A man was strolling1 along the beach when he suddenly noticed from afar what he thought were children dancing. “What on earth2 are they doing dancing on the beach？” he thought as he quickly paced towards them. He was surprised that a boy and a girl were not dancing but picking up the starfishes3 which were washed ashore by the tide and throwing them back into the sea.
　　“Excuse me， why are you throwing the starfishes back into the sea？” he asked.
　　The children ignored4 the remark but they continued picking up the starfishes and kept throwing them back into the sea.
　　“Don’t you think it is a waste of your time as there are hundreds of starfishes still lying around？ Surely you can’t keep this act all day long.”
　　At last the elder boy replied， “Sir， you see the sun will soon rise and the tide will ebb away5. Though my sister and I can’t throw all the starfishes back into the sea， we are sure it matters to the ones we succeed in throwing. Would you like to join us？ It would make a difference.” The man smiled and said， “It certainly would，” so he too picked up the starfishes and threw them into the sea.
　　Moral： A little drop of water can make a mighty ocean.
　　有一个人在沙滩上散步，突然，他看到远处好像是有小孩在跳舞。“他们到底在沙滩上跳舞干什么呢？”他边想边迅速地朝他们走过去。他惊奇地发现，一个男孩和一个女孩并不是在跳舞，而是捡起被海水冲上岸来的海星，并把它们扔回大海。
　　“请问，你们为什么把海星扔回大海呢？”他问道。
　　孩子们没有理会他的话，继续捡海星扔回大海。
　　“你们不觉得这是浪费时间吗？还有成千上万的海星躺在海岸上呢！你们肯定不会一整天都这样扔下去吧。”
　　最后，年龄大一点的男孩开口了，“先生，您知道，太阳很快就要升起来了，潮水也会退去。虽然我和妹妹不能把所有的海星都扔回大海，但我们相信，对于被我们扔回大海的海星来说，我们所做的是至关重要的。你想加入我们吗？这很有意义。”那人笑了笑说，“当然。”于是，他也捡起了海星，扔回了大海。
　　寓意：一小滴水也可汇成汪洋大海。