双语有声阅读：黄金与钻石

Gold and Diamond

 

A long time ago, in Egypt lived a famous mystical person named Zun-Nun. A young man came to visit him and asked,"Teacher, I do not understand why people like you when you dress in such a simple way?"

 

The mystic only smiled and took his ring from one of his fingers, and said:"Young friend, I will answer your question, but first do one thing for me, take this ring and go to the market across this street, can you sell this for one chip of gold?"

 

Looking at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, the young man became doubtful¹, "One chip of gold? I am not sure this ring could be sold at that price."

 

The young man went to the market quickly. He offered the ring to the textile², vegetable, meat, fish traders, and the others. The fact is that no body was willing to pay for a chip of Gold. He went back to Zun-Nun's residence³ and reported,"Teacher, nobody's brave enough to offer more than one chip of silver."

 

With a wise smile Zun-Nun said,"Now go to the Gold Shop at the back of this street and show this to the owner or to the gold trader. Don't give your price; just listen how much he will pay for this ring."

 

The young man went to the shop mentioned and returned with a different expression on his face. He then reported,"Teacher, the traders in the market really didn't know the value of this ring, the gold trader offered this ring for one thousand of gold, and the value of this ring was one thousands times from what the traders in the market offered."

 

Zun-Nun just smiled subtly⁴ and spoke⁵ softly," That was the answer of your question, my friend. Someone cannot be valued only from his dress. The traders in the market give value like that but not for 'the gold trader'."

 

The gold and diamond inside someone only could be seen and valued if you could look at the inner⁶ soul. It needs heart to see, and it needs a process. We cannot see it from the words or attitude. Many a time what we think is a gold, is only a brass⁷ but a brass is a gold.

 

黄金与钻石

 

很久以前，在埃及生活着一位著名的神秘人物，他的名字叫做祖南。有一个年轻人前去拜访他，问道：“老师，我不明白为什么人们喜欢穿着简单的您？”

 

哲人笑而不答，从他的手指上取下戒指，说：“我的朋友，我会回答你的问题的，但是，你得先替我做件事情。把这只戒指拿到街对面的市场上，看看能不能卖上一块金子。”

 

年轻人看了看祖南那枚不太干净的戒指，心中充满怀疑：“卖块金子？这枚戒指能卖到那个价钱吗？”

 

年轻人很快就来到了市场。他把这枚戒指介绍给卖布的、卖菜的、卖肉的，卖鱼的商人和一些其他的人。事实上没有一个人愿意花金子来买这枚戒指。年轻人回到了祖南的住处，说：“老师，这枚戒指连一块银子也没有人愿意买。”

 

祖南睿智地笑了，说：“现在你把它拿到街后面的金店，给黄金商人看看。你不要给价钱，看看黄金商人会出多少钱。”

 

年轻人去了金店，回来时表情与刚才大不相同。他说：“老师，市场上的那些商人真的不知道这枚戒指的价值，黄金商人出价一千枚金币，这个价是那些市场上的人的一千倍。”

 

祖南微笑着说：“这就是我给你的答案。我们不能只凭一个人的衣着来判断他的价值，市场上的商人就是这样，只凭东西的表面样子来定价，而那些黄金商人则恰恰相反。”

 

只有当你接近一个人的心灵的时候，才能看见这个人内在的“黄金”与“钻石”。这需要用心去观察，而且也需要一个过程。我们不能通过一个人的言语和态度来判断一个人的价值。有许多时候我们认为是金子的东西，只是黄铜而已；而我们认为是黄铜的东西，恰恰是金子。

1 doubtful   

adj.难以预测的，未定的；怀疑的，可疑的

参考例句：

• Let's try to clear up our difficult and doubtful points.让我们设法把难处和疑点解决一下。
• Everyone was doubtful at first,but his statement in detail held up.起初大家都怀疑，但他的详细叙述证明情况属实。

2 textile   

n.纺织品；adj.纺织的

参考例句：

• Japan imports textile materials from Britain.日本从英国进口纺织材料。
• He haunted textile mills, and learned all he could.他常到纺织厂去，尽可能多学点东西。

3 residence   

n.住处，住宅；居住，(合法)居住资格

参考例句：

• They are only allowed one month's residence.他们获准只逗留一个月。
• He took up residence in Australia.他去澳大利亚居住。

4 subtly   

adj.微妙地，巧妙地

参考例句：

• Their attitude to me altered subtly.他们对我的态度已隐隐约约地有所改变。
• Such youth and prettiness reacted upon him more subtly than wine.如此青春的美色，比醇酒更令他沉醉入迷。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 inner   

adj.内部的，里面的；内在的，内心的；精神的

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• Other people seek the mountains for renewal of their inner lives.另一些人到深山中去，寻求新的精神生活。

7 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。