¹ Pada zaman dahulu, ada seorang lelaki bijaksna yang tinggal di Negara Pamah. Dia dan jiran-jirannya telah membina kediaman baru dan memulakan hidup baru.

¹ A long time ago, there was a wise man living in the Low Country. He and his neighbors had built new homes and started a new life.

² Musim sejuk mereka yang pertama di Negara Pamah agak sukar kerana ramai yang tidak dapat menyiapkan kediaman mereka atau menuai tanaman mereka sebelum musim sejuk. Apabila akhirnya musim bunga tiba, mereka tahu bahawa mereka bukan sahaja perlu menanam tanaman, bahkan mereka perlu membina kepuk untuk menyimpan hasil tanaman.

² Their first winter in the Low Country was difficult because many had not finished their houses or harvested their corps before winter. When spring finally came, they knew that they must not only plant their crops, but they must also build a granary to store the coming harvest.

³ Mereka banyak berbincang tentang kepuk itu. Semasa mereka menetap di Negara Pergunungan, mereka hanya perlu memastikan ia cukup kuat untuk menghalang Kambing. Di Negara Pamah, mereka sedar mereka juga perlu memikirkan Beruang, Rusa dan Rusa Besar Memandangkan Beruang sangat gagah, kepuk itu mesti cukup kuat.

³ They talked much about the granary. When they lived in the High Country, they only needed to build it strong enough to keep Goat out. In the Low Country, they knew they also needed to consider Bear, Deer, and Elk. Because Bear was powerful, the granary must be very strong.

⁴ Terdapat satu jalan besi yang melintasi perkampungan mereka. Mesin besar yang bernafas wap yang pernah menggunakan jalan ini tidak memerlukannya lagi. Terdapat satu kotak besi beroda yang besar pada kadar setengah jam perjalanan dari perkampungan itu melalaui jalan besi. Semua bersetuju bahawa jika peti besi itu dapat ditolak ke kampung, ia akan menjadi kepuk yang selamat. Beruang pun tidak mampu untuk membuka pintu besinya yang teguh.

⁴ There was an old steel road that passed by their village. The large steam-breathing machines that once used this road no longer needed it. There was a huge iron box on wheels about a half hour's walk up the steel road from the village. All agreed that if the box could be pushed to the village, it could serve as a safe granary. Even Bear could not open the strong iron doors.

⁵ Oleh itu semua kaum lelaki cuba menolak peti besi itu ke kampung. Tetapi ia sungguh berat sehingga mereka kurang berupaya menggerakkannya. Semua kaum lelaki berkerja keras. Setelah berhempas-pulas, mereka berjaya menolak peti besi itu sejauh sedepa sebelum meraka perlu berehat. Selama dua hari mereka menolak dan berehat. Tolak dan rehat. Kemudian mereka tolak dan rehat lagi. Mereka keletihan. "Pastinya lebih mudah," kata mereka, " untuk membina kepuk di dalam kampung daripada menolak peti besi ini."

⁵ So the men tried to push the iron box to the village. But it was so heavy that they could barely make it move. All the men worked very hard. After much effort, they had pushed the box only as far as the length of a man's hand before they needed to rest. For two days they pushed and rested. Pushed and rested. Then they pushed and rested some more. They were all exhausted. "It would take less work," they said, "to build a granary in the village than to move the iron box."

⁶ Satu kepuk baru dibina di dalam kampung. Ia menyimpan makanan selama dua musim sejuk. Dan kemudian kemarau tiba. Ladang-ladang menghasilkan sedikit bijirin. Pada musim luruh, sedikit buah-buahan hutan ditemui dihutan kerana Beruang telah mengambil hampir semua untuk dirinya. Rusa dan Rusa Beasr pula telah makan apa yang tinggal. Namun, kerana meraka berjimat dan berkerja keras, kepuk berjaya menyimpan makanan bagi sepanjang musim sejuk.

⁶ A new granary was built in the village. It held food during two winters. And then the drought came. The fields produced little grain. In the fall, few berries were found in the forest because Bear was taking almost everything for himself. Deer and Elk were eating all that was left. Still, because the people had been careful and worked hard, the granary held enough food to last them for the winter.

⁷ Sehingga pada suatu malam, seketika sebelum Beruang hendak tidur sepanjang musim sejuk, dia memecahkan pintu kepuk. Banyak juga makanan yang dia makan. Selepas Beruang pergi, Rusa dan Rusa Besar juga mengenyangkan perut mereka.

⁷ Then one night, just before Bear was ready to go to sleep for the winter, he smashed the granary door. He ate much of the food. After Bear left, Deer and Elk also filled their bellies.

