Learning to walk

　　During the Warring States period, a young man lived in Shouling. He always felt that he was not so perfect as he thought. One day, he heard that people in Handan walked in a gracefully way, so he decided to learn to walk there.

　　One morning, he set off for Handan without telling anyone. Upon arrival at Handan, he was surprised when he saw the situation. Everyone walked in a different but gracefully way, children walking actively, the old walking steady and women walking charmingly. So he made up his mind to learn how the people of the State of Zhao walked in Handan.

　　No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to learn the gait of the people there. On the contrary, he even forgot completely how he walked in Shouling. In the end, he had no choice but to crawl back to his hometown.

　　故事梗概：

　　战国时期，燕国寿陵地方有一位少年。这位寿陵少年不愁吃不愁穿，论长相也算得上中等人材，可他就是缺乏自信心，经常无缘无故地感到事事不如人，低人一等——衣服是人家的好，饭菜是人家的香，站相坐相也是人家高雅。他见什么学什么，学一样丢一样，虽然花样翻新，却始终不能做好一件事，不知道自己该是什么模样。

　　家里的人劝他改一改这个毛病，他以为是家里人管得太多。亲戚、邻居们，说他是狗熊掰棒子，他也根本听不进去。日久天长，他竟怀疑自己该不该这样走路，越看越觉得自己走路的姿势太笨，太丑了。

　　有一天，他在路上碰到几个人说说笑笑，只听得有人说邯郸人走路姿势那叫美。他一听，对上了心病，急忙走上前去，想打听个明白。不料想，那几个人看见他，一阵大笑之后扬长而去。

　　邯郸人走路的姿势究竟怎样美呢?于是有一天，他瞒着家人，跑到遥远的邯郸学走路去了。

　　一到邯郸，他感到处处新鲜，简直令人眼花缭乱。看到小孩走路，他觉得活泼、美，学;看见老人走路，他觉得稳重，学;看到妇女走路，摇摆多姿，学。就这样，不过半月光景，他连走路也不会了，路费也花光了，只好爬着回去了。

　　重难点词汇及短语：

　　gracefully 优雅地

　　set off for 出发前往某地

　　arrival (名词)到达

　　actively 活泼地

　　steady 沉稳地

　　charmingly 迷人地

　　made up one’s mind下定决心做某事

　　gait 步伐，步态

　　on the contrary相反

　　crawl爬