张益
【Abstract】The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels is an excellent article by a well-known American writer Marie St.John which describes the life of a farmer's family at the beginning of the 20th century in the wilderness. This article demonstrates plenty of traditional virtues and values which have been lost in modern world，this essay aims to point out these precious values and virtues and explore the drawbacks of modern world through the comparison on these issues.
【Key words】traditional virtues； family values； nature and man； modern world
I. Family values
Perhaps one of most attractive places in this article is the harmony and intimate family relationship which is full of love and respect.All family members ，no matter what happened ，even if obliged to separate from each other by the war， never gave up the value of togetherness.In their lives，they forever put the family at the first place and attached an emphasis on togetherness and the exchange of emotion and feelings. However，this bond tends to loose in the modern world.
Members in the majority of Chinese family are living separately. Middle generation in rural areas usually crowd into cities to make a living，leaving their children to be look after by elders.Trapped by lack of money and time，they hardly get home and unit with their families all year around.Nevertheless，things do not go better in urban areas，parents of these places are so busy in pursuing wealth and fame which leaves them no time and effort to concentrate on families.Thus，a great amount of money is paid to send for a housekeeper to take care of the child and the old.
Owing to the long -period sever and rare communication，the crack in family love begins to enlarge，causing alienation and indifference existing among family members. Although people still regard family one of the most significant things for which they are fighting ，they work so hard so that a better livelihood can provide for them.Whereas，they seem to ignore the importance of care，love and inner interaction which，as a matter of fact，is the key to keep intimate and nice family love.
II. Traditional virtues
The second to be mentioned is precious traditional virtues reflected in the piece， peoples self-reliance，and the love for the land and labor，perpetrate into every cell of life. Their wagon for the long adventure，the hunting and fishing tools，as well as the two-storey house were all out of their hands.Meat，fruits and vegetables at table either came from the wilderness or raised by themselves.they attempted to make full use of everything provided，feathers of ducks were made to be warm and warm quilt ，wild bananas plunked from forests were made into dessert for children.Being well taking care of，no sooner，this patch of land was developed into a large garden intersperses with various plants and corps.
Such pious love for the land and labor， nevertheless，has undermined together with the precious virtue of self reliance in the modern world.
Farmers no longer regard the land to be their root of life and source of foods，they abandon the vast expanse of field， for a new and wealthy life which can not be obtained by the little and bit income from it， is to their desire.Therefore，liking a flock of ducks，they aswarm into cities where plausibly a better livelihood is promised.
When it comes to the lifestyle，we can not deny the superiority of modern life which brings us a kind of all –inclusive convenience.However，it undoubtedly stimulates the nature of laziness of mankind compared with the traditional self –reliance one.Nowadays，we have construction company built the house，restaurants and clothes stores spring out， suppling us with whatever we want on meals and attire，only a ticket or a car is to be needed when people intend to go somewhere even not such far.Hence，nature of laziness grows and expanses until one day the values of self–reliance have been totally obliterated.Children in modern world seldom get the chance of possessing a sweater knitted by their mother， city citizens hardly eat vegetables and fruits planted by themselves，cars，Internet，manufacture and shopping malls become indispensable of our life.Thus the traditional virtues of self-reliance，the love for land and labour are nearly smashed by modernization.
III. Nature and human
The last one here to be discussed is the relationship between man and nature.The depiction of natural scenery in this article is one of most attrctive things，probably everyone live in the modern world admires harmony between man and nature in that era.At that time，people knew how to take good care of nature，they used their hands to eradicate pest instead of biocide，in return，nature provided man with healthy foods and cozy shelters.
Yet， things are exceedingly different in moder world.As an avaricious child who wants more candy from mother，mankind stretch mortal hands to ask more from nature.Foods and rustic shelters can not satisfy man anymore，we intend to create a more prosperous and comfortable life.Thus，high buildings and skyscrapers have been built in the place where used to a vast expanse of forests；numerous mountains have been flattened in order to establish train and railway tracks；millions of trees have been cut down to the raw materials of furniture，papers and mechine；variety of factories are set up to produce items that can not directly get from nature.
We are so proud of our wisdom for that human have achieved an unprecedented progress in science and technology， with which we do so many harmful things to nature.The destruction of forests and grassland brought about severe desertification，the contaminants from chemical factories and nuclear weapon pollute soil and water，green house gas from cars and refrigerators damages the Ozone which performs as an vital protection of earth.
Nature has been hardly hurt，she can no longer tolerate these evil children and intend to take measures.volcano，earthquakes，floods，hurricane and drought，all these disasters befall mankind，causing numerous injures and death，devastating cities and towns.The harmonious relation between man and nature is immensely threatened by greed and desire of conquest.
Conclusion
Family values，traditional virtues，the relationship between man and nature，are eternal themes of discussion，for their importance never fades in the history of time，wether they are well handled with is of great significance to mankinds well-being.However，precious values and virtues demonstrated in the article concerning these issues are difficult to find in the modern world.As citizens living in this modern society，we should pay high attention to these issues，for only they are well dealt with， can we human be granted a prosperous future.
