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hurrah speak gentle angry to-day often father echo playmate
I
Albert was at play all by himself in a field near a wood. He was so happy that he called out, “Hurrah! hurrah!”
“HURRAH! HURRAH!”
A voice from the wood said, “Hurrah! hurrah!”
Albert thought the voice came from some boy in the wood. He looked all about, but could not see any one. Then he called out, “Who are you?” “Who are you?” said the voice.
“What is your name?” called Albert.
“What is your name?” came back from the wood.
Albert was getting angry. So he called out at the top of his voice, “You are a goose.”
Back came the voice, “You are a goose.”
At this Albert was very angry. He looked everywhere; no one was to be seen.
II
So he went home and told his father that some one in the wood had called him names.
“Did he speak first?” asked his father.
“No,” said Albert. “I was just calling out ‘Hurrah!’ and he began to say ‘Hurrah!’ too. I could not see him, so I asked ‘Who are you?’ Then he called out ‘Who are you?’ And everything I said he said after me.”
“There was only one boy there, Albert,” said his father, “and that was yourself.
“What you heard to-day was the echo of your voice. If you had used kind and gentle words, you would have heard kind and gentle words from the echo.
“This was the echo from the wood, Albert But you will often hear an echo from your playmates. They will speak to you as you do to them. Try always to speak to them as you wish them to speak to you.”
一
艾伯特独自在靠近树林的一片田野上玩。玩得起劲的时候，他就大叫：“好哇！好哇！”
树林里传来一个声音：“好哇！好哇！”
艾伯特以为那里藏着一个男孩。他到处寻找，却什么都没看到。于是他大喊：“你是谁？”
“你是谁？”那个声音说。
“你叫什么名字？”艾伯特又问。
“你叫什么名字？”那个声音也说。
艾伯特生气了，他使劲大喊：“你是只笨鹅。”
谁知道回答也是：“你是只笨鹅。”
艾伯特气极了。可他四处打量，连一个人影都看不到。
二
于是他回家告诉爸爸，树林里有人骂他。
“是他来找你说话的吗？”爸爸问。
“不是，”艾伯特说，“我大喊‘好哇！’他也大喊‘好哇！’我找不着他，所以就问‘你是谁？’可他也问‘你是谁？’不管我说什么，他都说一样的话。”
“那里只有一个小男孩，艾伯特。”爸爸说，“就是你自己。”
“你今天听到的是回声。如果你温和有礼，那个声音也会温和有礼。”
“回声是从树林间来的，艾伯特，但是你也常常会从伙伴们身上听到回声。你怎么对待他们，他们就怎么对待你。如果你希望别人对你彬彬有礼，自己就要做一个彬彬有礼的人。”