08.钻牛角尖|take unnecessary pains to study an insignificant problem

A very hard-working ant has strayed into a bull's horn one day. The ant was very small. The curved 'bull's horn' looked to him like an extremely wide tunnel. He thought that when he came out of the tunnel, it would be a cave with beautiful grass and abundant water. But the path beneath his feet became narrower and narrower, and later it became difficult to fit in. The ant had to stop and think hard about this. After a fierce battle of ideas, he decided to turn around and start again.
This time, he headed from the tip of the bull's horn to the mouth of the bull's horn, and was surprised to find that the path became wider and wider, and that when he stepped out of the bull's horn, the sky was blue and extremely high, and the ground was lush and green, like a sea of green waves. For a moment, he felt like a bird flying freely in the sky or a fish swimming freely in the sea. Afterwards, the ant said to everyone: "When you encounter an obstacle that you can't get over, try a different approach. It's like facing a door that won't open, change the key and the door of hope may open for you."
This story tells us that it is very simple to "not take the bull by the horns", but it seems not so easy to actually realise which side is the bull by the horns and which side is the bull by the horns. Only a calm and thoughtful mind can find another way out of a dilemma.
重点词汇
one day 一天；一日
out of 从…里面；离开 ; 从…的状态中 ; 越出…之外
fit in 适应 ; 适合 ; 符合 ; 找到时间 ; 安排时间 ; 相处融洽 ; 发挥作用
think hard 苦思冥想；动脑筋；苦思；凝神思索
turn around 转动 ; 转身 ; 扭转 ; 调转方向 ; 转向 ; 复苏 ; 好转 ; 改变表达方式 ; 话锋突转
and that 而且，并且
一只十分勤奋的蚂蚁，有一天误入了牛角。蚂蚁很小。弯弯的'牛角，在他看来就像是一条极其阔的隧道。它想，走出隧道，定会是一个草美水丰的洞天福地。谁料，脚下的路却越走越窄，到后来竟难以容身。为此，蚂蚁不得不停下来进行认真思考。经过一番激烈的思想斗争，它决心掉过头来，重新开始。
这一回，他由牛角尖向牛角口进发，结果它惊喜地发现，道路越走越宽广，而且步出牛角，天蓝盈盈的，极其高远，地郁郁葱葱的，宛如绿浪滚滚的大海。一时间，它觉得自己就是那天上自由飞翔的小鸟儿，大海中随意竞游的小鱼儿。之后，蚂蚁逢人便说：“当你遇到无法逾越的障碍时，不妨换一种方式。这就像面对一扇打不开的门一样，换一把钥匙，希望之门或许就会为你敞开。”
这个故事告诉我们，“不钻牛角尖”，很浅显的道理，但要真正意识到哪边是牛角尖，哪边是牛角口，似乎却不那么容易。唯有一颗冷静而善于思考的心灵，方可另辟蹊径，解除困境