书城励志你的心灵是一座花园1
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第21章 种植幸福(7)

The story turned out to be this:George Sang is an office clerk.He bought a lottery ticket issued by a bank a few days ago.The awards opened yesterday and he won a prize of $500,000.So he felt very happy after work and felt the music was so wonderful,that he took out 50dollars and put in the hat.However the lottery ticket was also thrown in.The violinist was a student at an Arts College and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna.He had booked the ticket and would fly that morning.However when he was cleaning up he found the lottery ticket.Thinking that the owner would return to look for it,he cancelled the flight and came back to where he was given the lottery ticket.

Later someone asked the violinist:“At that time you were in needed to pay the tuition fee and you had to play the violin in the subway station every day to make the money.Then why didn’t you take the lottery ticket for yourself?”

The violinist said,“Although I don‘t have much money,I live happily;but if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.”

Through our lives,we can gain a lot and lose so much.But being honest should always be with us.If we bear ourselves in a deceptive and dishonest way,we may succeed temporarily.However,from the long-term view,we will be a loser.Such kind of people are just like the water on the mountain.It stands high above the masses at the beginning,but gradually it comes down inch by inch and loses the chance of going up.

在繁华的纽约,曾经发生了这样一件震撼人心的事情。

星期五的傍晚,一个贫穷的年轻艺人仍然像往常一样站在地铁站门口,专心致志地拉着他的小提琴。琴声优美动听,虽然人们都急急忙忙地赶着回家过周末,但还是有很多人情不自禁地放慢了脚步,时不时地会有一些人在年轻艺人跟前的礼帽里放一些钱。

第二天黄昏,年轻的艺人又像往常一样准时来到地铁门口,把他的礼帽摘下来很优雅地放在地上。和以往不同的是,他还从包里拿出一张大纸,然后很认真地铺在地上,四周还用自备的小石块压上。做完这一切以后,他调试好小提琴,又开始了演奏,声音似乎比以前更动听更悠扬。

不久,年轻的小提琴手周围站满了人,人们都被铺在地上的那张大纸上的字吸引了,有的人还踮起脚尖看。上面写着:“昨天傍晚,有一位叫乔治-桑的先生错将一份很重要的东西放在我的礼帽里,请您速来认领。”

见此情景,人群之间引起一阵骚动,都想知道这是一份什么样的东西。过了半小时左右,一位中年男人急急忙忙跑过来,拨开人群就冲到小提琴手面前,抓住他的肩膀语无伦次地说:“啊!是您呀,您真的来了,我就知道您是个诚实的人,您一定会来的。”

年轻的小提琴手冷静地问:“您是乔治-桑先生吗?”

那人连忙点头。小提琴手又问:“您遗落了什么东西吗?”

那位先生说:“奖票,奖票”。

小提琴手于是掏出一张奖票,上面还醒目地写着乔治-桑,小提琴手举着彩票问:“是这个吗?”

乔治-桑迅速地点点头,抢过奖票吻了一下,然后又抱着小提琴手在地上跳起了舞。

原来事情是这样的,乔治-桑是一家公司的小职员,他前些日子买了一张一家银行发行的奖票,昨天上午开奖,他中了50万美元的奖金。昨天下班,他心情很好,觉得音乐也特别美妙,于是就从钱包里掏出50美元,放在了礼帽里,可是不小心把奖票也扔了进去。小提琴手是一名艺术学院的学生,本来打算去维也纳进修,已经定好了机票,时间就在今天上午,可是他昨天整理东西时发现了这张奖票,想到失主会来找,于是今天就退掉了机票,又准时来到这里。

后来,有人问小提琴手:“你当时那么需要一笔学费,为了赚够这笔学费,你不得不每天到地铁站拉提琴。那你为什么不把那50万元的奖票留下呢?”

小提琴手说:“虽然我没钱,但我活得很快乐;假如我没了诚信,我一天也不会快乐。”

在人的一生中,我们会得到许多,也会失去许多,但守信用却应是始终陪伴我们的。如果以虚伪、不诚实的方式为人处世,也许能获得暂时的“成功”,但从长远看,他最终是个失败者。这种人就像山上的水,刚开始的时候,是高高在上,但逐渐逐渐地它就越来越下降,再没有一个上升的机会。

钉子和篱笆The Nails and The Fence

There was a little boy with a bad temper.His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper,to hammer a nail in the back fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37nails into the fence.

Then it gradually dwindled down.He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn‘t lose his temper at all.He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.He said,“You have done well,my son,but look at the holes in the fence.The fence will never be the same.When you say things in anger,they leave a scar just like this one.You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.It won’t matter how many times you say I‘m sorry,the wound is still there.A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends are a very rare jewel,indeed.They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.They lend an ear,they share a word of praise,and they always want to open their hearts to us.Show your friends how much you care.

以前,有个小男孩,脾气很坏,他爸爸就给他一包钉子,让他每次发脾气的时候就往篱笆上钉钉子。

就在第一天,小家伙就已经在篱笆上钉了37个钉子。

慢慢地,他钉的越来越少了,原来他发现控制住自己的脾气要比往篱笆上钉钉子容易得多。

最后,终于有一天,小家伙脾气都不发了。他对爸爸说了这件事,可爸爸却建议他每天再从篱笆上拔出一颗钉子,这样他的脾气就能控制住了。

日子一天天过去,最后,那个男孩告诉他爸爸说钉子他都拔完了。爸爸就牵着他的手,带他去篱笆那儿。爸爸说:“儿子,你做得很好。但是,你看看篱笆上的小洞,每根篱笆都绝不会相同的。每次你发脾气的时候,它们都会就像这个一样留下伤疤。你用刀刺伤一个人,可以把刀拔出来。但是,无论你说多少遍对不起都是没用的,因为伤还在那里。言语里的伤害和身体上的伤害都同样糟糕。”

事实上,朋友是珍贵的珠宝。他们给你欢笑,给你走向成功的鼓励;他们倾听你的心声,分享成功的欢乐;而且,他们始终都向你敞开他们的胸怀,这些都说明你应该更加珍惜你的朋友。