The donkey and the horse 驢子和馬
A farmer wanted to bring ten bags of rice to the market and sell them. He put five bags of rice on his horse and five bags of rice on his donkey.
The bags were very heavy， and soon the donkey became tired. “Please，” he said to the horse， “could you carry one of my bags for me？ They‘re so heavy， and you are stronger than I am.”
“No，” said the horse. “I serve the farmer， not you. He gave me five bags to carry， not six！ _
You must do your job， and I must do mine.”
The farmer， the horse， and the donkey continued walking under the hot sun. The poor donkey became more and more tired. Suddenly， he fell over at the side of the road.
The farmer tried to pull the donkey to his feet， but the donkey was too tired to move. Then the farmer took the donkey’s five bags of rice and put them on the horse.
The horse realized he had made a big mistake. “If I had agreed to help the donkey，” he cried， “I‘d only have to carry one extra bag. Now I must carry all ten！”
Vocabulary
1.heavy adj 沉重的
2.soon adv 很快地
3.serve v 服務；服役
4.suddenly adv 突然
5.realize v 了解到；發現
6.mistake n 錯誤
7.extra adj 額外的
英語補給站
Language Notes
fall over 跌倒
解析1
fall over在此指跌倒
Rachel became dizzy and fell over.瑞秋感到都暈而跌倒。
fall over(something) 可指被（某物）絆倒
Rick fell over the box and hurt his arm 瑞克被箱子絆倒而傷到了手臂。
解析2
相關片語fall over(oneself) + to V. 則是形容某人急着（做某事）；争先恐後地要（做某事），好像不惜絆倒也要搶着做一樣。
Men fell over themselves to help the pretty actress with her luggage.
男人們争先恐後地為那位漂亮的女演員提行李。