HAVE yu ever been playing in yur yard when a strange by wh had been watching frm thether sidef the fence asked t be let int the game， saying he wuld shw yu hw t play？ Yu didn"t want him arund， and yu didn"t want him in， but smehwrther he gt in and was sn bssing everybdy else.
Well， there was a man named Philip wh lived nrthf Greece， and he had been watching Sparta and Athens-nt playing but fighting-and he wanted t get int the game. Philip was kingf a little cuntry called Macednia， but he thught he wuld like t be kingf Greece als， and it seemed t him a gd time， when Sparta and Athens were dwn andut after the Pelpnnesian War， t step in and make himself kingf that cuntry. Philip was a great fighter， but he didn"t want t fight Greece unless he had t. He wanted t be made king peaceably， and he wanted Greece t d it willingly. He thught up a scheme t bring this abut， and this was his scheme.
He knew， as yu d， hw the Greeks hated the Persians， whm they had drivenutf their cuntryver a hundred years befre. Althugh the Persian Wars had taken place s lng ag， the Greeks had never frgtten the braveryf their frefathers and the talesf their victriesver the Persians. These stries had been tld themver andver by their parents and grandparents， and they lved t read and reread them in Herdtus"s histryf the wrld.
S Philip said t the Greeks， "Yur ancestrs drve the Persiansutf Greece， t be sure， but the Persians went back t their cuntry， and yu didn"t g after them and punish them as yu shuld have dne. Yu didn"t try t get even with them. Why dn"t yu gver t Persia and cnquer it nw， and make the Persians pay fr what they did t yu？"Then he slyly added， "Let me help yu. I"ll lead yu against them."Nne seemed t see thrugh Philip"s scheme-nbdy exceptne man. This man was an Athenian named Demsthenes.
Demsthenes， when he was a by， had decided that he wuld smeday be a great speakerrratr， just as yu might say yu are ging t be a dctr，r an aviatr，r a teacher when yu grw up.
Demsthenes had picked thene prfessin which by nature he was wrst fitted fr. In the first place， he had such a very sft， weak vice thatne culd hardly hear him. Besides， this， he stammered very badly and culd nt recite even a shrt pem withut hesitating and stumbling s that peple laughed at him. It seemed absurd， therefre， that he shuld aim t be a great speaker.
But Demsthenes practiced and practiced and practiced by himself. He went dwnn the seashre and put pebbles in his muth t make it mre difficult t speak clearly. Then he spke t the raring waves， making believe that he was addressing an angry crwd， wh were trying t drwn the sundf his vice， s that he wuld have t speak very lud indeed.
At last， by keeping cnstantly at it， Demsthenes did becme a very great speaker. He spke s wnderfully that he culd make his audience laughr make them cry whenever he wanted t， and he culd persuade them t d almst anything he wished.
Nw， Demsthenes was the man wh saw thrugh Philip"s scheme fr cnquering Persia. He knew that Philip"s real aim was t becme kingf Greece. S he made twelve speeches against him. These speeches were knwn as Philippics， as they were against Philip. S famus were they that even tday we call a speech that bitterly attacks anyne a Philippic.
The Greeks wh heard Demsthenes were red-ht against Philip while they listened t him. But as sn as they gt away frm the sundf Demsthenes"s wrds， the same Greeks became lukewarm and did nthing t stp Philip.
At last， in spitef everything that Demsthenes had said， Philip had his way and became kingver all Greece.
Befre， hwever， he culd startut， as he had prmised， t cnquer Persia， he was killed bynef hiswn men， s that he was unable t carryut his plan.
Philip had a sn named Alexander. Alexander wasnly twenty yearsld， but when his father died he became kingf Macednia and alsf Greece.
When Alexander was a mere child， he saw sme men trying withut success t tame a yung and very wild hrse that shied and reared in the air s that nne was able t ride it. Alexander asked t be allwed t try t ride the animal. Alexander"s father made funf his sn fr wanting t attempt what thselder than he had been unable t d， but at last gave his cnsent.
Nw， Alexander had nticed what thethers， althugh muchlder， had nt nticed. The hrse seemed t be afraidf itswn shadw， fr yung clts are easily frightened by anything dark and mving， as sme children are afraidf the dark at night.
