October 27, 2007 幾乎每天晚上在女兒睡覺之前都和她一起至少讀一個故事，這個習慣以經有些年頭了。為了培養她愛書的美德，我除了和她去圖書館精選些好書以外，還不時扮演著書中的不同角色來閱讀，讓她充分享受讀書的樂趣，這也成了我們兩個每天必做的功課，否則讓她睡覺可就真要大費口舌，軟硬兼施了。。。話又說回來，我除了珍惜這個父女交流的傳統之外，我也在讀她的書中發現了很多意想不到的好東西。更讓我欣喜的是發現自己原來還可以是個兒童啊！ 今天講的是一個古老的傳說 --- 從前有個老人名字叫艾薩克。他窮困潦倒，經常在上床的時候還餓著肚子。 一天晚上，他做了一個夢。夢中有一個聲音告訴他去京城，在皇宮的橋下有等著他的財寶。 “這不過是個夢罷了！”他夢醒後自語，也沒有把這個夢當成一回事兒。 幾天後這個夢又回來了。他還是沒有把夢放在心上。 當他第三次做到這個奇怪的夢的時候，他想，“嗯，說不定這是真的呢！” 他決定去京城看一下。 他偶爾也會搭上其他人的車，不過他自己步行了大部分的旅程。 他穿過森林， 越過高山，最後終於到達繁華的京城。 但是當他走近皇宮的那座橋的時候，發現橋下警衛森嚴，日夜有人守護。他不敢貿然去橋下尋找寶藏，隻好每天一早就來到附近遊蕩，直到天黑才離開。 一天，警衛隊長覺得他有些可疑，就問他：“你來這裏幹什麽？” 艾薩克隻好實話實說，把自己奇怪的夢告訴了警衛隊長。 警衛隊長大笑起來 — “你這個可憐的家夥啊！”他說道。“沒見過你這麽輕信的人了，為了一個荒唐的夢就這樣磨破鞋子，千裏迢迢來到這裏！聽著， 如果我也像你一樣傻的話， 我早就會按照我以前做過的那個夢，去你來的那個城市，在一個叫艾薩克的人家裏的爐子下麵，去尋找夢中啟示的所謂寶藏了！” 警衛隊長忍不住又大笑起來。。。 艾薩克躬身行禮之後，踏上了回家的漫漫長路。 他越過高山，穿過森林，其他路人偶爾也會搭上他一程，不過他還是步行了大部分的旅程。最後他終於回到了故鄉。 他一回到家裏，就急忙刨開爐灶，在那下麵果然發現了警衛隊長所說的那些財寶。 感恩節的時候，他建了一所祈禱的祠堂。在祠堂的一角， 他刻上了這樣的句子 — 有時候一個人必須經過長途跋涉才能夠發現自己身邊的東西。
艾薩克寄給警衛隊長一顆無價的紅寶石以感謝他的指引。自此以後，他生活得無憂無慮，再也不用擔心餓肚子了。 下麵是英文原版 — There once was a man and his name was Isaac. He lived in such poverty that again and again he went to bed hungry. One night, he had a dream. In his dream, a voice told him to go to the capital city and look for a treasure under the bridge by the Royal Palace. “It is only a dream,” he thought when he woke up, and he paid no attention to it. The dream came back a second time. And Isaac still paid no attention to it. When the dream came back a third time, he said, “Maybe it is true,” and so he set out on his journey. Now and then, someone gave him a ride, but most of the way he walked. He walked through forests. He crossed over mountains. Finally he reached the capital city. But when he came to the bridge by the Royal Palace, he found that it was guarded day and night. He did not dare to search for the treasure. Yet he returned to the bridge every morning and wandered around it until dark. One day, the captain of the guards asked him, “Why are you here?” Isaac told him the dream. The captain laughed. “You poor fellow,” he said, what a pity you wore your shoes out for a dream! Listen, if I believed a dream I once had, I would go right now to the city you came from and I’d look for a treasure under the stove in the house of a fellow name Isaac. Then he laughed again. Isaac bowed to the captain and started on his long way home. He crossed over mountains. He walked through forests. Now and then, someone gave him a ride, but most of the way he walked. At last, he reached his own town. When he got home, he dug under his stove, and there he found the treasure. In Thanksgiving, he built a house of prayer, and in one of its corners he put an inscription: Sometimes one must travel far to discover what it is near. Isaac sent the captain of the guards a priceless ruby. And for the rest of his days he lived in contentment and he never was poor again. 剛看完的那本 The Religion ，那些為自己的信念而戰的勇士們，在舉世聞名的茂塔島之戰之前，知道自己為了什麽來到那裏 — I come to Malta, not for glory and honor, rich or fame, but to save my soul! 我來到茂塔島， 不是為了 榮耀，財富和聲譽，我來是要拯救自己的靈魂！ 當我們曆經千辛萬苦去追求理想而屢屢不得；當我們懷疑自己是否是在追求一個荒唐的，虛無縹緲的夢；當我們拋棄所有，去遙遠的異地他鄉去尋找自己的時候；當我們在痛苦，絕望中掙紮而開始懷疑人生的意義和宇宙的虛無的時候，別忘了提醒自己 — Sometimes one must travel far to discover what is near! 世界上有些東西也許隻有經過了才會真正讓自己發現其價值，也許那些痛苦，孤獨，悲傷，失望都是這漫長旅程的一部分？Grind it out and hang in there, 希望我們都能夠最終看到那鐵鞋踏破後的驚喜！ |
