積木城堡

　　人生的道路上，總會遇到很多困難和打擊。你可以選擇退縮，留下滿地的狼藉獨自落跑，承認自己是個失敗者，也可以選擇迎難而上，重整旗鼓，為自己營建更為美麗的城堡。如果你選擇迎難而上，你會發現失敗沒什么了不起，只要再來一次就好了。

　　“臭貓！”赫伯特生氣地嚷道，聲音中帶著些沮喪。頑皮的小貓碰到了他的積木城堡，塔樓和城墻“呼啦”一聲全倒在了地上。

　　赫伯特撿起一塊木塊，狠狠地朝小貓砸過去。幸運的是，木塊只是從小貓的頭頂飛過，沒有傷害到它。赫伯特又去拿另一塊木塊，妹妹赫蒂急忙跳過來一把將小貓抱在了自己懷里。

　　“不，不要這樣?！彼f，“你不該傷害它，它不是有意的。”

　　赫伯特的憤怒一下消失了，卻變得傷心起來。他一屁股坐在地上，用手掩住臉抽泣起來。

　　“你是個男孩！”正在沙發上看書的哥哥喬說，“不要為打翻的牛奶哭泣，重新建一個吧。”

　　“不，我不要?！焙詹乜拗f。

　　“這里發生了什么事？”爸爸一邊推門，一邊大聲問。

　　“小貓剛剛碰到了赫伯特的城堡，城堡一下子塌了?！焙盏僬f，“可是小貓也不是故意的呀，它也不想讓城堡塌掉的，是嗎，爸爸？”

　　“哦，不，我還以為出了什么大麻煩呢！”

　　“赫伯特！”爸爸向赫伯特伸出手來，“起來吧！”小男孩慢慢地從地板上爬了起來，眼睛里還含著淚水，慢慢地走過來，站在了爸爸旁邊。

　　“有比哭泣更好的法子，我的孩子?！卑职终f，“如果你那樣做的話，你的心情就會好起來。我會聽到你對著積木歡呼，而不是一直在這里哭泣。想讓我做給你看嗎？”

　　赫伯特點點頭。爸爸坐在地板上的一堆積木塊里，開始搭建新的城堡，赫伯特則在一邊幫著遞這遞那。

　　很快，赫伯特對重建城堡就和剛才一樣興致勃勃了。他開始邊唱邊工作，所有的煩惱一下子全沒了。

　　“這不是比哭好多了嗎？”爸爸說。

　　“為什么要哭？”赫伯特問，看來他已經忘掉了幾分鐘前的傷心事了。

　　“因為小貓把你的城堡碰塌了呀！”

　　“哦！”赫伯特的臉上掠過一絲不快，不過很快便消失了。他又像先前一樣高興地建他的城堡去了。

　　“我告訴過他不要哭的?！弊谏嘲l上的喬說。

　　“如果你的風箏被刮跑了，你難道也不哭嗎？”赫伯特反駁說。

　　“風箏和你的城堡是不一樣的?！眴搪燥@傷感地說，“風箏失去了就永遠不會回來了，可你的積木還在那里，你只要重建一個就可以了?！?/p>

　　“我不這么看?！卑职终f道，“哭泣對你來說，比赫伯特更不應該。竹棍和紙都很容易找到，你只需動動手就可以得到新的風箏?！眴虩o話可說，低下頭繼續看他的書。這時，赫伯特的新城堡也建成了。

　　“比剛才小貓弄壞的那個漂亮多了！”赫蒂說。赫伯特顯然也這么認為，他十分自豪地欣賞著城堡的每一個部分。

　　“小貓再把它弄壞，我非……”

　　“再建一個。”爸爸替他補充了下半句話。

　　“可是，爸爸，不能再讓小貓弄壞了，那樣我可受不了?！焙詹卮舐曊f。

　　“那你就得看著它點，孩子。你要學著和成年人一樣，時刻保持警惕。就像你要過馬路，你就必須當心車輛。如果你不想和別人撞在一起，就必須留意別人行進的方向?！?/p>

　　“在房間里，如果你隨意地到處走動，就很容易和別人撞在一起。我就看到過一個冒失的小女孩突然沖進房間里，和一個手里端著托盤剛要出門的仆人撞在一起了，托盤里的盤子自然碎得滿地都是?！?/p>

