HSK 5 Reading

聪明的驴子

A Clever Donkey

A tired donkey carrying salt falls into a river. The salt dissolves, and his load becomes lighter. He thinks he’s found a brilliant trick. Days later, carrying cotton, he lies down in the water on purpose — waiting for the weight to magically disappear again. But this time, the cotton soaks up water and becomes heavier than ever. Read a classic Chinese fable about why one trick doesn’t fit all situations.

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大热天，驴子驮着几袋沉甸甸的盐往家走，不一会儿，它就又累又渴。恰在这时，它的眼前出现了一条小河，驴子赶紧冲到河边大喝了一顿，这才感觉恢复了活力。 ➕

Dà rè tiān, lǘzi tuó zhe jǐ dài chén diān diān de yán wǎng jiā zǒu, bù yíhuìr, tā jiù yòu lèi yòu kě. Qià zài zhè shí, tā de yǎnqián chūxiàn le yì tiáo xiǎohé, lǘzi gǎnjǐn chōng dào hé biān dà hē le yī dùn, zhè cái gǎnjué huīfù le huólì.

On a very hot day, a donkey was carrying several heavy bags of salt home. Before long, it became both tired and thirsty. Just then, a small river appeared before its eyes. The donkey quickly rushed to the riverbank and drank a lot, and only then did it feel its energy restored.

“哎呀，这河水可真清澈啊。”一踏进河里，驴子便心情舒畅地欣赏起了河底的美景。可是它光顾着看那些形状各异的鹅卵石，一不留神脚下一滑，一下子摔倒了，好在河水不太深，驴子赶紧站了起来。咦？驴子奇怪地回了回头，背上的盐袋好好地放着，怎么这分量突然减轻了许多呢？想来想去，驴子终于明白了：原来在河水里跌一跤，背的东西就能变轻。它不禁为自己的聪明得意地大叫了几声。 ➕

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没过几天，这头驴子又一次为主人运东西了，这回它驮的是布匹。走到半路，它想起了上次在小河里的奇遇。驴子来到河边，喝足水以后，它找了个比较浅的地方趴了下去——反正越浸水背上的东西越轻，不如趁机在这里休息一会儿。半个小时后，驴子休息够了，它伸个懒腰打算站起来，可是天哪，它打了一个趔趄，差点儿又跌下去。“背上的布怎么这么重啊？比上次那几袋盐巴还要沉好几倍！”驴子惊呼道。 ➕

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任何通过实践得来的经验都是宝贵的，但并非任何时候都是有效的。只有善于根据时间和形势的不同选择不同的策略，才可能收到效果，否则就只会聪明反被聪明误。 ➕

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聪明的驴子