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There was once a farmer who devised a competition between his dog and his rabbit.He made a hole in one of his biggest fields, and hid a carrot and a bone in it.He wanted to see which animal would find them first.
The rabbit was very cheerful and optimistic, and he threw himself into looking for the carrot, digging here and there, totally convinced that he would find it. But the dog was pessimistic, and after sniffing around for a bit, he lay down on the ground and began to complain how difficult it was to find one bone in such a big field.
The rabbit dug for hours, and with every new hole the dog complained even more about how difficult this was, even for the rabbit. The rabbit, on the other hand, thought that each hole dug was one hole less that needed digging.When there was no place in the whole field left to dig, the rabbit dug a tunnel to right under where the dog had been lying all that time.There he found the carrot and the bone.
And this is how it was that the dog lost due to his pessimism. Because, thanks to his great instinct, he had already found the right place at the very beginning！
从前有一个农民，他为他的小狗和兔子设计了一场比赛。他在他最大的一块田地里挖了一个洞，并在里面藏了一个胡萝卜和一块骨头。他想看看小狗和兔子谁先找到他们。
兔子非常开心，也非常乐观。他开始全身心地寻找胡萝卜，到处挖坑。他完全相信自己能够找到它。但是小狗就比较悲观。他刚刚到处闻了一会儿就躺在地上，开始抱怨在这么一大块地里找一块骨头是多么困难。
兔子挖了好几个小时。兔子每挖一个新洞，小狗就抱怨得更厉害了，抱怨这有多难，甚至还为兔子抱怨起来。然而兔子却认为，每挖完一个洞，接下来就可以少挖一个。当整块田地里再也无处可挖的时候，兔子挖了一条隧道，通到了小狗一直躺着的地方。就在那里他找到了萝卜和骨头。
这就是小狗怎样因为悲观而输掉比赛的。因为，由于他的超级直觉，他在一开始就已经找对了地方。
Moral of the Story：
Many of our natural shortfalls can be replaced by a positive attitude and perseverance.
故事寓意：
我们的一些天生不足可以用积极态度和坚持不懈来弥补。
词海拾贝
devise[diˈvaiz][dɪˈvaɪz]vt.设计；想出；发明
optimistic[ɒptɪˈmɪstɪk]adj.乐观的；乐观主义的
throw into 扔，扔进；使……（突然）陷入某一状态
convince[kənˈvɪns]vt.说服；使确信，使信服
pessimistic[ˌpesiˈmistik]adj.悲观的，厌世的
tunnel[ˈtʌnl]n.隧道；坑道
pessimism[ˈpesɪmɪz（ə）m]n.悲观，悲观情绪
instinct[ˈɪnstɪŋ（k）t]n.本能，直觉
shortfall[ˈʃɔːtfɔːl]n.差额；缺少
perseverance[pɜːsɪˈvɪər（ə）ns]n.坚持不懈；不屈不挠
Gus Grumplings was never happy with anything. He had lots of friends, and parents who loved him dearly, but all Gus could think about was what he didn't have, or things he did have which he was unhappy with.If someone gave him a car, it would be too big or too slow.If he went to the zoo, he'd come back disappointed because they hadn't let him feed the lions.If he played football with his friends, he would complain, saying there were too many of them for just one ball……
What caught Gus unaware was Chuckles, the prankster cloud. One day, Chuckles was drifting past, and heard all of Gus's complaining.Chuckles wafted over to see.When the cloud was right above Gus, he started dropping heavy black rain on him.That was Chuckles'favourite trick to play on grumpy little kids.
Gus wasn't at all impressed by this new development；it just made him complain even more. He was even angrier after he realised that the cloud was following him.
Well, this carried on for almost a week. Gus couldn't get away from the cloud, and he got more and more infuriated.
Gus had a little friend, a happy and generous girl called Gladys.Gladys was the only one who had been willing to hang around with Gus during all those black, rainy days.All the other children had run off to avoid getting soaked and ending up completely black.
One day, when Gus was at the end of his tether, she said to him："Cheer up！What you should realise is that you're the only one of us who has his very own cloud, and even better, its rain is black！We could play some fun games with a cloud like this, don't you reckon?"As Gladys was his only company these days, and he didn't want her to leave as the others had, Gus reluctantly agreed.
Gladys took him to the swimming pool, and left him there until all the pool water was black.Then she went and got other kids.They came and played in the pool.The water being black meant they could play hide and seek！Grudgingly, Gus had to admit it had been a lot of fun, but what was even more fun was playing Wet the Cat.