　　“你是在說我嗎？”赫蒂說。

　　“是的，就是你呀，不過我希望以后不會再發生這樣的事情了?！卑职纸又f：“就像喬說的一樣，不要為打翻的牛奶哭泣。如果你的城堡塌掉了的話，再建一個就是了！”

　　說完，爸爸離開了房間。

　　Castle-Building

　　"O pussy!" cried Herbert, in a voice of anger and dismay, as the blockhouse he was building fell in sudden ruin. The playful cat had rubbed against his mimic castle, and tower and wall went rattling down upon the floor。

　　Herbert took up one of the blocks and threw it fiercely at pussy. Happily, it passed over her and d no harm. His hand was reaching for another block, when his little sister Hetty sprang toward the cat, and caught her up。

　　"No, no, no!" sa she, "you sha'n't hurt pussy! She dn't mean to do it!"

　　Herbert's passion was over quickly, and, sitting down upon the floor, he covered his face with his hands, and began to cry。

　　"What a baby!" sa Joe, his elder brother, who was reading on the sofa. "Crying over spilled milk does no good. Build it up again."

　　"No, I won't," sa Herbert, and he went on crying。

　　"What's all the trouble here?" exclaimed papa, as he opened the door and came in。

　　"Pussy just rubbed against Herbert's castle, and it fell down," answered Hetty. "But she dn't mean to do it; she d n't know it would fall, d she, papa?"

　　"Why, no! And is that all the trouble?"                           

　　"Herbert!" his papa called, and held out his hands. "Come." The little boy got up from the floor, and came slowly, his eyes full of tears, and stood by his father。

　　"There is a better way than this, my boy," sa papa. "If you had taken that way, your heart would have been light already. I should have heard you singing over your blocks instead of crying. Shall I show you that way?"

　　Herbert nodded his head, and papa sat down on the floor by the pile of blocks, with his little son by his se, and began to lay the foundation for a new castle。

　　Soon, Herbert was as much interested in castle-building as he had been a little while before. He began to sing over his work. All his trouble was gone.  "This is a great deal better than crying, isn't it?" sa papa。

　　"Crying for what?" asked Herbert, forgetting his grief of a few minutes before。

　　"Because pussy knocked your castle over."

　　"Oh!" A shadow flitted across his face, but was gone in a moment, and he went on building as eagerly as ever。

　　"I told him not to cry over spilled milk," sa Joe, looking down from his place on the sofa。

　　"I wonder if you dn't cry when your kite string broke," retorted Herbert。

　　"Losing a kite is quite another thing," answered Joe, a little dashed. "The kite was gone forever; but your blocks were as good as before, and you had only to build again."

　　"I don't see," sa papa, "that crying was of any more use in your case then in Herbert's. Sticks and paper are easily found, and you had only to go to work and make another kite." Joe looked down at his book, and went on reading. By this time the castle was finished。

　　"It is ever so much nicer than the one pussy knocked down," sa Hetty. And so thought Herbert, as he looked at it proudly from all ses。

　　"If pussy knocks that down, I'll—"

　　"Build it up again," sa papa, finishing the sentence for his little boy。

　　"But, papa, pussy must not knock my castles down. I can't have it," spoke out Herbert, knitting his forehead。

　　"You must watch her, then. Little boys, as well as grown up people, have to be often on their guard. If you go into the street, you have to look out for the carriages, so as not to be run over, and you have to keep out of people's way。

　　"In the house, if you go about heedlessly, you will be very apt to run against some one. I have seen a careless child dash suddenly into a room just as a servant was leaving it with a tray of dishes in her hands. A crash followed."

　　"It was I, wasn't it?" sa Hetty。

　　"Yes, I believe it was, and I hope it will never happen again."

　　Papa now left the room, saying, "I don't want any more of this crying over spilled milk, as Joe says. If your castles get knocked down, build them up again."