The Tale of Two Pebbles
两块鹅卵石的故事

在祝福他人的时候，我们常常会恭祝他人万事如意。这祝福当然是诚心诚意的，只是从实践来看，它更多的是一种美好的愿景，而不太能够成为现实。正如俗话所说，人生不如意事十之八九，我们总是会不时地遭遇困境。但是没关系，只要我们敢于打破固有思维，充分运用自己的智慧，就有扭转局势的机会。

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning moneylender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Take a moment to ponder this. What would you recommend that the girl do?

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty. The girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

很多年以前，在印度的一个小村子里，一个农民不幸欠了一个放贷者一大笔钱。这个年岁已高、相貌丑陋的放贷者喜欢这个农民的漂亮女儿。所以他提出了一项交易。他说如果他能娶到农民的女儿，农民欠他的债就一笔勾销。

这个农民和他的女儿都很反感这个提议。于是这个狡猾的放贷者就提议说他们可以让上天来决定这件事。他告诉他们说，他会往一个空的钱袋里放入一块黑色鹅卵石和一块白色鹅卵石。然后由女孩来从袋子里抓一个。如果女孩抓到的是黑色的鹅卵石，那么她就得嫁给他为妻，她父亲欠的债会被免除。如果她抓到的是白色鹅卵石，她就不需要嫁给他，而且她父亲欠的债依然会被免除。如果她拒绝从中抓取一块鹅卵石，那么她的父亲就会被抓到监狱去坐牢。

他们站在农民庄稼地里的一条铺满鹅卵石的小路上。在他们说话期间，放贷者弯下腰去捡起了两块鹅卵石。在他捡起它们的过程中，这个目光敏锐的女孩注意到他捡的是两块黑色的鹅卵石，并将它们放入了袋子里。然后他叫女孩从袋子中抓取一个。

现在，想想如果是你站在那片田野，如果你是那个女孩，你会怎么做？如果你必须给她提一个建议，你会跟她说些什么？

花一点时间去想想这个问题。你会建议这个女孩如何去做？

女孩将手伸进了钱袋，并取出了一块鹅卵石。还没来得及看，她便笨拙地摸索着然后让它给掉到了铺满鹅卵石的小路上，而且当即就消失在了众多其他的鹅卵石当中。

“噢，我真是太笨手笨脚了！”她说到。“但是没关系，如果你看看袋子里剩下的那一块鹅卵石，也就知道我刚刚选的是哪一块了。”

放贷者不敢承认自己欺诈。女孩将一个看似无可救药的困局演变成了一个极其有利的局面。

巧记词汇

misfortune [ˌmɪsˈfɔːtʃuːn] n. 不幸

【拓】fortune [ˈfɔːtʃuːn] n. 运气

fancy [ˈfænsi] v. 喜爱

【拓】favor [ˈfeɪvə(r)] v. 喜欢

forgo [fɔːˈɡəʊ] v. 放弃

【拓】exempt [ɪɡˈzempt] v. 免除

cunning [ˈkʌnɪŋ] a. 狡猾的

【拓】tricky [ˈtrɪki] a. 狡猾的

providence [ˈprɒvɪdəns] n. 天意

【拓】provide [prəˈvaɪd] v. 提供

strew [stjuː] v. 撒满

【拓】scatter [ˈskætə(r)] v. 零星散布

sharp-eyed [ˌʃɑːp ˈaɪd] a. 目光敏锐的

【拓】observant [əbˈzɜːvənt] a. 善于观察的

ponder [ˈpɒndə(r)] v. 仔细考虑

【拓】wonder [ˈwʌndə(r)] v. 想知道

fumble [ˈfʌmbl] v. 笨拙地做事；摸索

【拓】clumsy [ˈklʌmzi] a. 笨拙的

dishonesty [dɪsˈɒnɪsti] n. 不诚实

【拓】honesty [ˈɒnəsti] n. 诚实

advantageous [ˌædvənˈteɪdʒəs] a. 有利的

【拓】advantage [ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ] n. 优势，利益

趣学短语

pick up 捡起；（开车）接；接收（信号）；发现；整理（房间）

【例】Just believe yourself and try your best to do things, people will finally pick up that signal and treat you the way you want. 相信自己并且竭尽全力去做事，人们终究会接收到那样的信号，并按照你想要的方式去对待你。