There was once a King who had a great palace with wonderful gardens. In those gardens there lived thousands of creatures from hundreds of different species. They were of great variety and colour， and they turned that palace into a kind of paradise that everyone could enjoy.

There was only one thing in those gardens that the King disliked： near the centre stood the remains of what had been， centuries ago， a huge tree， but that now was withered1） and dry and detracted2） from the colour and beauty of its surroundings. This bothered the King so much that he finally ordered it to be cut down and replaced by a beautiful series of fountains.

Some time later， a wise noble was visiting the King at his palace. He whispered in the King's ear： \"Majesty， you are the wisest of men. Everywhere one hears talk of the beauty of these gardens and the multitude3） of creatures that populate them. But during the time I've spent here， I've hardly seen anything other than this fountain and just a few small birds ... What a deception4）！\"

The King， who never tried to deceive anyone， found， to his horror， that what the noble had told him was true. They had spent so many months admiring the fountains that they hadn't realised that hardly any animals remained in the gardens. Without wasting time he sent for the court's experts and advisers. The King had to listen to many lies， inventions5）， and assumptions， but nothing could explain what had happened. Not even the great reward offered by the King managed to recuperate6） the royal gardens' former splendour.

Many years later， a young man presented himself to the King， assuring him that he could explain what had happened and how the animals could be returned. \"What happened with your garden is that there just wasn't enough poo7）， your majesty. Particularly moth8） poo.\"

All those present laughed at the young man's joke. The guards got ready to throw him out， but the King stopped them. \"I want to hear what you have to say. From the thousand lies I've heard， none have begun like that.\"

The young man continued， very serious， and started explaining how the gardens' big animals fed mainly on the little brightly-coloured birds， who owed their appearance to their own food， composed of colourful worms， who in turn fed on various rare species of plants and flowers that could only grow in that part of the world， just so long as there was enough moth poo for them ... and so he continued， telling how the moths were the basis of much food for many other birds， whose poo encouraged the appearance of new species of plants that fed other insects and animals， and which were， in turn， vital to the existence of other species ... And the young man would have kept speaking without pause if the King had not shouted.

\"Enough！ And can you tell me how you know all these things， being so young？\" asked the King.

\"Well， because now all from your garden are at my house. Before I was born my father collected that old tree you had torn out from the middle of the garden， and he planted it in our garden. Since then， every spring， from out of that tree come thousands and thousands of moths. With time， the moths attracted the birds and new plants and trees grew， providing food for other animals that， in turn， provided food for others ... And now， my father's old place is filled with life and colour. All thanks to the moths from the big old tree.\"

\"Excellent！\" exclaimed the King， \"Now I'll be able to recover my gardens. And you， I'll make you rich. Rest assured that9） within a week everything will be ready. Use as many men as you like.\"

\"Your Majesty， I'm afraid that cannot be，\" said the young man， \"If you like I can try to recreate the gardens， but you will not live to see it. It will take many years for the natural balance to reestablish itself. With great good fortune perhaps I， when I'm old， will see it completed. Things like these do not depend on how many men work on them.\"

The face of the old King was sad and pensive10）， understanding how delicate11） was the balance of nature， and how careless it had been to break it so thoughtlessly. But he loved those gardens and those creatures so much that he decided to build a huge palace next to the young man's land. And with thousands of men working on the construction， he managed to see the palace finished in much less time than would have been necessary to reestablish the balance of nature of that garden in any other place.

從前有一位國(guó)王，他有一座很壯觀的王宮，王宮還帶著幾處很美麗的花園。在那些花園里生活著成千上萬(wàn)種生物，它們種類繁多、顏色各異，把王宮變成了每個(gè)人都能駐足欣賞的天堂。

這些花園里只有一件東西國(guó)王不喜歡，那就是靠近中心地帶的一棵巨樹(shù)的殘骸。幾百年前，它曾是一棵參天大樹(shù)，如今卻只剩下干枯的殘枝敗葉，令周圍繽紛的美景失色不少。這讓國(guó)王很煩惱，乃至他最終下令讓人砍掉了這棵大樹(shù)，并用一組美麗的噴泉取而代之。

過(guò)了一段時(shí)間，一位睿智的貴族來(lái)王宮拜訪國(guó)王。他在國(guó)王耳邊輕聲說(shuō)：“陛下，您是這世界上最有智慧的人。無(wú)論走到哪里，都能聽(tīng)到人們談?wù)撃@些美麗的花園和遍布其中的各種生物。不過(guò)，在我來(lái)這兒的這幾天中，除了噴泉和幾只小鳥(niǎo)，我?guī)缀跏裁炊紱](méi)有看到……多么名不副實(shí)啊！”

國(guó)王從未想過(guò)要去欺騙誰(shuí)，可他卻驚恐地發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)貴族所言不假。好幾個(gè)月來(lái)，他們都只顧著欣賞那些噴泉，卻沒(méi)有意識(shí)到花園里已經(jīng)幾乎不剩什么動(dòng)物了。國(guó)王一刻都沒(méi)有耽擱，立即請(qǐng)來(lái)了王宮的專家和顧問(wèn)。他不得不聽(tīng)取一個(gè)又一個(gè)謊言、捏造和假設(shè)，卻沒(méi)有一個(gè)能夠說(shuō)清楚問(wèn)題出在哪里。即使國(guó)王提供了高額獎(jiǎng)賞也都無(wú)法讓王室花園重現(xiàn)昔日的光彩。

