事情並不總是有“黑”“白”兩麵

   Things Are Not Always Black or White

     When I was in elementary school, I got into a major
argument with a boy in my class.  I have forgotten what the
argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I
learned that day.
     I was convinced that 'I' was right and 'he' was wrong - and
he was just as convinced that 'I' was wrong and 'he' was right. 
The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson.  She
brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one
side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk
was a large, round object.  I could clearly see that it was
black.  She asked the boy what color the object was.  "White,"
he answered.
     I couldn't believe he said the object was white, when it
was obviously black!  Another argument started between my
classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.
     The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing
and told him to come stand where I had been.  We changed places,
and now she asked me what the color of the object was.  I had to
answer, "White."  It was an object with two differently colored
sides, and from his viewpoint it was white.  Only from my side
was it black.
     My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day:  You
must stand in the other person's shoes and look at the situation
through their eyes in order to truly understand their
perspective.
 
      by Judie Paxton
    
                   事情並不總是有“黑”“白”兩麵
     
                          作者：久迪  帕克司通

        當我還在小學念書的時候，曾與我的同學有過一次很嚴重的爭吵。我已忘
記了那場爭吵的原因，但我卻永遠也忘不掉那天我學到的重要的一課。

        那時，我確信“我”是對的，而“他”是錯的--他則確信“我”是錯的而
“他”是對的。老師決定教我們重要的一課。她把我們帶到了教室的前麵，讓他站
在課桌的一邊，而我站在另一邊。在中間的課桌上，放了一個園園的東西。我可以
清楚地看到它是黑色的。她問那個男孩這個東西的顏色。“白色的”，他回答。
        我簡直不敢相信他竟然回答那是白的，因為它的確是黑的！另一場爭論在
我們之間展開，這次是為了那個東西的顏色。

        老師讓我到那個男孩的位置站立而讓他站到我原來的位置上。我們交換了
位置，然後她問我那個東西的顏色，我不得不回答：“白色。”那是一個兩邊有著
兩種不同顏色的東西，從他的視覺看到的就是白色，隻從我這一麵才看到是黑色。

         我的老師那天教了我們最重要的一課：你必需站在另一個人的位置上才能
看到從那個人眼中所見的真正的事實而了解他們的觀點。

追夢 譯於2003 年 4 月