It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult. Do we do right when no one is looking?
Do we do right when no one is looking?
Catch of a Lifetime
James P.Lenfestey
He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got from the dock dock n.<美> 码头, 船坞, 被告席, 尾巴的骨肉部分 at his familys cabin on an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake.
在无人看到的时候,我们还会始终如一吗?
一生的收获
詹姆斯·P.伦费斯蒂
在新汉普郡湖心岛上有一个码头,男孩儿家的小屋就在那里。 他11岁时,只要有机会,他就会到码头钓鱼。
On the day before the bass season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, catching sunfish sunfish n.翻车鱼, 淡水产小鱼 and perch with worms. Then he tied on a small silver lure and practiced casting. The lure struck the water and caused colored ripples ripple n.波纹 in the sunset, then silver ripples as the moon rose over the lake.
When his peapole doubled over, he knew something huge was on the other end. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish alongside the dock.
Finally, he very gingerly gingerly adv.小心翼翼地, 谨慎的, 极为小心地, 慎重地 lifted the exhausted fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass.
The boy and his father looked at the handsome fish, gills playing back and forth in the moonlight.
鲈鱼季节开放前的一天晚上,他和父亲很早就垂钓,用小虫作饵钓翻车鱼和鲈鱼。他系上鱼饵,开始练习抛线。在夕阳的映照下,鱼钩击打着湖水,荡起一片金色的涟漪,夜晚月亮从湖面升起时,涟漪就成了银色。
当鱼钩往下沉的时候,男孩儿知道上钩的一定是条大鱼。父亲看着儿子钓鱼时动作熟练,眼中满是赞赏之情。
终于,他极为小心地将筋疲力尽的鱼钓了上来。他从未见到过这么大的鱼,那是一条鲈鱼。
男孩和父亲看着这条漂亮的鱼,月光之下,鱼鳃一张一翕。
The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 P.M.—two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy.
“Youll have to put it back, son,” he said.
“Dad!” cried the boy.
“There will be other fish,” said his father.
“Not as big as this one,” cried the boy.
He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were anywhere around in the moonlight. He looked again at his father. Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could tell by the clarity of his fathers voice that the decision was not negotiable negotiable adj.可通过谈判解决的 . He slowly worked the hook hook n.钩, 吊钩 out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the black water.
父亲点燃一根火柴,然后看了一下表。十点钟——距鲈鱼季节的开放还有两个小时。他看了看鱼,又看了看男孩。
“你把它放回水中吧,儿子,”他说道。
“爸爸!”男孩叫喊道。
“还会有别的鱼,”父亲说道。
“但不会有这般大的了,”男孩叫喊道。
他看了看湖面。在月光下,他没有看见其他的渔民和渔船。他再次看了看父亲。虽然没有人看到他们,也没有人知道他们何时钓到的鱼,但从父亲坚定的语气中,男孩儿深知这个决定是无法改变的。于是,他慢慢地将鱼钩从大鲈鱼的唇上取下,并蹲下身将鱼放回了水中。
The creature swished swish vt.使带着嗖嗖声地挥动 its powerful body and disappeared. The boy suspected that he would never again see such a great fish.
That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect architect n.建筑师 in New York City. His fathers cabin is still there on the island in the middle of the lake. He takes his own son and daughters fishing from the same dock.
And he was right. He has never again caught such a magnificent magnificent adj.华丽的, 高尚的, 宏伟的 fish as the one he landed that night long ago. But he does see that same fish—again and again—every time he comes up against a question of ethics ethics 道德规范 .
For, as his father taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.
鱼儿用力地摆动了几下,便消失在水中。男孩猜想,或许他再也不会看到这么大的鱼了。
那已是34年前的事了。现在,男孩儿已成为纽约一位成功的建筑师。他父亲的小屋依然在湖心岛上,他仍旧带着自己的儿女在同一个码头钓鱼。
男孩儿猜得对。那次以后,他没有再钓到过那么大的鱼了。但是,每当他遇到道德上的问题,就会一次次想起那条鱼。
因为父亲曾告诉他,道德虽是简单的对错问题,但要付诸行动却很难。
Do we do right when no one is looking? Do we refuse to cut corners to get the design in on time? Or refuse to trade stocks based on information that we know we arent supposed to have?
We would if we were taught to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth. The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant fragrant adj.芬芳的, 香的 in our memory.
It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren. Not about how we had a chance to beat the system and took it, but about how we did the right thing and were forever strengthened.
在无人看到的时候,我们还会始终如一吗?为了及时送达图纸,我们会拒绝抄近路吗?或者在明知道必须抛售的情况下拒绝股票交易吗?
在我们年少时,如果有人让我们把鱼重新放回水中,我们会这样做,因为我们还在学习真理。正确的决定在我们的记忆里变得清晰而温馨。
这个故事我们可以骄傲地讲给朋友和子孙们听,不是关于我们如何打败什么体制,而在于我们如何做正确的事,并永远坚持。
道德是一个人的思想态度的反映,衡量一个人道德的标准即是行为。我们不能在人前做君子,在人后却做了小人。有时,也许你自己都无法知道,明明是错的,而你却做了。这或许就是你的道德出了问题,道德不是一时的风凉话,它是一辈子脚踏实地要去坚守的航向标。在人生的旅途中,我们在道德与行为面前,要做到不违背自己的良知,言行一致,我们就会不断迈向成功。