反面的牌子 The Blind Boy

佚名/Anonymous

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said，“I am blind, please help.”

There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked，“Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?What did you write?”

The man said，“I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”

What he had written was，“Today is a beautiful day and I cannotsee it.”

Do you think the frst sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the frst sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.

The frst sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.

There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.

The first is：Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can.

The second is：Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way！

一个盲童坐在一幢楼前的台阶上，他的脚边放着一顶帽子，手里举着一块牌子，牌子上写着“我是盲人，请帮帮我”。

帽子里只有几枚硬币。一个人经过这里，从口袋里掏出几枚硬币扔进帽中。然后，他拿过那块牌子，把它翻过去，在上面写了几个字，又把牌子放了回去，这样过路人都能看到他写的字。

给盲童钱币的人越来越多，帽子很快就满了。当天下午，那个改写盲童牌子的人又过来了，他想看看情况怎样。盲童辨认出了他的脚步声，便问：“你就是早上修改我的牌子的人吧？你写的是什么呢？”

这个人说：“我只是把事实写了下来，把你所写的内容换了一种表达方式。”

他写的是：“今天是个好日子，我却什么都看不见。”

你是否认为第一块牌子和第二块牌子陈述的是一件事情呢？

当然，两块牌子都告诉人们这个男孩是个盲人。但前者只要求人们往帽子里放钱来帮助他，而后者则告诉人们他们正在享受美好的日子，而作为盲人的他却不能。

第一块牌子只是说明男孩是盲人，第二块则告诉人们他们拥有良好的视力很幸运。

我们至少可以从这个简单的故事中得出两点教训：

第一，要对拥有的一切怀有感恩之心！或许有人比你拥有得更少，要尽力帮助那些需要帮助的人。

第二，要富于创造精神，全方位地考虑问题，终会发现好的解决办法！

心灵小语

我的大部分知识都是这样获得的：在寻找某个资料时意外地发现了别的资料。

——富兰克林

W词汇笔记

blind[blaind]adj.盲目的；瞎的

例 Hatred is blind as well as love.

爱情与仇恨同样是盲目的。

pocket['p?kit]n.口袋

例 The boy tucked his wallet into a pocket.

男孩把钱包塞进一个口袋里。

recognize['rek?gnaiz]v.认出；认可；承认

例 I think I recognize your hoof in it.

我看出你在这里面插了一手。

creative[kri（：）'eitiv]adj.创造性的

例 The writing of poems, stories or plays is often called creative writing.

诗歌、小说和剧本的写作常常被称做创作。

S小试身手

他写的是：“今天是个好日子，我却什么都看不见。”

译____________________________

要对拥有的一切怀有感恩之心！

译____________________________

全方位地考虑问题，终会发现好的解决办法！

译____________________________

P短语家族

Soon the hat began to fill up.

fill up：装满；填写；填充；填塞；堵塞

造____________________________

I said what you said but in a different way.

in a different way：以一种不同的方式

造____________________________