英语小达人 376 Nails in the Fence

 　　Nails in the Fence篱笆上的钉子There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

　　从前有一个小男孩脾气很坏。他的父亲给了他一包钉子，告诉他，每当脾气失控时，就在篱笆后面钉一枚。

　　The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled¹ down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

　　第一天，小男孩往篱笆上钉了37根钉子。接下来的几个星期，他逐渐学会了控制自己的情绪，每天钉入篱笆的钉子日渐减少了。他发现，控制情绪比在篱笆上钉钉子要容易得多。

　　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 by and the boy finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

　　终于有一天，他一次脾气也没发。他告诉了父亲。父亲建议他在能够支配情绪的日子里，每天拔下一枚钉子。时间一天天过去，小男孩终于可以告诉父亲钉子全部拔完了。

　　The father took his son by the hand and led him to the hence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the hence. The hence will never the same. When you say something 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 things you say I'm sorry the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."父亲牵着儿子的手领他来到篱笆前。他说：“儿子，你做得很好，可是你看看篱笆上的洞。这面篱笆再也不能恢复到以前的样子了。当你生气而出口伤人时，你的言语就像这些钉子一样，在人们的心中留下疤痕。你在别人身上插了一刀再拔出来，即使你再怎么道歉，伤痕依然存在。因为言语的伤害和肉体的伤害一样，都难以恢复。”

　　念念不忘A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.因为言语的伤害和肉体的伤害一样，都难以恢复。

1 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》