英语智慧背囊14-友善的话语
 音频下载[点击右键另存为][00:00.00]A Kind Word 友善的话语[00:09.22]A successful businessman, [00:12.42]addressing the commercial club of his city, [00:15.98]told a story of an orphan named Jim, [00:17.95]who was the laughing stock of the whole town. [00:20.74]Jim was 12, [00:22.03]and he never remembered having a kind word spoken to him in his whole life. [00:27.83]One day as Jim walked down the street, [00:31.13]he saw a bundle slip from the overloaded arms of a little lady just in front of him. [00:37.14]As she stooped to pick it up, [00:39.65]the others rolled down. [00:41.30]Jim sprang to her assistance, [00:43.80]gathering up the bundles and replacing them in her arms. [00:47.62]“Thank you, dear; [00:49.82]you are a nice little boy,” [00:51.58]she said kindly, [00:52.87]and went on her way after giving him a bright smile. [00:56.50]Jim was amazed; [00:58.24]a queer choky feeling passed over him. [01:01.31]These were the first kind words [01:04.25]he had ever heard in his whole twelve years of existence. [01:08.30]He stood and stared after her. [01:10.82]He knew that she was the busy little dressmaker [01:13.98]who lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. [01:17.39]He watched her until she was out of sight, [01:20.66]then he made straight for the woods and a stream that wound around the town. [01:25.04]He sat down on the bank of the stream and did some thinking. [01:29.63]“Thank you, dear; you are a nice little boy,” [01:33.12]he pondered. [01:34.55]Finally the boy pulled from his pockets [01:37.30]a piece of broken mirror and looked at himself. [01:40.13]He saw nothing but grime and dirt. [01:43.51]He went down to the water’s edge and scrubbed it off carefully, [01:47.69]almost painfully. [01:49.31]Then he looked again. [01:50.74]He scarcely recognized himself. [01:53.38]He stood erect and looked up instead of down for the first time since he could remember. [02:00.15]He distinctly liked the sensation. [02:03.22]A feeling of self-respect awoke within his being. [02:07.70]Ambition sprang full-grown into life. [02:10.97]At that moment the course of his life was changed; [02:14.47]a determination to be worthy of the kind words spoken to him by the little dress maker, [02:21.25]and to pass them on, took possession of his soul. [02:24.52]After telling this story of Jim, [02:27.60]the speaker paused; [02:29.58]and then he electrified the audience by saying, [02:32.00]“Gentlemen, I was that boy. [02:35.27]That gentle woman implanted in my life the first seed of kindness. [02:40.85]As a tribute to her memory I have told you this story.” [02:44.56]Oh, if all of us would learn the lesson: [02:48.19]“Say kind words to others.” [02:50.80]What transforming power it has! |
