Long ago, in a far-away place, an old tribal chief found himself terminally ill. So he called three most promising young villagers to his bedside and said, “As I ____小题1:____(leave) you soon, I hope you can do one more thing for me. Young men, you three are all ____小题2:____(usual) strong and resourceful, so I’d like you to strive to climb that high mountain we have always been worshipping _____小题3:_____ a sacred place. Try to reach the top and then turn back to tell me about your findings.
Three days later, the first young man returned smartly dressed and said ___小题4:____(smile),
“Lord, I’ve been to the mountaintop____小题5:____I saw flowers of all sorts, spring water and singing birds. That’s a real nice place.”
The old tribal chief replied with a smile, “Son, I’ve been there before. it's not the mountaintop ____小题6:____the foot of the mountain. You can leave now.”
A week later, the second young man also returned. “Lord, I’ve been to the mountaintop ___小题7:___ a forest of tall pine trees and vultures circling in the air. That’s a really nice place.”
“What a pity!” said the chief. “Son, you’ve been halfway up the mountain rather than to the summit. Now you can leave .”
A month later, the third young man showed up in rags, his hair off-colored but his eyes clear and bright.
“Lord, I succeeded in reaching the summit. There was nothing there but the highland wind and the blue sky ___小题8:___(hang) over the land.”
“So you saw nothing at all? Not even ___小题9:___butterfly?”
“No, Lord, nothing. All you can see is yourself. You just feel how insignificant you are in this infinite universe ___小题10:__ standing at the top!”
“Son, you’ve reached the real mountaintop. Congratulations! You will be undoubtedly made our new tribal chief!”
