老子是灰太狼:急~~~~十万火急，求求大哥大姐帮帮吧！！谢谢了！

THE ENDLESS TALE

In the Far East there was a great king who had no work to do. Every day, and all day long, he sat on soft cushions and listened to stories. And no matter what the story was about, he never grew tired of hearing it, even though it was very long.

揟here is only one fault that I find with your story,� he often said: 揑t is too short.”

All the story-tellers in the world were invited to his palace; and some of them told tales that were very long indeed. But the king was always sad when a story was ended.

At last he sent word into every city and town and country place, offering a prize to any one who should tell him an endless tale. He said, �

揟o the man that will tell me a story which shall last forever, I will give my fairest daughter for his wife; and I will make him my heir, and he shall be king after me.”

But this was not all. He added a very hard condition. 揑f any man shall try to tell such a story and then fail, he shall have his head cut off.”

The king's daughter was very pretty, and there were many young men in that country who were willing to do anything to win her. But none of them wanted to lose their heads, and so only a few tried for the prize.

One young man invented a story that lasted three months; but at the end of that time, he could think of nothing more. His fate was a warning to others, and it was a long time before another story-teller was so rash as to try the king's patience.

But one day a stranger from the South came into the palace.

揋reat king,� he said, 搃s it true that you offer a prize to the man who can tell a story that has no end?”

揑t is true,� said the king.

揂nd shall this man have your fairest daughter for his wife, and shall he be your heir?”

揧es, if he succeeds,� said the king. 揃ut if he fails, he shall lose his head.”

揤ery well, then,� said the stranger. 揑 have a pleasant story about locusts which I would like to relate.”

揟ell it,� said the king. 揑 will listen to you.”

The story-teller began his tale.

揙nce upon a time a certain king seized upon all the corn in his country, and stored it away in a strong granary. But a swarm of locusts came over the land and saw where the grain had been put. After see arching for many days they found on the east side of the granary a crev-ice that was just large enough for one locust to pass through at a time. So one locust went in and carried away a grain of corn; then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn; then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn.”

Day after day, week after week, the man kept on saying, 揟hen another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn.”

A month passed; a year passed. At the end of two years, the king said, �

揌ow much longer will the locusts be going in and carrying away corn?”

揙 king!� said the story-teller, 搕hey have as yet cleared only one cubit; and there are many thousand cubits in the granary.”

揗an, man!� cried the king, 搚ou will drive me mad. I can listen to it no longer. Take my daughter; be my heir; rule my kingdom. But do not let me hear another word about those horrible locusts!”

And so the strange story-teller married the King's daughter. And he lived happily in the land for many years. But his father-in-law, the king, did not care to listen to any more stories.