Gus would find cats and run alongside them. When the cats felt themselves getting wet they would jump about in the craziest way, and run off at top speed, with funny looks on their faces.Before long, all the children in town had gathered around Gus, thinking up new games they could play using the cloud.
For the first time ever, Gus started to see the positive side of things；even things which, at first, had seemed so bad. Chuckles, the prankster cloud, thought that he could now leave；his work had been done.But, before leaving, he gave Gus two days of multicoloured rain, with which the children invented the most fun games ever.
When Chuckles finally left, Gus didn't complain. Now he knew to focus on the good in life, and the good thing about Chuckles'departure was that no longer was Gus soaking wet all day.Now he could go and do dry things, and that's exactly what he did.
格斯·葛伦普林斯从来没有对任何事情感到满意过。他有很多的朋友，还有疼爱他的父母，可是他只想着他不曾拥有的东西，或者他拥有却不满意的东西。如果有人送他一辆车，他会觉得这辆车太大或者太慢。如果他去动物园，他会因为人家不让他喂狮子而失望。如果他和朋友们一起踢足球，他会抱怨说，那么多人只为抢一个球。
格斯突然遇上了查科尔斯——一朵喜欢恶作剧的云彩。一天，当查科尔斯从天上飘过时，他听到了格斯的抱怨，便飘过来看看。当查科尔斯正好飘到格斯头上时，他开始往格斯身上滴落黑雨。这是查科尔斯最喜欢跟坏脾气的小孩玩的恶作剧。
这件事并没让格斯意识到问题，只是让他抱怨得更多了。当格斯意识到那朵云一直跟着他时，他更加生气了。
这朵云跟了他将近一个星期。格斯无论如何也摆脱不掉它，结果他越来越愤怒。
格斯有一个既快乐又大方的小朋友，她的名字叫格拉迪斯。在格斯遭遇黑雨的那段日子里，格拉迪斯是唯一一个愿意和他玩的人。其他孩子都不想被淋湿，更不想全身被浇得乌黑，所以都跑得远远的。
一天，当格斯忍无可忍的时候，格拉迪斯对他说：“高兴点儿！你应该意识到，你是我们所有人当中唯一一个拥有一朵云的人，更好玩的是，这朵云还是黑色的！我们可以用这朵云玩点儿有意思的游戏，你不这么认为吗？”因为这些天格拉迪斯是他唯一的玩伴，格斯不希望她也像其他人一样离开他，所以勉强答应了。
格拉迪斯带格斯去游泳池，让他待在那，直到游泳池里的水都变黑了。然后她去把其他的孩子都叫来。孩子们来了，在游泳池里玩耍了起来。游泳池里的水都是黑的，就意味着他们可以在里面玩捉迷藏！虽然很勉强，但是格斯不得不承认，他玩得很开心，但是更有趣的是把猫弄湿的游戏。
格斯找来几只猫，并跟着猫一起跑。当猫咪们发现自己身上湿了的时候，它们就开始疯狂地跳来跳去，并且以最快的速度逃跑了，脸上的表情好笑极了。不久以后，小镇的孩子们都围着格斯转，琢磨着还可以利用这朵云玩什么新的游戏。
有生以来第一次，格斯开始看到事物积极的一面，即使是那些起初看起来非常坏的事情。查科尔斯——那朵喜欢恶作剧的云觉得是时候离开了，他的工作已经做完了。但是，在离开之前，他给格斯下了两天彩色的雨，孩子们用它发明了有史以来最有趣的游戏。当查科尔斯最终离开的时候，格斯并没有抱怨。现在他已经知道，应该关注生活中美好的一面了，而查科尔斯离开的好处就是，他再也不会整天全身都湿透了。现在，他可以去“干事”了，而这也正是他所希望的。
Moral of the Story：
Everything has its good and bad side. We are happiest when we look for the good in all things.
故事寓意：
凡事都有正反两方面，当我们看到事物好的一面的时候最开心。
词海拾贝
prankster[ˈpræŋkstə]n.爱开玩笑的人；恶作剧的人
drift[drɪft]vi.漂流，漂移
waft over[wɒft]飘荡
grumpy[ˈgrʌmpɪ]adj.脾气暴躁的；性情乖戾的
hang around 闲荡；徘徊
reckon[ˈrek（ə）n]vi.估计；计算
reluctantly[rɪˈlʌktəntlɪ]adv.不情愿地；嫌恶地
swimming pool 游泳池
grudgingly[ˈgrʌdʒiŋli]adv.勉强地；不情愿地
multicoloured[ˈmʌltiˌkʌləd]adj.多色彩的
soak[səʊk]vi.浸泡；渗透