英語五分鐘勵志故事

　　有很多英語勵志故事都不長，五分鐘左右就能看完，那麼都有哪些呢?一起來看看吧。

　　：教父

　　The Godfather

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　A poor man had so many children that he had already asked everyone in the world to be godfather, and when still another child was born, no one else was left whom he could ask. He did not know what to do, and, in his sorrow, he lay down and fell asleep. Then he dreamed that he should go outside the gate and ask the first person he met to be godfather. When he awoke he decided to obey his dream, and he went outside the gate and asked the first person who came his way to be godfather.

　　The stranger gave him a little bottle of water, and said, "This is miraculous water. You can heal the sick with it. But you must see where Death is standing. If he is standing by the patient's head, give the patient some of the water and he will be healed, but if Death is standing by his feet all efforts will be in vain, for then the sick man must die."

　　From this time forth, the man could always say whether a patient could be saved or not. He became famous for his skill, and earned a great deal of money. Once he was called in to the king's child, and when he entered, he saw Death standing by the child's head, and he cured it with the water. The same thing happened a second time, but the third time Death was standing by its feet, so the child had to die.

　　Now the man wanted to visit his godfather one time and tell him what had happened with the water. He entered the house, but the strangest things were going on there. On the first flight of stairs, the dustpan and the broom were fighting, and violently hitting one other.

　　He asked them, "Where does the godfather live?"

　　The broom answered, "Up one more flight of stairs."

　　When he came to the second flight, he saw a heap of dead fingers lying. He asked, "Where does the godfather live?"

　　One of the fingers answered, "Up one more flight of stairs."

　　On the third flight lay a heap of dead men's heads, and they directed him still another flight higher. On the fourth flight, he saw fish on the fire, sizzling in a pan and baking themselves. They too said, "Up one more flight of stairs."

　　And when he had climbed the fifth, he came to the door of a room and peeped through the keyhole. There he saw the godfather who had a pair of long horns. When he opened the door and went in, the godfather quickly got into bed and covered himself up.

　　The man then said, "Godfather, sir, strange things are going on in your house. When I came to your first flight of stairs, the dustpan and the broom were fighting, and violently hitting one another."

　　"How stupid you are," said the godfather. "That was the servant-boy and the maid talking to each other."

　　"But on the second flight I saw dead fingers lying there."

　　"Oh, how silly you are. Those were some roots of scorzonera."

　　"On the third flight lay a heap of dead men's heads."

　　Foolish man, those were heads of cabbage."

　　"On the fourth flight I saw fish in a pan, which were sizzling and baking themselves." When he had said that, the fish came and served themselves up.

　　"And when I got to the fifth flight, I peeped through the keyhole of a door, and there, Godfather, I saw you and you had long, long horns."

　　"Oh, that is not true."

　　The man became frightened and ran out, and if he had not done so, who knows what the godfather would have done to him?

　　從前有個人，他孩子太多，已經請過世界上所有的人當孩子們的教父了。可又有個孩子即將出世，顯然沒人可請了，他不知道如何是好，只好疲憊地躺下睡了。夢中他夢見自己出了門，請遇到的第一個人當孩子的教父。醒來時他決定照夢中的指點辦，因而出了大門，在那兒碰到一個陌生人，於是請他當教父。很多年後，教父送給教子一杯水，告訴他：「這是杯神水，可以治好任何人的病。不過你要看清死神站在病人的哪一頭，如果站在病人頭前，給病人喝點這種水，他就會痊癒;如果他站在病人腳後，一切努力都將白費，他必死無疑。」從此，教子就能判斷病人是否有救，並因此出了名，也掙了大錢。有一次國王請他去給他孩子治病，他看到死神站在孩子頭前，就用神水治好了孩子的病;第二次也是這樣。

　　第三次死神站到了孩子腳邊，他便知道孩子非死不可了。

　　有一次他想見見這位教父，告訴他自己用神水取得的成就。當他來到教父家時，看到了世界上最古怪的事：掃把和鐵鍬在頭一段樓梯上吵架，並且猛打對方。他問它們：「教父住在哪兒?」掃把回答說：「在很多樓梯上面。」他上到第二段樓梯，看到一堆死手指。他問它們：「教父住在哪兒?」其中一個手指回答說：「再上一層樓。」三樓是一堆死人頭，它們也說教父住在上面一層。他在四樓看到各種各樣的魚在火上烤著，它們也說：「再上一層樓。」他來到五樓，看到有扇門，就從鎖孔往裡看，結果看到了長著兩隻長長的犄角的教父。他推開門走了進去，教父急忙躺到床上，用被子把自己蓋上。這人說：「教父先生，您的房子多奇怪呀!我在一樓看到掃把和鐵鍬又吵又打。」

　　「你多愚蠢呀!」教父說：「那是一個小夥子和一個姑娘在說話呢!」「可我在二樓看到很多死人的手指頭。」「唉，你真笨!那是一些樹根。」「三樓上有一堆死人頭呢。」「傻瓜!那些是捲心菜。」「我在四樓看到各種各樣的魚在鍋裡燒得絲絲作響。」正說著，那些魚自己走來送給教父了。「我從鎖孔往裡看的時候，我看到你有兩隻長長的犄角。」「噢!不可能!」

　　小夥子警惕起來，趕忙跑了出來。如果不是那樣，還不知道教父會把他怎麼樣呢!

