提要
好逸惡勞是人的通病，也因此會有「磨擦神燈」或「神石」的幻想，但事實證明，
求人絕對不如求己，依賴他人完成的事，往往會給自己添加更多的麻煩。
Bobby was going back home after playing. When he was on his way suddenly a shiny beautiful stone drew his attention. It was triangle shaped stone . Bobby had never seen a stone like that . He picked up that stone rubbed it by his hands and guess what ? From the stone smoke started coming out and a”Genie” appeared in front of the little boy. Bobby got so scared and stunned.
The Genie said to Bobby,” No sir you don’t need to be scared, I will not harm you .You have let me out of this stone so now I am your servant and will help you out in every task!”.
“But my parents will not allow me to keep a Genie in my home!”, Bobby said . “Do not worry sir, I am only visible to you, any other person would not be able to see me “, the Genie answered. “ ok, then you can come with me”.
Bobby was too happy that he had a Genie as a helper now . He took the Genie home . After having his evening snacks he went to his room with the Genie and said to him, “ Mr. Genie can you help me to clean my wardrobe ?”. “Yes, why not sir ?”, Genie answered. And the untidy and messy wardrobe became so clean and tidy within few minutes .
“Could you please help me to change the bed sheet and pillow covers ?”, Bobby asked. “Yes sir, it will be my pleasure!”, said the Genie . The work was done . Genie did several jobs including the resetting of the toy shelf, cleaning the flower pot, polishing the shoes etc. Mom will be so happy to see my room she always says that, “ Your room is a mess!”, Bobby thought happily .
Now it was time to do the home work . Bobby had to solve ten very difficult sums . He asked Mr. Genie, “Can you help me with my home work ？". " Of course , I will! " , Mr. Genie said with a lovely smile on his face." Tell me in which subject you want me to help you ?", Genie asked. "Well you have to help me to solve few sums in Maths", Bobby said and turned back to open his bag . He took out his note book and looked for Genie but he was not there .
“ Mr. Genie ! Mr Genie where are you ? “
There was no sign of Mr. Genie . “Ah ! Maths ! Even a Genie is afraid of Maths!!” , a very disappointed Bobby started doing the sums .
翻 譯
巴比到外面玩耍，在回家的路上，一顆閃亮美麗的石頭吸引他的注意。巴比從來沒有見過這樣三角形的石頭，他撿起那塊石頭，用手搓揉了一下，猜怎麼樣？石頭開始冒煙，一個「精靈」出現在小男孩的面前。巴比嚇得目瞪口呆。精靈對巴比說：「喔，先生，你不必害怕，我不會傷害你。你把我從這石頭放出來，所以現在我是你的僕人，而且會幫助你需要的每一件事！」「但我爸媽不會讓我帶精靈回家！」巴比說
「別擔心，先生，只有你看得到我，其他人不行，」精靈回答。「好，那麼你可以跟我來。」
巴比真是太高興了，他有一個精靈作幫手了。他把精靈帶回家，吃完點心，巴比帶精靈到他的房間，他對精靈說：「精靈先生，你能不能幫我清理我的衣櫃？」「好的，有何不可？」精靈於是讓凌亂的衣櫃在幾分鐘之內就變得整潔、清爽。
「能不能請你幫我換床單與枕頭套？」巴比問道。「好的，先生，那是我的榮幸！」精靈說，然後迅速完成工作，還順便做了幾項工作，包括把玩具都在架子上擺好、清理花盆，把鞋擦得亮晶晶。「看到我的房間，媽媽肯定會很高興。她平常總是說：『你的房間是一個爛攤子！』」巴比高興地想。
接著，是家庭作業時間。巴比必須解決十題非常困難的總和問題。他問精靈：「你能不能幫我看看我的家庭作業？」「當然好！」臉上堆滿笑容的精靈回答，「告訴我，你要我幫你哪一門功課？」「請幫我解決數學的總和問題。」巴比說著，轉身打開他的書包、掏出筆記本，再回頭看，但精靈不見了。
「精靈先生！精靈先生，你在哪裡？」精靈杳無音訊。
「啊，數學！即使是無所不能的精靈，也怕數學！」失望的巴比開始靠自己作數學習題。
對 話
clean your room 清理房間
Mom : Did you clean your room today?
Boy : No, not yet.
Mom : When were you planning on doing that?
Boy : I'm going to clean it up later.
Mom : Didn't I ask you to clean it up earlier?
Boy : I'm going to clean it.
Mom : I want you to vacuum in your room, and don't forget to dust everything.
Boy : I know. I'll do it.
Mom : Make sure you clean it up before you do anything else.
Boy : I'm not going anywhere until later, so I'll clean it then.
媽媽：你今天打掃你的房間了沒？
男孩：還沒有。
媽媽：你打算什麼時候要做？
男孩：我等一下會清理乾淨的。
媽媽：我剛才不是要你馬上清理嗎？
男孩：我會清理的。
媽媽：整個房間都要吸塵，而且不要忘了撣灰塵。
男孩：我知道了，我會做的。
媽媽：要確定你做別的事情之前先清房間。
男孩：我現在沒要出門啦，等等我就清理乾淨。
WOW! 原來如此
OK
「OK」最普遍的解釋是「沒問題」 ，英文的原意是「all correct」。
據說是源於十九世紀的波士頓腔，「all correct」拼音讀成「oll korrect」或「orl korrect」的字首縮寫：「OK」。後來「OK」逐漸流行，人們為了使「OK」在語文中不總是以符號或縮寫形式出現，便將它單字化，於是同音的「okay」、「okey」就跟著出現了。
stunned
「stunned」是「讓人昏迷」，例如：「The Stumble had stunned him.」（他絆了一跤，摔昏了過去。）
「stunned」也是「讓人大吃一驚」，例如：「We were all stunned by the horrible news.」 （這個糟糕的消息讓大家目瞪口呆。）
sums
「sum」是「總數、總和」，例如：「Alice paid the sum of $2000 for dresses.」（愛麗絲總共花了二千元買衣服。）
文中的「sum」是「算術題」，例如：「The girl is good at doing a sum in her head.」（這女孩心算很厲害。）