Guangdong Shenzhen Donghu Middle School

　　Speech Made by LaiYin Li

　　I remember when I was younger, my grandmother used to tell me many stories. Today I would like to share with you one of my favorites.

　　Once, there lived a young boy. He was very sad because he couldn't keep his friends. One day he asked his father why this was so. His father only replied:"Son, each time you say or do something that hurts one of your friends, hammer a piece of wood into the ground." The curious boy did as he was told and soon he had made a fence out of the wood.

　　"Father!" he cried, " I can't get out! I am blocked by this fence! "

　　"Well, son, each time you say something nice to a friend, you can take one piece of wood out."

　　The boy did this, too. On the first day he took out one piece of wood and on the second day he took out another two. On the third day he took out some more. Finally he had removed all of the wood. " But Father!" he cried again, " Look at the holes in the ground! They are big and dark! Oh, how ugly!"

　　"Son," his father said, " This is why you aren't able to keep your friends. Remember: when you hurt someone's feelings, no matter what you do to make up for it, there will always be a scar in their heart. "

　　From that day on, this young boy was always very careful of his words and actions and he never hurt his friends' feelings again.

　　To this day, I always keep this story close to my heart. It has taught me a lot. I as always careful not to hurt any of my friends because they are people that I wouldn't want to lose.