There was once a king who had a great palace with a wonderful garden. In the garden, there lived all kinds of animals. All of them

enjoyed living there.

 There was only one thing in the garden that the king hated: an old tree in the center of the garden. It was so old and dry. This made

the king so angry that he finally asked some people to cut it down and turned the place into a swimming pool. However, after the tree was cut down, the animals left the garden. Without the animals, the garden was not so beautiful as before. The king was sad, but he didn't know what had happened.

 A young man went to the king, and said he could explain what had happened. “This was because you cut the old tree down,” said the young man. “There were thousands of moths (飞蛾)which lived in the tree. Birds needed the moths to eat and then they produced wastes for plants to grow. The plants then attracted many other animals to your garden. So your garden became very beautiful. But as you cut the tree down, the animals had to leave.

“Excellent!” said the king, “I'll make you rich and you will try to make my garden beautiful again.”

“I'm afraid it will take many years to finish. It will take many years for the natural balance(生态平衡) to get back again,” said the young man.

 The king was sad, but all he could do was just to wait.

    About five hundred years ago, an earthquake happened in a small village. Luckily for them, nothing was destroyed and no one was hurt. But a huge stone fell from a nearby mountain and stopped in the middle of the road.

    When the earthquake stopped, many people came to the road and saw the stone. Some of the strongest men tried to lift the stone out of the road. But they couldn't move it. They tried to push it but failed. They tried to pull it with ropes but nothing worked.

    "Well," they said sadly, "there's nothing we can do about it. We'll have to change the way."

    At this time a boy about 12 years old said, "I think I can help you to move the stone away."

    "You?" they shouted. "What are you talking about?" The men all laughed at the boy.

    The next morning, some people came into the road. One of them shouted, "The stone is gone." More people ran out to see what had happened. It was true. The stone wasn't on the road any longer. It wasn't even near the road.

    The boy walked over to where the stone had been and said, "I buried it."

    The people looked rather surprised. "You see," he said, "I dug a deep hole next to the stone and I dug a small incline (斜坡) up to the stone and the stone rolled (滚) down into the hole itself. Then I covered it with earth."

    The villagers shouted, "Clever boy! Clever boy!" And some of them said, "Why didn't we think out this good idea?"

    Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One early morning, I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a. m. When I arrived to collect my passenger, I saw a small woman in her eighties standing before me. I took her suitcase to the car and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly towards the car.

    She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way l would want my mother treated."

    "Oh, you're such a good man," she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive me throughout the downtown (市中心)?"

    "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

    "Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said. "I'm on my way to hospice (末期病人安养所). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long time." I quietly shut off the meter (计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, and the neighborhood where she had lived. Sometimes she asked me to slow down in front of a special building and she would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

    As the day broke, she suddenly said. "I'm tired. Let's go now."

    We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

    "How much shall I give you?" she asked.

    "Nothing," I answered.

    "You have to make a living," she said.

    "Oh, there are other passengers," I said.

    Almost without thinking, I bent down and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly and said, "You gave an old woman a little moment of happiness."

    There is an elephant and a monkey. They're friends. But one day they want to know who is stronger （更强壮）. One of them says, "Who can get apples from the tree across the river, who is stronger."The monkey says, "I can't swim." The elephant says, "I can swim. Please sit on my back."Thus they go across the river. The apple tree is very high. The elephant can't reach the apples on the tree. The monkey climbs（爬）up the tree and gets many apples. Now they know they should help each other.

    One Monday morning, I was waiting at the bus stop in Harvard Square. It was very cold, about -8℃. I just missed the bus, so I had to stand there on such a cold day, waiting for the next bus to go to the hospital. My mind was full of anxiety. "Why didn't I leave two minutes earlier?" "What would go wrong with my husband's operation (手术)?" "Will I get to him before it starts?"

    Among the others at the bus stop was a woman who was about 50 years old. She wore an old hat, an old pair of boots and a dark coat, but she had no gloves (手套). Another woman who looked younger came to the older woman and said, "Your hands must be very cold. You will get frostbite (生冻疮) in this weather if you don't wear gloves." With these words, she dropped her heavy bag to the ground. After a while, she took out a pair of purple gloves from her bag, took the older woman's hands and gently placed a glove on each hand. "Thank you. You're so kind." The old woman said again and again.

    I was deeply moved (感动) by this act of kindness. A moment ago, I was feeling sorry for myself, but now I felt hopeful and optimistic (乐观). I thought in this world there were still many people in trouble who were in great need of our help.

    A few days later, I went to buy 5 pairs of bright purple gloves in a shop and put them in my bag, just in case (以防) I might run into someone in need on a cold day.

    I was walking around in a store. I saw a cashier (收银员) hand a little boy his money back, saying, "I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll." I walked towards him and asked him who the doll was for.

    "It's the doll that my sister wanted most for Christmas," he said. I told him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it to her and that he shouldn't worry. He sadly replied, "No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her. I have to give the doll to my mom so that she can give it to my sister when she joins her."

    His eyes were so sad while saying this." My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mom is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister."

    My heart nearly stopped. I quickly reached for my wallet and suggested that we count the money again. "Okay," he said." I hope that I have enough." I added some of my money to his without letting him see and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money left." Thank you, God, for giving me enough money!" the little boy said.

    I left the store, feeling as if my life had been changed forever.