It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were happy. After all, their forefathers (祖先) had lived in the same way for centuries (世纪).

    Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people who liked to eat frogs' legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

    This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was to catch them. They reached an agreement and people sent their children into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck (卡车) arrived to collect the frogs and give them the money. For the first time, the people could dream of a better future, but the dream didn't last (持续) long.

    It was not easy to notice (觉察到) the change at first, but it seemed like the crops (庄稼) were not doing so well. It was more worrying that the children fell ill more often, and there seemed to be more insects (虫) around lately.

    The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money got to buy pesticides (杀虫剂) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

    Then the people found out the problem. It was the frog. They were not useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing (增加) more quickly. They were eating the crops and spreading diseases (传播疾病).

    Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

    Liu Mingxiao, 13, is a pretty and smart girl. She comes top in her class. But many students try to stay away from her because her mother has AIDS(艾滋病). Liu's father has died of AIDS. But Liu didn't get it.

    AIDS means fear(惧怕)for most people. “Nobody wants to play games with me. They call me bad names behind my back. Even a teacher who used to like me turns her back on me now. It makes me feel sad.” said Liu.

    Liu's mother didn't know what happened to her daughter until one day Liu came back home with her nose bleeding(流血的)，“ She fought with a boy who said something bad about her father.” said Liu's mother. “My heart really hurts. My daughter did nothing wrong!”

    For many of these children, the biggest problem they now face is how other people look at them. Many of them have to drop out of school(辍学)because they can no longer stand others' indifference(冷漠).

    “People are afraid of AIDS because they know little about it,” said Wang Chongrun, head of a group to help children living with AIDS. Wang went to the villages and gave lessons about AIDS to the people there.

    “Many of these children are just as healthy as others,” Wang said.

    “Even if they have AIDS, it's still safe to eat and play with them. They need our love and understanding. A friendly smile means a lot to them!”

    In the 1950s, a female swimming athlete set a goal for herself. She decided to swim across the English Channel before she retired. If she could make it, she would be the first person in the world who did it.

    On that day, she jumped into the sea without any hesitation and swam towards the opposite bank.

    In the journey, she faced heavy fog, heavy rain and heavy waves. Though she was very tired, she carried on swimming.

    But in the end, she gave up. And what she didn't know at the moment she gave up was that the opposite bank was only I mile away.

    Later people asked her about the reason. And she said: "The reason why I gave up is that I could not see the destination which I was so close to."

    Too many success stories have been lecturing us about courage and persistence(坚持). But they never told us where to find courage and persistence.

    You can have courage only when you know where your goal is. You can manage to persist only when you know where your goal is, and prepare yourself well mentally(心理上).

    Courage and persistence never fall from the sky. They come from weighing between input and output.

    A life without goals is like a ship without a compass. It goes nowhere. There is no courage or persistence in a life without goals.

    Once there was an emperor. He had a beautiful garden. In the garden, there was a little nightingale(夜莺) singing very beautifully.

    One day, the emperor heard about this little bird's beautiful voice. He asked his guards to bring her to him. When the emperor heard the nightingale's voice, he said, "Put her in a golden cage, so she can stay and sing for me whenever I want to hear her."

    The little bird was so unhappy about being kept in the cage that she stopped singing one day. The emperor was very angry. He ordered the scientists in his palace to make a robot bird for him. The bird could sing very beautifully too. The emperor was pleased.

    Soon the robot bird became old. It no longer sang beautiful songs. Just at that time, the emperor was ill and he became very weak. One morning, while lying in bed, the emperor wanted it to sing once again. But the robot bird could not sing any more. Suddenly, the nightingale landed on the window. She began to sing her most beautiful song. The emperor was very happy! He became better and better each day.

    After the emperor was well, he changed a lot and became kind to his people. From then on, all his people cherished(爱戴) him for his love and kindness.