One summer night, my friends and I stole into the Jordans' backyard and started harvesting their sweet, juicy raspberries (树莓). We were enjoying every bite of the tasty berries 1 Mr Jordan came charging outside all of a sudden.
"What are you boys doing out here?" he yelled as my friends ran off 2 all directions. He attempted to catch one or two as they rushed past him, but they were too 3 for the older gentleman to catch. Within seconds, the boys 4 into the dark of the summer night. All except me. Speed was never my 5 . I took the tongue-lashing (痛骂) that Mr. Jordan gave me as he marched me down the block to my house, where my mother took over and scolded me 6 . My friends said they could hear every colorful word she spoke from the darkness of our backyard, where they had gathered to 7 their escape and to observe my capture.
They 8 me about it for days afterwards, while all I could do was complain about how 9 it was that I was the only one who had to pay the price. After about a week of this, I complained to my father about the inequality of the situation. Dad said, "You took raspberries without 10 , and you get exactly the punishment you deserved. "
"But what about the other guys?" I asked. "They didn't get punished at all!"
"That's not my concern nor should it be yours, " Dad said. "You can't 11 what happens to others. You can only 12 what happens to you. You made a bad choice that night, and you were punished for it. "
For the duration of the following years, I come to realize there is no 13 that life will treat us fairly. That's why we can't 14 comparing our lives with the lives of others. Like Dad said, that isn't our 15 .
