我們靠自己
「媽媽！為什麼我從出生，就要背這個又重又硬的殼呢？真是累死了！」小蝸牛問媽媽。
「因為我們的身體沒有骨骼的支撐，只能爬，爬又爬不快。」媽媽說。
「毛蟲姐姐沒有骨頭，也爬不快，為什麼她不用背又重又硬的殼呢？」
「因為毛蟲姐姐能變成蝴蝶，天空會保護她。」
「蚯蚓弟弟沒有骨頭，也爬不快，更不會變，他為什麼不背又重又硬的殼呢？」
「因為蚯蚓弟弟會鑽土，大地會保護他。」
小蝸牛哭了起來：「我好可憐，天空不保護，大地也不保護。」
「所以我們有殼啊！」蝸牛媽媽拍拍小蝸牛：
「我們不靠天，也不靠地，我們靠自己。」
We Rely on Ourselves
“Mom, why do we have to carry this hard and heavy shell our whole lives? It’s so exhausting!” the little snail asked its mother.
“Because we don’t have a skeleton to support us. We can only crawl—slowly,” Mother answered.
“Miss Caterpillar has no bones and crawls slowly too. Why doesn’t she carry a hard and heavy shell?”
“Because Miss Caterpillar can turn into a butterfly. The sky will protect her.”
“Mr. Earthworm has no bones, crawls slowly, and doesn’t turn into anything else. Why doesn’t he carry a hard and heavy shell?”
“Because Mr. Earthworm can dig into the soil. The earth will protect him.”
The little snail started to cry. “Poor me! The sky doesn’t protect me, and neither does the earth.”
“That is why we have shells!” Mother comforted the little snail. “We do not rely on the sky, and we do not rely on the earth. We rely on ourselves.”
十二個孩子
某地突然流行一種怪病，患者都是幼兒，由於過去沒有那樣的病歷，症狀又惡化得極快，使得群醫束手，幼兒一個接一個地死去。
有位富翁的獨子也染上這種病，富翁四處打聽，終於發現那病是從國外傳來的，只有一種藥可以救，而且一劑見效。只是那種藥非常昂貴，效期又短，即使用乾冰保存，也只能維持七十二小時，加上是特別製作，一次必須購買整打包裝。
「我只需要一劑！」富翁打電報問。
「一劑不賣，必須一次訂十二劑！」回電毫不通融。
為了救愛兒的命，雖然對富翁而言，這十二劑也是極大的負擔，他還是訂了。
特效藥立刻空運過來，但是就在到達的前一刻，富翁的獨子卻已經等不及而斷氣。富翁的妻子撫屍痛哭，卻見丈夫衝出門去，置愛兒的屍體於不顧。
原來富翁衝去機場拿藥，再晝夜不停地驅車到各地醫院詢問，遇見與他愛兒患同樣病的孩子，便留下一劑藥離開，兩天兩夜不食不眠，他終於把藥在過時之前送給了十二個垂危的病童，但是當他蒼白著臉跨進家門時，卻被不知情的妻子狠狠打了一記耳光：「你這無情的東西，怪不得絕子！」
富翁並沒有絕子，他有了十二個孩子，經常繞在膝下，全鄉的人都說：那十二個孩子的命是他賜予的。
Twelve Children
There was an epidemic of a strange disease that only affected young children. It was a novel disease, and the symptoms worsened extremely quickly. Doctors were helpless, and children were dying one after the other.
A wealthy man’s only son also contracted this disease. The wealthy man searched for answers everywhere and discovered that this disease originated from another country. One cure existed; one dose of an antiserum was all that he needed. However, the antiserum was very expensive and would lose its effectiveness in 72 hours, even if kept on ice. The antiserum was also difficult to cultivate, and so it had to be purchased by the batch.
“I only need one dose!” the wealthy man wrote in his message.
“We don’t sell single doses. The minimum order is 12 in a batch,” the other side replied rigidly.
Even for such a wealthy man, purchasing 12 doses would be a financial burden. But for the sake of saving his son’s life, he placed the order.
The antiserum was immediately shipped by air. On the day it was set to arrive, the wealthy man’s son passed away. The wealthy man’s wife sobbed over the son’s body, but she saw her husband rush out the door, with no regard for their deceased son.
It turns out that the wealthy man was rushing to the airport to pick up the antiserum. Then, day and night, he drove to various hospitals and asked to meet children with the same disease that his son had. He gave each of them one dose of the antiserum. For two days and two nights, he neither slept nor ate. Before the antiserum expired, he was able to distribute the 12 doses to 12 dying children. But when he finally arrived home, tired and pale, he was unexpectedly greeted by a hard slap in the face from his wife: “You’re so heartless—no wonder you have no more children!”
However, the wealthy man did have children. He had 12. They often surrounded him at his knees, and the whole village said, “He gave those 12 children their lives.”
2024專利防護中