　　：特魯得太太

　　Frau Trude

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once upon a time there was a small girl who was strong willed and forward, and whenever her parents said anything to her, she disobeyed them. How could anything go well with her?

　　One day she said to her parents: "I have heard so much about Frau Trude. Someday I want to go to her place. People say such amazing things are seen there, and such strange things happen there, that I have become very curious.

　　Her parents strictly forbade her, saying: "Frau Trude is a wicked woman who commits godless acts. If you go there, you will no longer be our child.

　　But the girl paid no attention to her parents and went to Frau Trude's place anyway.

　　When she arrived there, Frau Trude asked: "Why are you so pale?"

　　"Oh," she answered, trembling all over, "I saw something that frightened me."

　　"What did you see?"

　　"I saw a black man on your steps."

　　"That was a charcoal burner."

　　"Then I saw a green man."

　　"That was a huntsman."

　　"Then I saw a blood-red man."

　　"That was a butcher."

　　"Oh, Frau Trude, it frightened me when I looked through your window and could not see you, but instead saw the devil with a head of fire."

　　"Aha!" she said. "So you saw the witch properly outfitted. I have been waiting for you and wanting you for a long time. Light the way for me now!"

　　With that she turned to girl into a block of wood and threw it into the fire. When it was thoroughly aglow she sat down next to it, and warmed herself by it, saying: "It gives such a bright light!"

　　從前，有個又固執好奇心又強的小姑娘，無論她父母要她幹甚麼她總是不服從。這樣的孩子會有甚麼好結果呢?

　　有一天她問父母：「我總聽人們說起特魯得太太，說她的一切都與眾不同，她家裡盡是些希奇古怪的東西。我太好奇了，哪天我一定得去看看。」她父母堅決反對，說：「特魯得是個壞女人，盡幹壞事。你要是去了就不是我們的孩子了。」可是姑娘並沒因父母的阻止而回心轉意。當她來到特魯得太太家時，特魯得問她：「你的臉色怎麼這麼蒼白啊?」「唉呀，」她渾身發抖地回答說，「我被見到的那些東西嚇壞了。」「你看到什麼了?」「我在臺階上看到一個黑色的人。」「那是燒炭的。」「後來看到一個綠色的人。」「那是獵人。」「後來還看到一個血紅血紅的人。」「那是屠夫。」「唉呀，特魯得太太，我從視窗望進來，看到的不是你，而是火頭魔鬼本人。我不會看錯的，真嚇死了!」

　　「哦!」特魯得說，「看來你的確看到了穿著平常服飾的巫婆了。我早就想要你了，已等了這麼久，你可以讓我這兒亮一點呢。」說罷將姑娘變成了一段木頭，扔進了火堆。木頭熊熊燃燒起來，巫婆靠近火堆取暖，說：「它亮一陣子就會熄滅的。」

　　：死神教父

　　Godfather Death

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　A poor man had twelve children and had to work day and night in order just to feed them. Thus when the thirteenth came into the world, not knowing what to do in his need, he ran out into the highway, intending to ask the first person whom he met to be the godfather.

　　The first person who came his way was our dear God, who already knew what was in his heart, and God said to him, "Poor man, I pity you. I will hold your child at his baptism, and care for him, and make him happy on earth."

　　The man said, "Who are you?"

　　"I am God."

　　"Then I do not wish to have you for a godfather," said the man. "You give to the rich, and let the poor starve."

　　Thus spoke the man, for he did not know how wisely God divides out wealth and poverty. Then he turned away from the Lord, and went on his way.

　　Then the devil came to him and said, "What are you looking for? If you will take me as your child's godfather, I will give him an abundance of gold and all the joys of the world as well."

　　The man asked, "Who are you?"

　　"I am the devil."

　　"Then I do not wish to have you for a godfather," said the man. You deceive mankind and lead them astray."

　　He went on his way, and then Death, on his withered legs, came walking toward him, and said, "Take me as your child's godfather."

　　The man asked, "Who are you?"

　　"I am Death, who makes everyone equal."

　　Then the man said, "You are the right one. You take away the rich as well as the poor, without distinction. You shall be my child's godfather.

　　Death answered, "I will make your child rich and famous, for he who has me for a friend cannot fail."

　　The man said, "Next Sunday is the baptism. Be there on time."

