, no family, no home. I sleep on this bench, and every night I dream that one day I'll sleep in that hotel." The rich man said, "Tonight your dream will come true. I'll pay for the best room in that hotel for you a whole month."

    A few days after, the rich man went into the poor man's room to ask him how he was enjoying himself. To his surprise, he found that the man had moved out of the hotel back to his bench. When the rich man asked why, he said, "You see, when I'm sleeping on my bench, I dreamed I am there, in the big hotel. It's a wonderful dream. But when I was there I dreamed I was back to this cold bench. It was a terrible dream, and I couldn't get any sleep at all."

B

    A crow (乌鸦) wants to drink, but he can't find water. He looks here and there. At last, he cries, "I can see a jar (罐子) and there is some water in it." He tries to get the water, but he can't. "How can I get the water?" he cries, "I can put my break (鸟嘴) quite close it." But still he cannot drink. "What can I do? I want to drink." He looks here and there, then he picks up a small stone (石头) in his break and carries it to the jar of water and drops it into the jar. "Soon the water will be high in the jar, and I can drink," says the crow. So he begins to do that until the water is high (高的) enough to drink.

    A driver stops his car in front of a shop and he wants to have a rest. Just when he closes his eyes, a man comes up and knocks at his window to ask the time. The driver opens his eyes and looks at his watch. "It's eight o' clock." He says. Then he closes his eyes again. But a second man is knocking at the window now. "Sir, do you have the time?" he asks. The driver looks at his watch again and tells the man it's half past eight.

    Just like this he can't have a good rest. So he writes some words on a piece of paper and puts it on the window for all to see. It says, "I don't know the time."

    Again the driver closes his eyes and he thinks he can have a good rest now. A few minutes later, a third man comes up and begins to knock at the window. "Hey sir, "he says, "It's a quarter to nine."

    In the Chinese﹣speaking world, almost everyone knows about Jin Yong and his books. Jin Yong is the pen name of Louis Cha Leung﹣yung. He was the most important Chinese martial arts novelist. On Oct 30, he passed away at 94 years old in Hong Kong.

    During his lifetime, Jin Yong wrote 15 martial arts novels. Over 300 million copies of his books have been sold (卖) around the world. It's just as the well﹣known saying goes, "Wherever there are Chinese, you will find Jin Yong's novels".

    With his books, Jin Yong created an imaginary world called jianghu. In jianghu, there are many fighting heroes(侠) practicing martial arts. But Jin Yong also used some stories from history and traditional Chinese culture to make this world. His stories took place in different dynasties. He used Chinese poems in his books. This makes his books rich and colorful.

    However, more importantly, Jin Yong has shaped the values (价值观) of many Chinese people. The characters in Jin Yong's books fight for justice and righteousness. And his readers will always thank him for teaching them these values.

    Jin Yong touched people's hearts through more than just his books. All of his novels have been made into films, TV shows, comics or video games. Almost all of the adaptations (改编作品) have been big hits. Lots of actors and actresses became famous because of his works. His works are also popular overseas.

    This is Monica's day. And she thinks it is interesting and helpful. Let's read it together.