⁸ Pada musim sejuk yang dingin, semasa semua orang kelaparan, jejaka bijaksana berfikir lagi tentang peti besi di atas jalan besi. Pastinya, dia memutuskan, ada cara untuk menggerakkannya ke kampung. Mungkinkah masalah berpunca dari keputusan mereka untuk berhenti setiap kali mereka menolak peti besi itu hanya pada suatu jarak yang dekat?

⁸ During the cold, hard winter, when everyone was hungry, the wise man thought again about the iron box on the steel road. Certainly, he decided, there must be a way to move it to the village. Was it possible that the problem had been that they had stopped to rest each time after moving the iron box only a short distance?

⁹ Pada awal musim bunga berikutnya, jejaka bijaksana mampunyai suatu rancangan. Dia mengajak empat lelaki muda bersamanya ke peti besi beroda. Setiap orang menarik seekor keldai.

⁹ Early the next spring, the wise man had a plan. He took four young men with him to the iron box on wheels. Each man led his donkey.

¹⁰ Pertamanya mereka ikatkan tali panjang pada bahagian hadapan peti besi. Kemudian mereka menebang sepohon pokok yang tinggi sebagai tiang dan memacaknya. Mereka membaling tali tadi kepuncak tiang itu. Akhirnya, mereka mengikat hujung tali itu pada batu-batan yang berat. Jejaka bijaksana tahu bahawa tali itu telah mula menarik peti besi walaupun ia masih belum bergerak. Kemudian, jejaka bijaksana menyambungkan semua keldai kepada peti besi supaya mereka juga boleh menariknya. Akhirnya, jejaka bijaksana dan empat lelaki muda itu menolak sekuat yang mereka mampu. Perlahan-lahan peti besi itu mula bergerak.

¹⁰ The men first tied a long rope to the front of the iron box. Then they cut a tall tree for a pole and stood it upright. They threw the rope over the top of the pole. Finally, they fastened heavy rocks to the end of the rope. The wise man knew that the rope was pulling on the iron box even though it was not yet moving. Next, the wise man harnessed the donkeys to the iron box so that they could also pull. Finally, the wise man and the four young men pushed as hard as they could. The iron box slowly began to move.

¹¹ Tetapi rancangan jejaka bijaksana itu berbeza daripada rancangan orang kampungnya dahulu. Dia dan pemuda-pemuda itu tidak berhenti rehat. Sebaliknya, walaupun batu-batan yang berat telah mencecah tanah, meraka terus menolak peti besi itu.

¹¹ But the wise man's plan was different from the villagers' plan before. He and the young men did not stop to rest. Instead, even after the heavy rocks had reached the ground, the men kept pushing the iron box.

¹² Peti besi beroda itu menepati sangkaan jejaka bijaksana. Semakin lama mereka menolak, semakin laju peti besi itu bergerak. Meraka tidak perlu berkerja terlalu teruk untuk mengekalkan pergerakannya apabila ia sudah mula bergerak.

¹² The iron box on wheels did just what the wise man thought it would. The longer they pushed, the faster the iron box moved. They did not need to work as hard to keep it rolling once it began to move.

¹³ Jejaka bijaksana tahu bahawa jika semua orang kampung sanggup berkerjasama, mereka boleh menggerakkan peti besi itu ke kampung. Dia tahu bahawa mereka perlu berkerja keras untuk mula menggerakkan peti besi itu. Kemudian apabila ia telah bergerak sesetengah orang boleh berehat dan yang selebihnya boleh menolak. Jika mereka tidak berhenti, meraka boleh gerakkan peti besi itu perlahan-lahan ke kampung mereka.

¹³ The wise man knew that if all of the village men would work together, they could move the iron box to the village. He knew that they would all need to work very hard to get the iron box to start moving. Then once it was moving some could rest and others could push. If they did not stop, they could slowly move the iron box to their village.

¹⁴ Pada tahun berikutnya, makanan mereka akan selamat daripada Beruang.

¹⁴ The next year, their food would be safe from Bear.

¹⁵ Jika anda mula belajar Bahasa Inggeris menggunakan Spoken English Learned Quickly, anda tahu bahawa mempelajari bahasa adalah sukar. Anda boleh berkerja keras selama dua atau tiga minggu dan merasakan seolah-olah tiada apa yang berlaku. Namun, belajar bertutur Bahasa Inggeris adalah seperti menolak gerabak berat diatas landasan keretapi. Pada mulanya ia akan memerlukan banyak usaha. Tetapi jika anda terus berusaha, anda akan lihat lebih banyak penambahbaikan.

¹⁵ If you are beginning to study English with Spoken English Learned Quickly, you know that learning any language is difficult. You may work hard for two or three weeks and it will seem like nothing is happening. However, learning to speak English is much like pushing a heavy car on a railroad track. It will take much effort at first. But if you keep working, you will see more and more progress.