英文幽默故事：The Ignorant Man

There was a village in a kingdom. There was living a milkman. His name was Deenu. He had built his hut far away from his village, in the woods. He loved the quietness of the woods rather than the noisy atmosphere of the village. He lived in his hut with his two cows. He fed them well and took proper care of them. Everyday he took the two cows to a nearby lake to bath them. The two cows gave more milk. With the milk that the two cows gave, he earned enough money to live happily. 

 

Deenu was an honest man. Though he was content, at times he would be restless. “There is so much wrong and evil in this world. Is there nobody to guide the people?" this thought made his sad every now and then. 

 

One evening, the ignorant man, Deenu was returning home after selling milk in the village. He saw a saint¹ sitting under a tree and meditating². He slowly walked up to him and waited for the saint to open his eyes. He was happy to be with the saint for some time. He decided³ to wait there itself till the saint opened his eyes. 

 

After a while, the saint slowly opened his eyes. He was surprised to see a man patiently sitting beside him. 

 

“What do you want?" asked the saint humbly⁴. 

 

“I want to know what the path to Truth and Piety⁵ is? Where shall I find Honesty?" asked Deenu. 

 

The saint smiled and said, “Go to the pond nearby and ask the fish the same question. She will give you the answer." 

 

Then as asked to do, the ignorant man, Deenu went to the nearby pond and asked the same question to the fish. The fish said, “O kind man! First, bring me some water to drink." Deny was surprised. He said, “You live in water. But you still want water to drink? How strange!" 

 

At this moment, the fish replied, “You are right. And that gives you the answer to your question as well. Truth, Piety and honesty are inside the heart of a man. But being ignorant, he searches for them in the outer world. Instead of wandering here and there, look within yourself and you will find them." 

 

This gave an immense satisfaction to Deenu. He thanked the fish and walked home a wiser man. He changed the way in which he saw this world as well as himself. From that day, Deenu never felt restless. 

 

He took his best to carry this massage⁶ to the rest of his fellow human beings. All his friends accepted him as their master and consulted him to overcome their mental problems. He led them properly.  

1 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

2 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

5 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

6 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。