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Johnny the Lizard lived between some rocks out in the country. Like all lizards he loved to quietly sunbathe, laid out on some flat stone.He felt so relaxed doing so, that more than once he had fallen asleep, and that's exactly what happened on the day he lost his tail：some kids caught him, and Johnny could only escape by losing his tail and running to hide.
Shocked and frightened, he listened to how the children laughed at seeing his tail continue moving about, even though it was no longer attached to his body.After a while they threw the tail away.When the children had gone, Johnny started looking everywhere for his tail, wanting to reattach it to its rightful place.However, the countryside was very big, and as much as he searched for it, Johnny could find no sign of his tail.He left everything else in his life, devoting himself to the search.He forgot about his home, his possessions, his friends.Days and months passed, and Johnny kept looking, asking everyone he met whether they had seen his tail.
One day, someone he asked surprisedly replied，"Why do you need two tails?"
Johnny turned and saw that after so much time searching he had grown a new tail. What's more, his new tail looked stronger and better than his old tail.Seeing this, he realised how silly it had been to dedicate so much time to a problem for which there was no solution.Johnny turned back and headed for home.
On his way home he found his old tail at the side of the way. It was dry and dusty, and looked really bad.However, Johnny, having spent so much time looking for it, was happy to find it, and he picked it up and resumed his journey.Soon he met a frog.The frog, surprised, asked Johnny：
-“Why are you carrying such a horrible old tail when you already have such a lovely tail of your own?”
-“Because I spent months looking for it，”replied Johnny.
-“You really spent months looking for something so ugly and dirty?”said the frog.
-“Well，”Johnny explained，“previously it wasn't as ugly as this……”
-“Hmm, but now it is, wouldn't you agree?……How strange you lizards are！”said the frog before jumping off into the distance.
The frog was right. Johnny still thought of his tail as though it was the same tail he used to have, but in reality it was now disgusting.Now Johnny understood, so he decided to drop his old tail there, leaving with it all his past worries.As he continued his journey all he took with him were thoughts of the future.
蜥蜴强尼住在偏远的乡下的岩石中间。像其他蜥蜴一样，他喜欢昏昏沉沉地躺在平石上安静地沐浴日光。他觉得这样很放松，他不止一次地睡着了。他丢掉尾巴那天就是这样的：几个孩子抓住了他，强尼只能丢掉尾巴逃脱并藏起来。
听到孩子们因为看到他的尾巴还在四处摆动大笑，强尼既害怕又震惊，尽管尾巴已经不属于自己的身体了。过了一会儿，孩子们把尾巴扔掉了。孩子们走后，强尼开始四处寻找他的尾巴，想把它重新接到原来的位置上。然而乡村太大了，强尼差不多找遍了，也没有找到他尾巴的任何踪迹。他舍弃了生活中的一切，全身心地去寻找。他忘记了家，忘记了财产，忘记了朋友。随着时间一天天过去，强尼还在继续找着，每碰到一个人都会问人家是否看到过他的尾巴。
一天，他问过的一个人惊奇地回答，“你为什么需要两条尾巴呢？”
强尼转动了一下，看到在花费了如此多的时间寻找后，他已经长出了一条新尾巴。更重要的是，他的新尾巴看起来比他以前的尾巴更强大更好。看到这些，他意识到把这么多的时间浪费在一个没有解决办法的问题上是多么的愚蠢。强尼转身往家走。
在他回家的路上，他发现他以前的尾巴在路边。尾巴已经干枯并且满是灰尘，看起来非常不好。在花费了这么长时间寻找后，强尼非常高兴能找到它。他捡起他的尾巴，重新踏上旅途。一会儿，他遇上了一只青蛙。青蛙很惊奇地问强尼：“为什么你已经有了一条属于自己的美丽的尾巴，还要拿着一条这么糟糕的旧尾巴呢？”
“因为我用了好几个月寻找它。”
“你真的花费几个月来寻找这么丑和脏的东西？”青蛙问。
“嗯，”强尼解释到，“以前没有这么丑。”
“嗯，但现在很丑，你不同意吗？你们蜥蜴真奇怪！”青蛙说着向远方跳去。
青蛙是对的。强尼一直想象着他的尾巴，好像它还是他曾经拥有的一样，而实际上它现在非常令人厌恶。现在强尼明白了，所以他决定把尾巴丢在那儿，连同他过去的担忧也一起留下了。当他继续旅程的时候，他所携带的全都是对未来的期待。
Moral of the Story：
If we're forever thinking about the past we can miss the fact that the future can always be better than what went before.
故事寓意：
如果我们永远都在思考过去，我们就可能忽视未来总是比往事更美好的事实。
词海拾贝：
attached to 附属于；系于；爱慕
reattach[riːəˈtætʃ]vt.（断肢）重新接上；再附着
possessions[pəˈzeʃənz]n.[经]财产；所有物
dedicate[ˈdedɪkeɪt]vt.致力；献身；题献
head for home 回家，往家走
resume[rɪˈzjuːm]vt.重新开始，继续
previously[ˈpriviəsli]adv.以前；预先
in reality 实际上；事实上
disgusting[dɪsˈgʌstɪŋ]adj.令人厌恶的
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