Story：A bucket of water
【明報專訊】NOAH is a fifth grader in elementary school. He is a Cub Scout. He had been very conceited since he was a child, and often wanted to issue orders to other people, even those who were older than him. Whenever the Cub Scout Leader assigned a task, he rushed to accept it. Later the Leader announced the list of Sixers (小隊隊長), but unfortunately Noah had not been selected. He felt deeply resentful.
''I can manage these peers more than enough!'' He complained to the Leader, but the Leader said, ''I'll assign all of you a task. Lucas will be your Sixer. After the task is completed, if you think you are more qualified than him, you may talk to me.'' Noah thought Lucas was hypocritical, because Lucas always seemed to care about his classmates. Noah didn't understand why he wanted to do that.
Their task was very simple. It was to transport a bucket of water from the first floor to the seventh floor of the school. If one of them felt tired, they could let another group member carry on. The team that arrived the soonest would win. ''Remember, I need a full bucket of water,'' the Leader said. At first, Noah and another teammate were responsible for holding the bucket. When they reached the third floor, Noah teased his partner for being too slow. His teammate actually wasn't tired, but Noah replaced him with others anyway. But no one actually suited him. In the end he was the only one who was carrying the bucket.
''That's good, no one's standing in my way!'' He carried it to the sixth floor alone, but was exhausted. Just when he wanted to ask his teammates for help, he found that all of them had been gone. ''We are gonna lose!'' Noah sighed. Exhausted by the task, he sat slumped over the stairs on the sixth floor. Making matters even worse, he only had a half bucket of water. He had already failed the mission! All in a sudden he saw that two groups had gone up to the seventh floor.
At that moment, two familiar figures appeared. It was Lucas and a member who had been abandoned by him! They walked briskly, working together, and finally reached the seventh floor and won third place.
Lucas succeeded in bringing the bucket of water to the seventh floor, without spilling a single drop of water.
Noah didn't go to the group leader. He understood that he still had a long way to go before knowing what leadership is.
(by Ian Lam)
◆Food for thought
Leadership doesn't mean fulfilling your own ambition. It needs compassion, compromise and communication. Do you think you have such qualities?
■Gear up
Circle the correct answers after reading the above story.
(1) Noah is a good leader compared with Lucas.
(True/False/Not given)
(2) Noah doesn't like Lucas.
(True/False/Not given)
(3) Having known why he failed, Noah doesn't go to the team leader.
(True/False/Not given)
(Answers on next text)
■Glossary
resentful (adj) 不滿的
transport (v) 運送
slumped (adj) 垂頭喪氣的
abandon (v) 離棄
[Smarties' Power English 第309期]