許多年以后，一位年輕人向國(guó)王引薦自己，并向國(guó)王保證自己能說(shuō)清楚問(wèn)題出在哪里，以及怎樣才能讓各種動(dòng)物重現(xiàn)花園?！氨菹拢▓@的問(wèn)題在于沒(méi)有足夠的糞便，尤其是飛蛾的糞便?！?/p>

在場(chǎng)的所有人都被年輕人的話逗笑了。國(guó)王的衛(wèi)兵們都準(zhǔn)備要把他扔出去了，但是國(guó)王制止了他們?！拔蚁胍?tīng)一聽(tīng)你的真心話。在我聽(tīng)過(guò)的成千上萬(wàn)個(gè)謊言中，還沒(méi)有一個(gè)是這么開(kāi)頭的。”

年輕人繼續(xù)說(shuō)了下去，表情十分嚴(yán)肅。他開(kāi)始解釋說(shuō)，花園里的大型動(dòng)物主要以那些色彩艷麗的小鳥(niǎo)為食，而小鳥(niǎo)艷麗的外觀又歸功于它們的食物，即那些五顏六色的蠕蟲(chóng)，蠕蟲(chóng)反過(guò)來(lái)又以花園里特有的各種奇花異草為食，而只要有足夠的飛蛾糞便，那些奇花異草就能在這片土地上生長(zhǎng)……年輕人就這樣說(shuō)了下去，解釋飛蛾為何是許多鳥(niǎo)類的主要食物來(lái)源，那些鳥(niǎo)類的糞便會(huì)促使新的植物種類產(chǎn)生，其他昆蟲(chóng)和動(dòng)物又以這些植物為生，這些昆蟲(chóng)和動(dòng)物反過(guò)來(lái)又對(duì)其他物種的生存十分重要……要不是國(guó)王大叫一聲，年輕人可能就這樣一直說(shuō)下去了。

“好了！你能告訴我，你才這么年輕，是怎么知道這些的嗎？”國(guó)王問(wèn)道。

“唔，因?yàn)樵瓉?lái)您花園里所有的東西現(xiàn)在都在我家。在我還沒(méi)出生時(shí)，我父親把您從花園中間拔起的那棵老樹(shù)撿了回來(lái)，種在了我家的花園里。從那以后，每年春天都會(huì)有成千上萬(wàn)的飛蛾從那棵樹(shù)里飛出來(lái)。隨著時(shí)間的推移，飛蛾引來(lái)了小鳥(niǎo)，新的花草樹(shù)木也長(zhǎng)了出來(lái)，為其他動(dòng)物提供食物，而這些動(dòng)物反過(guò)來(lái)又成為其他生物的食物來(lái)源……現(xiàn)在，我父親的老宅里生機(jī)勃勃、五彩繽紛。而這些都多虧了從那棵蒼老大樹(shù)中飛出來(lái)的飛蛾。”

“太好了！”國(guó)王驚呼，“那我現(xiàn)在就可以重新找回我的花園了。我會(huì)給你一大筆錢，但你必須確保在一周內(nèi)讓我的花園重現(xiàn)昔日景象。再多人手都隨你派遣?！?/p>

“陛下，我恐怕無(wú)能為力，”年輕人回答，“如果您愿意的話，我可以試著讓您的花園恢復(fù)往昔的生機(jī)，不過(guò)您在有生之年是看不到那一天的。得花上好多年才能讓大自然自己恢復(fù)平衡。如果運(yùn)氣十分好的話，我在年老之時(shí)或許將能看到這事兒辦好。這種事情的成功并不在于有多少人手參與進(jìn)來(lái)?！?/p>

意識(shí)到自然界的平衡是如此脆弱，自己又如此草率，想都不想就對(duì)其進(jìn)行了破壞，老國(guó)王神情悲傷，陷入了沉思。不過(guò)國(guó)王無(wú)比熱愛(ài)那些花園和園中的生物，于是決定在年輕人的土地旁建造一座巨大的宮殿。在成千上萬(wàn)人的參與下，國(guó)王總算看到了這座宮殿的完工，這比在其他任何一個(gè)地方重建花園內(nèi)自然界的平衡所需要的時(shí)間都要短很多。

1.withered [?w?e?d] adj. （植物）枯萎的，干枯的

2.detract [d??tr?kt] vi. 減損；貶低

3.multitude [?m?lt?tju?d] n. 許多；大量

4.deception [d??sep?n] n. 詭計(jì)；騙術(shù)

5.invention [?n?ven?n] n. 捏造，虛構(gòu)

6.recuperate [r??ku?p?re?t] vt. 使（健康、元?dú)獾龋┗謴?fù)

7.poo [pu?] n. （= pooh）糞便

8.moth [m?θ] n. 飛蛾；蛾

9.rest assured that： 強(qiáng)調(diào)某事是真的或一定會(huì)發(fā)生。rest [rest] vi. 保持（放心或安心）

10.pensive [?pens?v] adj. 沉思的；憂郁的

11.delicate [?del?k?t] adj. 脆弱的