提 要

有些人會背後說別人的壞話，是由於嫉妒，覺得這樣才能顯示出他比較高明、才能襯托自己的優越。人多少有些毛病，彼此之間總會有幾句批評，因此，在人背後不論人長短的很少。

當知道人家說了自己的優點時，除了高興，應該感謝；發現別人說了自己的缺點時，也不該生氣，應當反省。

若發現你的朋友在你背後說你壞話，最好能以包容及諒解的胸懷泰然處之，這樣才能化解誤會、保持友誼。

A long time ago there was a Hostel in which children used to live and study. Among those children there were two kids who were brilliant in studies. They were favorite students of the teacher.

Both of them were very good friends too. Many years passed by and now teacher decided to take the test of the children. All the children did well in the test specially the two “favorites”. The teacher found both of them equally good and they got equal marks too, he was very happy but he wanted to know that whether both students had put their knowledge into practice.

One day he called one of them and said to him “Dear, you and your friend did equally well in exam I am glad that the two of you are such good students, now I want to know that what do you think of your friend？" The boy said "teacher, I have learned all the subjects by heart but he learnt them by rote, I think he has no brains he is like an OX".

"Oh, never mind, experience will teach him every thing." said the teacher, "you can go now".

After meeting the first student he called the second one, and asked the same question. The boy said "teacher, I have gained my knowledge by understanding it, but my friend has achieved it by rote. He is just like a CAMEL".

"Oh, never mind. Experience will teach him every thing," teacher repeated the same words and asked him to leave .

Next day their teacher invited the boys for lunch. Those two boys became so happy because it was a great honor for them. The lunch was served with a shock! A normal meal was served for the teacher, but for the boys there were only leaves and grass.

"You called each other an ox and camel so here is your food, grass for the ox and leaves for the camel, please ENJOY it".

翻 譯

很久很久以前，有一間讓孩童生活與學習的「青年旅舍」，其中有兩個孩子表現特別傑出，他們是老師最喜歡的學生。

他們兩人也是很好的朋友，經過了多年的學習，老師決定測試孩子們知道多少。所有的孩子都表現得很好，在測試中，他特別留意兩個愛徒，發現他們表現一樣好，他們得到了一樣高的分數。老師很高興，但他想知道，他們兩人能否靈活運用所學的知識。

有一天，老師把兩個愛徒中的一個叫到面前問他：「親愛的孩子，我很高興你和你的朋友考同樣的高分，你們同樣是好學生，老師想知道，你覺得你的朋友如何？」 男孩說：「老師，我用心學會了所有的科目，但他卻是死記硬背，我認為他沒有腦子，就像是一頭牛。

「沒關係，他將會從經驗中學習」，老師說，「你可以走了」。

第一個學生走了之後，他把第二個愛徒叫到面前，問他同樣的問題，男孩說：「我了解老師教我的知識，但我的朋友死記硬背來應付，他就像一隻駱駝。

「哦，沒關係。經驗會教他的」，老師重複同樣的話，請第二個孩子離開。

第二天，老師邀請他們兩人共進午餐，兩個男孩非常高興，因為他們覺得這是莫大的榮譽。午餐端上來時，卻讓他們嚇一跳，雖然老師面前端來的是正常的飯菜，但男孩們面前的，只有樹葉和草！

老師說：「你們兩人背後叫對方『牛』、『駱駝』，所以這裡是你們的午餐。牛吃草、駱駝吃樹葉，請開始享用吧。

對話……

A Nice Place

Alice：I like living here.

Bill：I agree. Puri is a nice place.

Alice：It’s not too big.

Bill：And it’s not too small.

Alice：It has great weather all

year long.

Bill：It has the Water bamboo

festival.

Alice：It has beautiful houses.

Bill：It has wonderful restaurants.

Alice：It has great schools.

Bill：It’s close to the mountains.

Alice：The people are friendly.

Bill：I’m not ever going to leave.

好地方

愛麗絲：我喜歡住在這裡。

比 爾：我同意，埔里是一個好地方。

愛麗絲：這裡不太大。

比 爾：也不會太小。

愛麗絲：它常年氣候怡人。

比 爾：還有茭白筍美食節。

愛麗絲：房子漂亮。

比 爾：有很棒的餐廳。

愛麗絲：還有很不錯的學校。

比 爾：這裡靠近山。

愛麗絲：居民很友善。

比 爾：我打算永遠住在這裡。

WOW!原來如此

Hostel

「Hostel」（青年旅舍）也稱作「背包客棧」，是一種針對背包客或年輕人的自助旅館，強調實惠、不浪費，以社群生活和文化交流著稱。大多數的青年旅舍提供多人房選擇，讓旅客共享房間，節省旅遊開支。

上個世紀初，德國提倡青年運動，認為年輕人不論貧富，都該出外認識世界，德國教師理察．希爾曼一九一二年在阿爾特納的廢棄古堡，建立了第一家青年旅舍，室內設施簡樸、備有硬床墊、帶鎖的個人儲藏櫃、小桌椅、公共衛浴、自助餐廳、公共活動室等，這些標準至今仍被各地青年旅舍採用。

雖然「青年旅舍」強調共享，但現今疏離的人際關係，住在青年旅舍的人仍希望可以獨享私人空間：

「Most hostel tenants would prefer single to shared rooms.」（大多住在青年旅舍的人喜歡單人房，而不想與別人共住一間。）

Rote

Rote is defined as a routine, mechanical way of doing something.（『Rote』就是千篇一律、機械式的重複一樣的動作。）

老師想知道他的學生們有沒有「put their knowledge into practice.」（將所學的知識活用），兩個愛徒都強調自己「融會貫通」，但別人卻是「填鴨式」的死記死背。