1. The ant and the dove（蚂蚁和鸽子）

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water. After walking around for some time, she came near a river. To cross the river, she jumped onto a leaf.

Unfortunately, the leaf floated away with the current. She struggled to swim and not to drown. Suddenly, a dove saw her struggling. The dove quickly plucked a leaf and dropped it near the struggling ant. The ant got onto the leaf and reached the shore safely.

Moral: Look before you leap.

2. Don’t judge a book by its cover（别以貌取人）

A salesman stopped at a farmhouse to sell his goods. The farmer glanced at his neatly dressed appearance and his shiny shoes and began to close the door.

“Wait a minute,” the salesman said. “I’m not a swindler, but a hardworking man like yourself. I’d like to demonstrate my vacuum cleaner for you as a proof of my honesty.”

The farmer allowed him to demonstrate the vacuum cleaner. The salesman dipped a chunk of dirt in a bucket of water and boomed as much dust as he could onto the rug. Then he switched on the vacuum cleaner. “Look how this wonderful machine removes all the dirt from the carpet!”

The farmer said, “I have no interest in your vacuum cleaner, but I’d like to buy your shiny shoes.”

Moral: All that glitters is not gold.

3. A friend indeed（患难见真情）

In a hospital, a man was dying. His friend came to visit him every day. One day the dying man said, “Look around. What do you see?”

The friend replied, “I see the bench where I sit, the window, and the flowers on the windowsill.”

The dying man held his friend’s hand, “You don’t see the most important thing – the chair where you sit.”

Moral: True friends are hard to find.

4. A glass of milk（一杯牛奶）

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”

He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

Moral: A kind word and a smile goes a long way.

5. A clear conscience is a soft pillow（问心无愧，高枕无忧）

In a small village, the landlord had a goat and a horse, and he loved them equally. One day, however, the landlord’s daughter fell sick, and the doctor said if she could not drink goat’s milk she would die.

The landlord did not want to lose his horse, so he poured water into the goat milk and gave it to his daughter. She immediately got well. Later, the landlord’s friend found out about what he had done and told him to confess to his wrongdoing. The landlord refused.

That very night, the landlord could not sleep, and the weight of his guilt was so heavy that he had a dream about what would happen to him if he did not confess. He got up in the middle of the night and went to the barn. He awakened the goats and said, “I’ve wronged you all. Can you forgive me?”

To his surprise, the goats answered, “Yes – if you correct your mistake.”

Moral: A clear conscience is a soft pillow.

6. An elephant and a dog（大象和狗）

An elephant and a dog became pregnant at the same time. Three months later, the dog gave birth to six puppies. Two months after that, the elephant gave birth to a single calf. A year passed and the dog approached the elephant with a question.

“Ever wonder why I gave birth to six puppies but you only had one calf?”

The elephant replied, “I have noticed every single one of your teeth, but you have not noticed a single one of mine.”

Moral: Don’t measure someone’s intelligence based on your own knowledge and values.

7. The farmer and the fortune（农夫和财富）

One day, a farmer heard someone shouting for help from a deep well. He tried to rescue the person, only to find out that the person was his enemy.

The next day, the enemy of the farmer came to his farm and thanked him, saying, “Thank you for saving my life. I am a changed man now. Here is a bag of gold to show my gratitude.”

The farmer was happy to accept the gold and said, “No need to thank me. I just did what anyone would have done.”

The next week, the farmer received a letter from the same man who was saved from the well. It said, “Thank you for saving my life again. I was planning to kill you, but your good deed changed my mind. Here is the poison that I was planning to use on you.”

Moral: Do good things without expecting anything in return, because you never know when the good things will come back to you.

8. The kind deed（好心帮助）

A small boy, who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one nickel left and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”

He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

Moral: The value of a kindness is worth more than a material gift.

9. A dirty window（脏窗户）

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning, when they ate breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the washing outside. “The clothes aren’t clean,” she said. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to wash clothes. Perhaps she needs better soap powder.”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time their neighbor hung out the washing to dry, the young woman made the same comments.

A month later, the woman was surprised to see a clean washing on the line and asked her husband how this had happened.

“The neighbor washed the windows,” he said. “I saw it from our bedroom. Isn’t it funny that someone else’s dirt washes our clothes?”

Moral: Before we criticize others, we should first see whether we’re perfect or not.

10. The pot of wisdom（智慧之盆）

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the village and tell stories. People would gather around him, and he would entertain and educate them. One day, he told them a story about a pot that contained wisdom. The pot was so special that it was known as the pot of wisdom. People would come from all over the world to drink from it and gain knowledge.

A man heard the story and decided to go find the pot of wisdom. He walked for many days through forests and mountains, and finally came to a desert. In the desert, he came across an oasis with a well. He looked into the well and saw something glittering at the bottom. He realized that it was the pot of wisdom. He climbed down into the well, grabbed the pot, and started to climb out. However, the pot was heavy and he couldn’t climb up. He started to think that the wisdom in the pot was making it so heavy. So he decided to pour out the wisdom and take the pot without it.

He turned the pot over and waited for the wisdom to fall out, but nothing came out. He shook the pot, but still nothing came out. He looked inside and realized that the pot was empty. Only then did he understand that the wisdom was not in the pot, but in the stories that the wise man told.

Moral: Real wisdom comes from the stories we hear and the lessons we learn from them.