原版英文小故事 32 The Ant and the Elephant

Let’s say that you could combine, into one super brain, 100 of the best minds in the history of mankind. Would that super-intelligent brain be able to fully appreciate all the wonders of the universe? Probably not. The universe is simply too big, too wondrous, too fantastic for humans. Imagine an ant crawling all over an elephant. That ant has little or no idea of what that elephant is all about. Nor do we humans grasp the magnitude of the wonders of our universe.

For example, many of us merely take the sun for granted; sometimes we even complain about it! How many of us marvel at it, wondering about its seemingly infinite power and energy? Yet the sun is but one of uncountable billions of stars in the universe. It isn’t even a remarkable star; there are billions just like it. And billions more that are unlike it, in thousands of different, fascinating ways!

How many stars are out there? Think of your favorite beach. How many grains of sand are on that beach? Now think of all the grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. Yes, the sky has more stars than the Earth has these grains of sand.

But many of us are too busy with our “ant” lives to notice or appreciate the elephant.