The Teacher's House
故事全文
Teacher Chen invited his students to his house one day. Along the way, the teacher thought to himself, “Oh dear! There's nothing at home. My students will have nothing to eat when they arrive.” So, he turned around and told his students, “There are a lot of vegetables lining the road to my house. Let's dig up some vegetables along the way, and we shall have enough to eat later.” The students rolled up their sleeves and began digging for vegetables with their teacher.
A few hours later, they arrived at the teacher's house, and showed the vegetables they had collected to the teacher's wife. The teacher's wife said happily, “How nice of you all to come! I will fetch eggs from the two ducks in my backyard and make an omelet for everyone to share.” Then, everyone sat together and enjoyed the vegetables and the omelet that the teacher's wife had prepared. After lunch, it suddenly began to rain heavily. The teacher told his students apologetically, “I'm so sorry, but my thatched hut is very shabby and leaks whenever it rains.” So, the students quickly fetched a basin and a bucket to catch the rain that leaked down from the roof.
The next morning, the students who didn't go to the teacher's house were curious to find out what the teacher's house was like. They asked those that had been there, “Was our teacher's house grand and spacious?” A male student replied, “The teacher's house has a fluffy roof, and the sound of tinkling bells filled the house. It was very lively.” Then, another student asked, “Did you get to eat mouthwatering dishes?” A female student replied, “Of course! Our teacher's vegetable garden is a thousand miles long, and two boats supply him with food!” The students that didn't go to the teacher's house said, “How envious we are! Next time, we want to go to the teacher's house too.” It turned out that, the thousand-mile vegetable garden referred to the wild vegetables growing along the way, and the two boats referred to the two ducks in the backyard. The sound of tinkling bells referred to the sound of rainwater dripping into the buckets. The kind students were thoughtful and only said good things about their teacher's house.