Alexander turned the hrse arund facing the sun， s that its shadw wuld be behind，utf sight. He then munted the animal and， t the amazementfall， rdeff withut any further truble.
His father was delighted at his sn"s cleverness and gave him the hrse as a reward. Alexander named the hrse Bucephalus and became s fndf him that when the hrse died Alexander built a mnument t him and named several cities after him.
Nw， Alexander was a wnderful by， but he had such a wnderful teacher named Aristtle that sme peple think part， at least，f his greatness was due t the teacher.
Aristtle was prbably the greatest teacher wh ever lived. If there were mre great teachers like Aristtle， it seems likely there wuld have been mre great pupils like Alexander.
Aristtle wrte bks abut all srtsf things-bks abut the stars called astrnmy， bks abut animals called zlgy， and bksnther subjects that yu prbably have never even heardf， such as psychlgy and plitics.
Fr hundredsf years these bks that Aristtle wrte were the schlbks that bys and girls studied， and fr many years they were thenly schlbks. Nwadays， schlbks usually change every few years after they are written. See hw remarkable it was that Aristtle"s schlbks shuld have been used fr s lng a time.
Aristtle had been taught by a man named Plat， wh was als a great teacher and philspher. Plat had been a pupilf Scrates， s that Aristtle was a kindf grand-pupilf Scrates. Yu have heardf the Wise Menf the East. These were the three Wise Menf Greece.
SCRATES，
PLAT，
ARISTTLE.
Sme day yu may read what they wrter saidver tw thusand years ag.
【中文阅读】
你和小伙伴在自家院子里玩，有个陌生男孩一直在围栏外看你们玩，他突然开 口请求加入你们，还说他会教你们怎么玩。你不想他在旁观看，也不想他加入进来， 但是，不知怎么的，他还是加入进来了，而且很快就成了你们这群人的头儿。你有 过这样的经历吗？
有个名叫腓力的人住在希腊的北边，他一直在观察着斯巴达和雅典--不是在玩耍而是在打仗--他想加入这个游戏。腓力是个名叫马其顿的小国的国王，但是 他觉得自己也想成为希腊国王。斯巴达和雅典在伯罗奔尼撒战争后一蹶不振，在他 看来，这似乎正是他乘虚而入、成为希腊国王的大好时机。腓力能征善战，但是除 非不得已，否则他不想和希腊开战。他想以和平的方式当上希腊国王，也希望希腊 人愿意拥戴他。他想出了个计谋来实现他的想法，他的计谋是这样的：
