四人行 必有一“笨”
In a small village, there were four people named Keith, Rid, Charles and Sivan. They had grown up together to become good friends. Keith, Rid and Charles were very smart. But Sivan spent most of his time eating and sleeping. He was considered witless by everyone.
One year, famine (饥荒) hit the village. People started moving to other villages. “We also need to move to another place, or we will die,” said Keith. They all agreed. “But what about Sivan?” asked Keith. “Do we need him with us? He has no skills or learning. We cannot take him with us,” replied Charles. “How can we leave him behind? He grew up with us,” said Rid. “We will share whatever we get among the four of us.” In the end, they all agreed to take Sivan along with them.
They packed all necessary things and set out for a nearby town. On the way, they had to cross a forest. As they were walking through the forest, they came across the bones of an animal. They became curious and stopped to take a closer look at the bones.
“Those are the bones of a lion,” said Rid. “This is a great chance to test our learning,” said Keith. “I can put the bones together.” So saying, he brought the bones together to form the skeleton (骨架) of a lion. Charles said, “I can put muscles and tissue on it.” Soon a lifeless lion lay before them. “I can breathe life into that body.” said Rid. But before he could continue, Sivan jumped up to stop him. “No. Don’t! If you put life into that lion, it will kill us all,” he cried. “Oh you coward! You can’t stop me from testing my skills and learning,” shouted angry Rid.
“Then please let me climb that tree first,” said frightened Sivan. Just as Sivan pulled himself on to the tallest branch of the nearest tree, Rid brought life into the lion. Getting up with a deafening (震耳欲聋的) roar, the lion attacked and killed the three.