　　Death appeared as he had promised, and served as godfather in an orderly manner.

　　After the boy came of age his godfather appeared to him one day and asked him to go with him. He took him out into the woods and showed him an herb that grew there, saying, "Now you shall receive your godfather's present. I will turn you into a famous physician. Whenever you are called to a sick person I will appear to you. If I stand at the sick person's head, you may say with confidence that you can make him well again; then give him some of this herb, and he will recover. But if I stand at the sick person's feet, he is mine, and you must say that he is beyond help, and that no physician in the world could save him. But beware of using this herb against my will, or something very bad will happen to you."

　　It was not long before the young man had become the most famous physician in the whole world. People said of him, "He only needs to look at the sick in order to immediately know their condition, whether they will regain their health, or are doomed to die." And people came to him from far and wide, taking him to their sick, and giving him so much money that he soon became a wealthy man.

　　Now it came to pass that the king became ill. The physician was summoned and was told to say if a recovery were possible. However, when he approached the bed, Death was standing at the sick man's feet, and so no herb on earth would be able to help him.

　　"If I could only deceive death for once," thought the physician. "He will be angry, of course, but because I am his godson he will shut one eye. I will risk it." He therefore took hold of the sick man and laid him the other way around, so that Death was now standing at his head. Then he gave the king some of the herb, and he recovered and became healthy again.

　　However, Death came to the physician, made a dark and angry face, threatened him with his finger, and said, "You have betrayed me. I will overlook it this time because you are my godson, but if you dare to do it again, it will cost you your neck, for I will take you yourself away with me."

　　Soon afterward the king's daughter became seriously ill. She was his only child, and he cried day and night until his eyes were going blind. Then he proclaimed that whosoever rescued her from death should become her husband and inherit the crown.

　　When the physician came to the sick girl's bed he saw Death at her feet. He should have remembered his godfather's warning, but he was so infatuated by the princess's great beauty and the prospect of becoming her husband that he threw all thought to the winds. He did not see that Death was looking at him angrily, lifting his hand into the air, and threatening him with his withered fist. He lifted up the sick girl and placed her head where her feet had been. Then he gave her some of the herb, and her cheeks immediately turned red, and life stirred in her once again.

　　Death, seeing that he had been cheated out of his property for a second time, approached the physician with long strides and said, "You are finished. Now it is your turn."

　　Then Death seized him so firmly with his ice-cold hand that he could not resist, and led him into an underground cavern. There the physician saw how thousands and thousands of candles were burning in endless rows, some large, others medium-sized, others small. Every instant some died out, and others were relit, so that the little flames seemed to be jumping about in constant change.

　　"See," said Death, "these are the life-lights of mankind. The large ones belong to children, the medium-sized ones to married people in their best years, and the little ones to old people. However, even children and young people often have only a tiny candle."

　　"Show me my life-light," said the physician, thinking that it still would be very large.

　　Death pointed to a little stump that was just threatening to go out, and said, "See, there it is."

　　"Oh, dear godfather," said the horrified physician, "light a new one for me. Do it as a favor to me, so that I can enjoy my life, and become king and the husband of the beautiful princess."

　　"I cannot," answered Death. "One must go out before a new one is lighted."

　　"Then set the old one onto a new one that will go on burning after the old one is finished," begged the physician.

　　Death pretended that he was going to fulfill this wish and took hold of a large new candle, but, desiring revenge, he purposely made a mistake in relighting it, and the little piece fell down and went out. The physician immediately fell to the ground, and he too was now in the hands of Death.

　　從前有一個窮人，他有十二個孩子。他必須起早貪黑地幹活才能養活他們。眼看第十三個孩子又要出世了，他在困境中一籌莫展，不知所措。他來到大路上，想請他碰到的第一個人在孩子命名受洗時當他的教父。他首先遇到的是仁慈的上帝。上帝已經知道他的心事，便對他說：「可憐的人，我憐憫你。讓我當你孩子的教父吧，我會照應他，給他帶來人世間的幸福。」

　　窮人問：「你是誰?」

　　「我是仁慈的上帝。」

　　窮人便說：「那我就不求你給孩子做教父了。你把甚麼都給了富人，而讓窮人捱餓。」說完轉身繼續朝前走。不久他遇到了魔鬼。魔鬼說：「你還找甚麼?只要你讓我給孩子當教父，我會給他用不完的金子，讓他享受世界上一切歡樂。」

　　窮人問：「你是誰?」

　　「我是魔鬼。」

　　窮人便說：「那我不願意你給孩子做教父，你騙人，並且害人。」說著繼續朝前走。瘦骨嶙峋的死神朝他大步走來，說：

　　「讓我做孩子的教父吧。」

　　窮人問：「你是誰?」

　　「我是使人人平等的死神。」

　　窮人便說：「那我就讓你給孩子做教父吧。」