A little boy almost thought of himself as the unluckiest child in theworld because he was born with a lame(瘸的)leg. He seldom played with hisclassmates and always lowered his head without a word. One spring, the boy'sfather gave each child a small tree to plant. "Whoever grows the best treewill get a favourite gift," he said to them. Seeing his brothers andsisters watering the trees happily in the garden, a terrible idea hit his mind:he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So he never cared about it.

   A few days later, he was surprised to find it not only didn't die, butalso grew some fresh leaves, and that it looked greener and healthier than theothers. He got a favourite gift and was told by his father: from the tree heplanted, he would become a great botanist (植物学家). One night, looking at the brightmoonlight outside the window, he suddenly remembered what his teacher oncesaid—most plants grow at night. Why not go to see the lovely tree? When he cameto the garden, he found his father was watering his tree carefully. At thattime, he understood: his father had secretly taken good care of his small tree!He returned to his room with tears (泪水) running out.

   Many years passed. The little boy didn't become a botanist, but he wasknown as a great president of the United States. His name was FranklinRoosevelt.