Once there was a man and a woman. They had been married for more than 60 years. They kept no secrets from each other except that the old woman had a shoe box under her bed. She told her husband never to open or ask about it.

For all these years， he had never thought about the box. But one day the old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would never get better.

The woman said it was time that he should know what was in the box. The old man took the shoe box to his wife's bedside.

When he opened it， he found two beautiful doilies(装饰小垫) and some money. The money was $25,000.

“When we got married，”she said,“my grandmother told me that the secret of a happy family was never to fight. She told me if every time I got angry with you， I should just keep quiet and crochet(编织) one doily.”

The old man was so moved because only two doilies were in the box. He thought she had only been angry with him twice in all those years.

“My dear，”he said， but what about all the money？ Where did it all come from？”

“Oh，”she said，“that's the money I made from selling the doilies. So far， I have sold 2,500 doilies.”

C

    John was traveling around the country in the town. One evening he was driving along a road and looking for the Sun Hotel. When he saw an old man at the side of the road, he stopped his car and said to the old man,“I want to go to the Sun Hotel. Do you know where it is?”

    “Yes,” the old man answered,“I'll show you the way.”

    He got into the car, and they drove for about twelve miles. When they came to a small house, the old man said,“Stop here.”

    John stopped and looked at the house and said,“But this isn't a hotel.”

    “No,” the old man answered,“this is my house. And now I'll show you the way to the Sun Hotel. Turn around and go back nine miles, then you'll see the Sun Hotel on the left.”

The Sixth Time I Went to the Principal's Office

    When I was in the seventh grade, I had problems behaving. My heart was in the right place, but I couldn't always follow the rules. I played many tricks on my schoolmates. Once, I even pulled a girl's hair on the school bus to get her attention. As a result, I was repeatedly sent to the office of the principal（校长）.Although I hated going there, I did not hate the principal, Mr. Ratcliff.

    Mr. Ratcliff was a kind, elderly man. When he spanked（打屁股） me for putting some ants into a classmate's pencil box, it didn't hurt at all, but it did hurt my feelings. I thought so much of him and moments like that seemed to prove I was hopelessly bad.

    When I got called to Mr. Ratcliff's office for the sixth time, I had no idea what I had done. I felt disappointed as I walked down there. I went into his office, sat down, and looked at the floor. Then he said the last thing I expected to hear:" Kevin, I've heard you've been behaving really well lately. I want you to know how proud I am of you, and I just called you down to my office to give you a peppermint."

    "Really?" I was surprised.

    "Yes. Now you can take that peppermint and go back to class."

    I carried the peppermint with me as if it was a gold coin. When I got into my classroom, I bragged （吹嘘） to my classmates about my turnaround, excitedly. I wasn't so bad after all.

    Mr. Ratcliff was really kind. He made me realize that I was just a kid who had problems with behavior. He bought some peppermints and took the time to notice me when I got something-anything-right. Mr. Ratcliff gave me some hope by giving me some love. I will just remember him for the rest of my life.

    Once there was a piece of white and new paper. Children loved playing with it. But one day the paper found itself old and dirty. It was sad.

    Before it knew what was going on, it found itself lying in the dustbin(垃圾箱). It was sad when the worker came and put it into a truck with some other old paper.

    It travelled from day to night, from wind to rain. At last someone put it into a machine with other paper. It quickly got sorted(分类). This was the end! There was so many things it wanted to do, for example, be a book for children. But this was the end. The paper tried to run with other paper, but it failed. In the end, the paper closed its eyes. After some time, it woke up. The paper found it was quiet. The paper looked around and realized it was sitting next to some fresh paper. It looked down at itself. It was clean with a very new white coat.

    A couple of sparrows(麻雀) lived happily in a huge tree in a jungle. The female sparrow had laid her eggs and they were expecting their babies soon.

    One day, an elephant was unable to tolerate the heat of the summer sun. He destroyed all trees, including the tree where the sparrows lived.

    The sparrows managed to escape by flying away, but they lost their babies. The eggs fell down to the ground and broke into pieces. They cried loudly and decided to kill the elephant.

    They asked their friends, a woodpecker and a fly for help. The fly took them to meet one of his friends, an old frog. The frog was wise and he came up with a good plan soon.

    The frog explained, "Fly! Your task is to buzz in the elephant's ears in order to make him sleepy. The woodpeckers task is to hurt his eyes and make him blind. In this hot summer days, he will certainly search for water. I will sit by the nearby pit(深坑) and shout at the top of my voice."

    He continued, "When the thirsty elephant hears me, he will think there is a pond or lake nearby and follow my voice. And when he does so, he will fall into the pit and die."

    The others agreed to the frog's plan. Everyone did their tasks perfectly. Finally, the elephant fell into the pit and died.