愚公移山英文版
A fable: Yu Gong Moves Away the Mountains
In ancient times, there was an old man named Yu Gong. He was nearly 90 years old. There were two mountains in front of his house. One was the Taihang Mountain, the other the Wangwu Mountain. It was very inconvenient for people to come and go.
One day, Yu Gong said to the whole family:
"These two mountains block the doorway of our house. It is very inconvenient for us to come and go. Let our whole family make every effort to move away these two mountains. How about it?"
Upon hearing this, all his sons and grandsons said:
"You are right. Let us start tomorrow!"
But his wife felt it too difficult to move the mountains. She said:
"Do you know how high these two mountains are? How can you move such big mountains? Where can you put all the stones and earth?"
Everybody said:
"So long as we work hard together, we can certainly move away these two mountains. We can carry the stones and earth of the mountains to the sea."
The following day, Yu Gong led the whole family and started to move the mountains. His neighbour was a widow with a son, only 7 or 8 years old. When he heard of this, he also came to help happily. They worked nonstop every day, fearing neither heat in summer nor cold in winter, neither wind nor rain.
When a shrewd(精明的) old man named Zhi Sou saw Yu Gong's family moving the mountains, he thought it foolish and said to Yu Gong:
"You are so old that you can hardly walk. Can you move the mountains?"
Yu Gong replied:
"You are not even as clever as a child. Though I am about to die, I have sons. When my sons die, there are still grandsons. Generation after generation, my offspring（后代） are endless. But with more and more stones being removed, smaller and smaller will the mountains become. Not a grain of earth or a piece of stone will grow on the mountains. If we work without stop every day, why can't we move away the mountains?"
Zhi Sou, who thought himself clever, had nothing more to say.
Yu Gong led his family digging the mountains continually from early morning till late night. They finally moved （感动） God, who sent two celestials(神仙) to the world to move away these two mountains.
1. What is the name of the story?
2. Who wrote the story?
3. What is the story mainly about?
4. Who is the main character of the story? What does he/she look like? What do you think of him/ her?
5. Why do you like the story?
This is a report on a Chinese traditional fable “Yu Gong Moves Away the Mountains” by an unknown writer.
This fable has two main characters: Yu Gong and Zhi Sou. There are also Yu Gong’s family who play an important part in the story.
Yu Gong asks his family members to move away the two mountains which block the doorway of his house. both Yu Gong and his sons are very determined. They worked nonstop every day and their neighbor even joined them to help. However, a shrewd old man named Zhi Sou came to laugh at Yu Gong. He thought Yu Gong was too old to move away the mountains. Yu Gong sent him away by telling his strong belief of hard work. At last, the God was moved by Yu’s action and sent two celestials(神仙) to the world to move away these two mountains.
The story is enjoyable and educational. It helps reader understand the importance of working hard and perseverance.