One day, I dropped another pecan (山核桃) into my basket. Then a gentle autumn wind blew some more off the tree. I ran to pick them up. Pecan picking was hard. My basket was only half full. I was visiting my grandpa's farm in Kansas, and Grandpa sent me into the woods to pick up pecans for us to enjoy later. I wasn't about to let him down.
Then something caught my eyes: a squirrel picked up a pecan climbed up a tree and disappeared into a large hole. A moment later, the squirrel climbed down to the ground to pick another pecan. Once again, he took the pecan back to his secret hiding place inside the hole of the tree.
Not so secret anymore, I thought. I ran over to the tree and found the hole was filled with sweet pecans. They were right there for the taking. This was my chance. I took all the pecans from the hole. Now the basket was full!
I was so proud of myself. I couldn't wait to show Grandpa all of the pecans I'd collected. "Look, Grandpa," I shouted, "look at all of the pecans I found!"
Grandpa took a look at my basket. "Well, well, how did you find so many, Jimmy?" I told him how I'd followed the squirrel and taken the pecans from his hiding place. Grandpa congratulated me on finding out something about the squirrel's habits. Then he did something that surprised me. He handed the basket back to me and put his arm gently around my shoulders.
"That squirrel worked very hard to collect his winter food," he said. "Now that all of his pecans are gone, don't you think that little squirrel will be very hungry when it gets cold?"
"I didn't think about that," I said.
"I know," Grandpa said, "But a good man should never take advantage of (占……的便宜) someone else's hard work, even the squirrel's."
Suddenly, the image (形象) of that hungry squirrel wouldn't leave my mind. There was only one thing I could do.
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