一捆木柴
原文：
    A Husbandman who had a quarrelsome family ,after having tried in vain to reconcile them by words ,thought he might more readily prevail by an example .So he called his sons and bid them lay a bundle of sticks before him .Then ,having tied them into a fagot, he told the lads ,one after the other ,to take it up and break it .They all tied ,but tried in vain .Then untying the fagot ,he gave them the sticks to break one by one .This they did with the greatest ease .Then said the father:"Thus you ,my sons ,as long as you remain united ,are a match for all you enemies ;but differ and separate ,and you are undone."
    Union is strength.
译文：
    一个农夫，家庭不和睦，用言语劝告大家和好，总是无效，最后他想，用实际例子可能容易说服他们。于是他把儿子都叫来，吩咐他们抱一捆火柴放在他的面前。他把火柴捆成一捆，接着叫这些孩子挨次拿起来折断它，一个个都试过了，但都没有折断，接着他解了捆，一根一根地给他们折，他们都轻而易举地折断了。这时父亲说："孩子们，只要我们团结一致，你们就能对付一切敌人；但是如果意见不合，各自东西，那么你们一定要失败。"
    团结就是力量。
词汇：   
Husbandman 农夫
fagot 一捆
a match for ……的对手
 
守财奴
原文：
    A Miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had had converted it into a great lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually  to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his master's back was turned went to the spot and stole it away. When the Miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause of it, said: "Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it, the one will do you as much gold as the other."
    The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.
译文：
    一个守财奴，为了确保他的财产，卖掉所有家当换成了一大块金子，埋在一个地洞里，并且不时地去查看，这引起了手下一个雇工的好奇。雇工猜测那里肯定有宝贝，趁主人离开之际，他来到埋藏地点，把金子偷走了。当守财奴回来发现金子不翼而飞，便痛哭流涕，乱撮头发。一个邻人见状问明原由后说“你也别太痛苦了，拿一块石头再埋在原地，就当是那块金子好了，因为既然你永远不想用它，那么两者不是一回事吗”。
    金钱的价值不在于拥有，而在于使用。
词汇：
extravagant 过分的
thyself = yourself
 
人与赛特
原文：
    A Man and a Satyr having struck up an acquaintance, sat down together to eat. The day being wintry and cold, the Man put his fingers to his mouse and blew opon them. "What's that for, my friend?" asked the Satyr. " My hands are so cold," said the Man, "I do it to warm them." In a little while some hot food was placed before them, and the Man, raising the dish to his mouse, again blew opon it. "And what's the meaning of that, now?" said the Satyr. "Oh," replied the Man, "my porridge is so hot, I do it to cool it." "Nay, then," said the Satyr, "from this moment I renounce your friendship, for I will have nothing to do with one who blows hot and cold with the same mouse."
译文：
    一个人与赛特偶然相识，坐在一起吃东西。正值冬季，天气很冷，那人把手放在嘴边哈气。赛特问道“我的朋友，那是干吗？”这人说“我的手太冷了，这是为了取暖”。过了一会儿，热腾腾的食物端上来了，那人把碟子举到嘴边又吹了起来，赛特问“这又是干吗？”，那人说“哦，我的粥太烫了，我把他吹凉些”。赛特说“从现在起，我要与你绝交，因为我不想和一个反复无常的人做朋友”。
词汇：
atyr 赛特(希腊神话中半人半羊的神)
strike up an acquaintance 偶然成为朋友
porridge 粥 renounce 拒绝，放弃