提 要

常常會聽到球隊的教練對球員說：「There is no "i" in "team".....」（團隊中沒有自我）。「團隊」（team）的四個字母，的確沒「i」，同樣的道理，只顧自己的作為，無法保持團體的完整。人與周圍的鄰居，甚至與大自然，都是「休戚相關、禍福與共」的一體。自私自利，最後一定會害人害己。

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer in a village beside a forest. He had a big garden that had an apple tree and other plants, trees and beautiful flowers. When the farmer was a little boy, he spent most of the time playing under the apple tree. Those days, the apple tree had given the choicest of apples to him. As time passed, the apple tree became old and stopped bearing fruits.

Now that the farmer was not getting any apples from the tree, he thought that the tree was useless. Therefore, he decided to cut the tree and use its wood to make some new furniture. He forgot that as a boy, he had spent his entire childhood climbing the tree and eating its apples.

But the apple tree was home to several little animals in the neighborhood. These included squirrels, sparrows and a huge variety of birds and insects. When the farmer took his axe and began chopping the tree, all the little animals came rushing down.

They all began to plead with the farmer. They gathered round the farmer and said, “Please don’t cut the tree. We used to play with you when you were small, under this very tree. This is our home and we have no other place to go”.

The farmer was adamant. He raised his axe and the commotion grew:

“Please don’t chop and destroy my home and kids,” cried the squirrel.

“Please don’t chop and destroy my nest,” cried the little birds.

“Please don’t cut the apple tree,” cried the grasshopper.

The farmer, however, forgot his childhood animal friends. He began to chop the tree harder. All the little animals became desperate, and wanted to protect the apple tree at any cost.

These little animals said, “We will sing for you when you are toiling away in the fields. We will look after your little boy. He will not cry, but instead will be entertained and happy. You will like our songs and will not feel tired.”

However, their cries for help fell on deaf ears. Despite all their requests, the farmer continued to chop down the tree.

All of a sudden, he noticed something shiny. On inspecting it, he realized that it was a beehive, full of honey. He took a little and put it in his mouth. The taste of the honey woke up the little boy in him. Suddenly, the memories of his childhood came rushing back.

The honey tasted so good that he wanted more. It brought a sense of happiness to him. He smiled and exclaimed, “This tastes amazing.”

Realizing the change in the farmer’s behavior, the little animals spoke in unison:

The bee said, “I will always provide you with sweet honey.” The squirrel said, “I will share any amount of nuts that you want.” The birds cried, “We will sing as many songs as you want.”

Finally, the farmer realized his folly, and put down his axe. He understood that the tree was home to many lovely animals that provided him with so many things. He wanted his little boy to have the childhood that he had.

The farmer threw away the axe and said to the little creatures, “I promise that I would never cut this tree. I have realized my mistake and you all can now live in peace and harmony.”

The little creatures thanked the bee profusely. If the farmer had not found the beehive, they would have been homeless by now. They continued living happily in the old apple tree.

解 說

曾經，在森林邊的一個村莊裡住著一個農夫，他有一個大花園、一棵蘋果樹和許多植物和美麗的花朵。當農夫是個小男孩時，大部分時間都在蘋果樹下玩耍度過。那時，蘋果樹給他最好的蘋果。隨著時光流逝，蘋果樹變老、不再結果。

如今看著不產蘋果的蘋果樹，農夫認為樹「沒用了」。因此，他決定砍掉它，用蘋果木做一些新家具。他已經忘得一乾二淨，自己的整個童年都在老蘋果樹爬上爬下、吃果子。

但蘋果樹是附近許多小動物的家，包括了松鼠、麻雀和各種各樣的鳥類、昆蟲。當農夫拿起他的斧頭開始對著樹猛砍，所有的小動物都衝下樹四散奔逃。

小動物們開始聚集向農夫乞求。牠們圍著農夫說：「請不要砍蘋果樹，我們曾經在你小的時候和你一起玩，就在這棵樹下呀，這是我們的家，我們沒有其他地方可以去。」

農夫不為所動。他舉起斧頭，引起一陣騷動：

「請不要砍掉及毀滅我和孩子的家！」松鼠哭喊。

「請不要砍掉及毀滅我的巢！」小鳥哭喊。

「請不要砍蘋果樹！」蚱蜢哭喊。

然而，農夫根本忘了他的童年動物朋友。他開始一斧一斧地砍下……小動物全都急壞了，牠們想「不惜任何代價」保護蘋果樹。

這些小動物說：「當我們在田野裡輾轉時，我們會為你唱歌，我們會照顧你的，小男孩他不會哭泣，而會被取悅、感到快樂，你會喜歡我們的歌，不會感覺疲累。」

但農夫對小動物的吶喊置若罔聞，不理牠們的要求，農夫繼續砍樹。

突然，他注意到一個亮晶晶的東西。靠近一點細看，發現是一個蜂巢，充滿了蜂蜜。他掰了一點放在嘴裡，蜂蜜的味道喚醒了他心中的小男孩。突然間，童年的記憶迅速回湧。

蜂蜜味道如此好，他還想嘗更多。這給他帶來了幸福的感覺，他笑著大叫：「這味道太棒啦。」

察覺農夫行為的變化，小動物齊聲發言：

蜜蜂說：「我可以持續供應甜美的蜂蜜。」松鼠說：「我可以分享你堅果，數量隨你說。」小鳥喊著：「我們會一直唱歌，多少首都行。」

終於，農夫了解自己的愚蠢，放下了斧頭。他明白樹上有許多可愛的動物，讓他得到這麼多。他也想讓自己的小孩有跟他一樣的童年。

農夫把斧頭扔到一旁，對小傢伙們說：「我承諾永遠不會砍掉這棵樹，我知道錯了，你們現在都可以和樂融融地過日子了。」

小動物們大大地感謝蜜蜂。如果農夫沒有發現蜂巢，牠們現在已經無家可歸了。牠們繼續在老蘋果樹上過著幸福快樂的生活。