你从前面的故事知道，希腊人如何痛恨波斯人吧，一百多年以前，他们把波斯 人赶出了希腊，腓力也清楚这一点。尽管波斯战争已经过去很久了，但是希腊人从 未忘记自己祖先的英雄事迹和他们战胜波斯人的故事。他们的父母、祖父母一遍又 一遍地给他们讲这些故事，他们也喜欢把希罗多德写的这些历史故事读了又读。
于是，腓力对希腊人说："诚然，你们的祖先将波斯人赶出了希腊，但是波斯人 回到了他们的国家，你们本应当追上去狠狠惩罚他们一下，而你们却放过他们，没 有想去摆平他们。你们何不现在就去波斯，征服它，让波斯人为他们的罪过付出代 价呢？"接着，他又狡猾地补充说："让我来帮助你们吧。我会率领你们攻打他们。" 似乎没有人看穿腓力的诡计--除了一个人，也就仅仅一个人。他是一个名叫狄摩西尼的雅典人。 狄摩西尼，当他还是个孩子的时候，就决心总有一天要成为一名伟大的演说家或雄辩家，就像你也许说过的，长大了要当医生啦，或当飞行员啦，或当教师啦 那样。
狄摩西尼选择了一项自己天生最不适合的职业。首先，他的嗓音又弱又柔，人 们很难听清他说什么。除此以外，他口吃得很厉害，连朗诵一首短诗，他也支支吾 吾、结结巴巴的，总是引来别人的嘲笑声。因此，他立志做一名伟大的演说家似乎 是太荒唐了。
但是狄摩西尼独自一人练习，练习再练习。他到海边去，把鹅卵石放在嘴里， 这样要把话说清楚就更难了。然后，他对着咆哮的海浪说话，假装自己正对着一群 愤怒的民众发表演说，为了不让人群的喧哗淹没自己的声音，他就不得不用特别大 的声音说话。
最后，通过坚持不懈的练习，狄摩西尼真的成了一名非常伟大的演说家。他的 演讲非常精彩，可以随时打动听众的心，要他们笑，他们就笑，要他们哭，他们就 哭，要他们做什么，就可以说服他们去做什么。
此时，只有狄摩西尼看出腓力征服波斯的提议是个阴谋，他知道腓力真正的 目的是想做希腊的国王。因此，他发表了十二场演说来反对腓力。这些演说被称为 "反腓力辞"，因为它们都是抨击腓力的。这些演说非常著名，直到今天我们还把痛 斥他人的演说叫做"反腓力辞"。
希腊人在听狄摩西尼演讲时都怒火中烧，激烈反对腓力。但是，听完狄摩西尼 的演讲，这些希腊人一转身就变得毫无斗志了，没有做任何事去阻止腓力。
最后，尽管狄摩西尼把要说的话都说了，腓力的阴谋还是得逞了，成了统治全 希腊的国王。
不过，他还没有来得及按自己承诺的那样去征服波斯，就被自己身边的一个人 杀了，这样，他就没能将自己的计划付诸实施。
腓力有个儿子叫亚历山大。亚历山大当时只有 20 岁，但是他父亲死后，他就成 了马其顿的国王，同时也是希腊的国王。
亚历山大还是个小孩子的时候，他看到几个人试图驯服一匹性子非常野的小马， 却没有成功，因为马一见到人接近就惊得不断后退，两只前蹄腾空而起，没有人能 够骑上去。亚历山大请求父亲让自己也试试，看能不能驯服这匹马。亚历山大的父 亲觉得儿子的请求很可笑，那些年纪比他大的人都做不到，一个小孩子却要试试， 但是最终他还是同意了。
亚历山大注意到了其他人没有注意到的一个细节，尽管这些人比他年长得多。 这匹马似乎很害怕自己的影子，因为凡是黑暗而又移动的东西都很容易使小马驹感 到害怕，如同小孩子晚上怕黑一样。
亚历山大把马驹掉了个头，让它正对着太阳，这样它的影子就在后面，它看不 见了。然后，他骑上马，轻而易举地驰骋起来，令所有人都惊讶得目瞪口呆。
他的父亲因为儿子的聪明而高兴不已，就把这匹小马驹送给他作为奖励。亚历 山大给它取名叫布塞弗勒斯，他非常喜爱这匹马，在马死后，亚历山大还专门为它 建了一座纪念碑，还以马的名字命名了几个城市。
亚历山大是个了不起的孩子，不过，他有一个杰出的老师名叫亚里士多德，有 些人甚至认为亚历山大之所以伟大至少有部分原因是他有这样一个老师。
亚里士多德可能是从古至今最伟大的老师了。如果能有更多像亚里士多德一样 伟大的老师，大概会有更多像亚历山大一样了不起的学生。
亚里士多德写了关于各类事物的书--关于星球的书叫天文学，关于动物的书 叫动物学，还有你可能从未听说过的其他学科的书，比如心理学和政治学。
千百年来，亚里士多德写的这些书都是男孩、女孩们学习的教科书，而且很多 年里这些书也是唯一的教科书。如今，学校的教科书通常每隔几年就要重新编写一 次。你看，亚里士多德的教科书竟然用了那么长的时间，这是多么了不起啊！
亚里士多德曾经受教于一个名叫柏拉图的人，他也是位杰出的老师和哲学家。 柏拉图曾是苏格拉底的学生，因此亚里士多德也算得上是苏格拉底的"徒孙"。你们 听说过《圣经》中的"东方三博士"，而这是希腊的"三位智者"：
苏格拉底 柏拉图
亚里士多德
也许将来有一天，你们可能会读到他们两千多年以前写的书或说过的话。