55、A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed of（倾听） what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.
The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs shouted at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Didn't you hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was a little deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
This story teaches us two lessons:
1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift him up and help him make it through the day.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill him.
Be careful of what you say. The power of words is sometimes hard to understand because an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.