捆木柴

    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.

    一個農(nóng)夫，家庭不和睦，用言語勸告大家和好，總是無效，最后他想，用實(shí)際例子可能容易說服他們。于是他把兒子都叫來，吩咐他們抱一捆火柴放在他的面前。他把火柴捆成一捆，接著叫這些孩子挨次拿起來折斷它，一個個都試過了，但都沒有折斷，接著他解了捆，一根一根地給他們折，他們都輕而易舉地折斷了。這時(shí)父親說："孩子們，只要我們團(tuán)結(jié)一致，你們就能對付一切敵人；但是如果意見不合，各自東西，那么你們一定要失敗。"
    團(tuán)結(jié)就是力量。

詞匯：  

Husbandman 農(nóng)夫

fagot 一捆

a match for ……的對手