Words Once Spoken Cannot Be Taken Back
故事全文
Little Rabbit was the brightest student at the Forest Elementary School. However, he had a bad habit of mocking people.
One day, Little Monkey painted a painting. The elephant said,“What a lovely painting, you could become a painter in future!”However, Little Rabbit who was standing nearby said,“It’s not lovely at all! This looks like someone tripped over the paint can and smudged paint everywhere. I can’t tell what you painted!”Little Monkey was hurt by what Little Rabbit said, and left with a red face. The other classmates felt that Little Rabbit had gone too far.
After learning of the incident, Teacher Giraffe told Little Rabbit,“You like to mock the other students. Though you may not mean it, your words will hurt the listener. What you said just now, really hurt Little Monkey’s feelings. Is this the right thing to do?”Little Rabbit replied,“I can just take back my words!”Teacher Giraffe said,“Spoken words are like spilt milk. There is no taking it back once it is spoken.”Little Rabbit said,“If objects can be taken back, words can be taken back too!”
The next day, Teacher Giraffe took everyone up the mountain for a picnic. He scattered a handful of feathers into the air and told Little Rabbit,“Little Rabbit, go retrieve the feathers.”Little Rabbit protested,“But Teacher Giraffe, the feathers have already been blown away by the wind. How can I bring it back?”Teacher Giraffe then said,“Yesterday you said that objects can be taken back, but if you are unable to retrieve the scattered feathers. How could you take back the words that you have spoken?”Little Rabbit lowered his head in shame and said,“Teacher Giraffe, I was wrong. I will think before speaking in the future, because words cannot be taken back once they are spoken. I will learn how to be prudent.”After saying this, Little Rabbit apologized to Little Monkey.
