The owl was puzzled1. No one had come to the jungle2 school.“Maybe the littleones are late，”thought the teacher. “I’ll wait for a little while longer.”The owl didnot know that her students had decided to miss school. They had started out forschool but then changed their minds.

“But I am going to school，”said the turtle， and he started off at a slow andrelaxed pace3. He liked school. It was fun learning about things he didn’t know.Slowly the turtle made his way to school and saw the owl—the teacher waitingpatiently4 for her pupils.

But no one came. So the owl shared many secrets5 with the turtle， like why thesky was blue， and also why each of the animals looked different and had specialhabits of eating and catching food. The teacher had decided that she would test herbunking6 students the next day.

At that very moment the truant7 students were sitting under a huge tree happilyand having their lunch. They were so busy laughing at their jokes that they did notrealize8 it was time to go home！ Then they saw the turtle and that meant school wasover. They， too， decided to return to their homes. None of them saw the worried lookon the turtle’s face.

The little turtle was a bit worried. The teacher had looked grim9 at the end ofthe class！ Maybe he should bunk school the next day！

“So what did you do today？”asked the rabbit.“Ask us any question and we willshow you that there is no need to go to school. We know everything！ ”shouted thesquirrel.“Nobody learns from boring speeches10.”

貓頭鷹很困惑，還沒有人到達叢林學校?！耙苍S小朋友們遲到了?！边@位老師想，“我再等一會兒?！必堫^鷹不知道它的學生已經(jīng)決定逃學了。它們本來已經(jīng)出發(fā)去上學了，但后來又改變了主意。

“但是我要去上學。”烏龜說，然后它邁著緩慢輕松的步伐出發(fā)了。它喜歡學校，了解它不知道的事情很有趣。烏龜慢慢地走向學校，然后看到了貓頭鷹———這位老師正在耐心地等待它的學生。

然而沒有人來。于是貓頭鷹和烏龜分享了許多秘密，比如為什么天空是藍色的，為什么每種動物看起來都不一樣，并且有特殊的進食和捕食習慣。老師已經(jīng)決定第二天要測試逃課的學生。

就在此時，逃學的學生正高興地坐在一棵大樹下吃午飯。它們忙著因自己說的笑話而大笑，以至于沒有意識到該回家了！然后它們看到了烏龜，這意味著放學了。它們也決定回家，但誰也沒有看到烏龜臉上的愁容。

小烏龜有點擔心。下課的時候，老師的神情很可怕！也許它明天應該逃課！

“你今天做了什么？”兔子問?！皢栁覀?nèi)魏螁栴}吧，我們會讓你知道沒有必要去上學。我們什么都知道！”松鼠喊道，“沒有人會從無聊的課堂中學到東西?！?/p>

“Okay！ ”said the turtle. “What comes first， thunder or lightning？”“Thunder！ ”shouted the rabbit and the squirrel. “No， they come together！ ”said the monkey.“Don’tknow！ ”saidthemouse.“Ihide11 insideandclosemyears！ ”“Nevernoticed！ ”saidthesparrow“. Lightening！ ”shoutedthefrog.

“The frog’s right. But， can you tell me why lightning is seen before thunder isheard？”asked the turtle. “How would I know？ That was just a wild guess！ ”said thefrog.“It is because light travels faster than sound，”said the turtle.

“Okay， one more question. Does lion eat grass？”he asked. “Don’t be silly！ ”shouted back the squirrel and the rabbit. “What a stupid question！ ”said themonkey. The turtle looked at the others. “We’re thinking！ ”said the sparrow andthe snail.“Lions do eat grass！ ”the turtle answered.“Suppose12 a lion eats a deerthat had fed on grass. So the lion， too， has grass inside his stomach！ ”

“Did the owl teach you all this？”asked the mouse in a low and soft voice.“Yesand much， much more，”said the turtle. “But I am worried. The teacher had a nasty13gleam14 in her eyes when she said goodbye to me！ ”

They all went home with the same thought. “I will go to school and learn aboutthese secrets from the teacher，”thought the rabbit. “I do want to know about manythings.”

“What if the owl asks a question about my habits and Ican’t answer right，”spoke the mouse under her breath.“I willgo to school tomorrow. And I want to know more about theworld，”shouted the frog when he saw that he was alone. “So I willjump to school tomorrow.”

And the sparrow remembered what Mama had told her. “Sparrows whodo not know about the ways of the world get gobbled up15，”she had said.“Iwill fly to school，”said the sparrow. “If the slow turtle can become wise16，why can’t I？ After all， I am as slow as him， so I can become as wise as him aswell，”thought the snail.

But no one could sleep well that night. They hope everything would befine tomorrow.

“好！”烏龜說，“打雷和閃電哪個先到？”“打雷！”兔子和松鼠喊道。“不，它們一起來的！”猴子說?！安恢?！”老鼠說，“當時我躲在家里，捂上了耳朵！”從來沒注意過！”麻雀說?！伴W電！”青蛙喊道。

“青蛙說得對。但是，你能告訴我為什么在聽到雷聲之前會先看到閃電嗎？”烏龜問?！拔以趺磿溃磕蔷褪窍共碌?！”青蛙說?！斑@是因為光比聲音傳播得更快?！睘觚斦f。

“好吧，還有一個問題。獅子吃草嗎？”它問?！皠e傻了！”松鼠和兔子大聲回道?！岸嗝从薮赖膯栴}！”猴子說。烏龜看著其他人。“我們還在想！”麻雀和蝸牛說?！蔼{子確實是吃草的！”烏龜回答，“假設一只獅子吃了一只吃了草的鹿。這樣獅子肚子里也有草！”

“這都是貓頭鷹教你的嗎？”老鼠用低沉柔和的聲音問道?！笆堑?，還有非常非常多?！睘觚斦f，“但我很擔心。老師跟我說再見的時候，眼里閃著不友好的光芒！”

它們都帶著同樣的想法回家了。“我要去上學，從老師那里了解這些秘密?！蓖米酉耄拔掖_實想知道很多事情。”

“如果貓頭鷹老師問我有什么習慣，而我答不對怎么辦？”老鼠小聲說?！拔颐魈煲ド蠈W。我想更多地了解這個世界?！鼻嗤茉谝暰€里只剩自己一人時喊道，“所以我明天要跳著去學校?！?/p>

麻雀想起了媽媽告訴它的話，它說：“不懂人情世故的麻雀會被吃掉。”“我要飛到學校去?！甭槿刚f?！叭绻掏痰臑觚斈茏兟斆?，為什么我不能？畢竟，我和他一樣慢，所以我也可以變得和他一樣聰明?！蔽伵Ｏ?。

然而這天晚上沒有人能睡好。它們希望明天一切順利。

（英語原文選自：pitara.com）