双语美文：寻找心中的宝藏

 An African farmer had heard tales about other farmers who had made millions of dollars by discovering diamond mines. These tales so excited the farmer that he could hardly wait to sell his farm and go prospecting¹ for diamonds himself.

   一个非洲农民听说过很多关于其他农民们因为发现钻矿而一夜暴富的故事。这些故事让这位农民如此心潮澎湃，他等不及要卖掉农场，踏上探矿之路。

  So he sold the farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent, searching unsuccessfully for the gleaming gems² that brought such high prices on the markets of the world. 

  于是他卖掉了农场，余生游荡在非洲大陆，寻找着那在世界市场上价格始终高居不下的发光的宝石。

  Finally, broke, worn out, and in a fit of despondency, he threw himself into a river and drowned.

  最后，他破产了、筋疲力尽了，一时的绝望之下，他投河自尽。

  Meanwhile, back at the farm, the man who had bought his farm happened to be crossing a small stream on the property one day when he saw something gleaming at the bottom of the stream. He picked it up. It was a sparkling stone - a good size stone - and, admiring it, he later put it on his fireplace mantel as an interesting curiosity.

  与此同时，在原来那个农场，那个买下农场的人一天碰巧跨过农场里的一条小溪，他看见溪底有什么东西在闪闪发光。他把它捡了起来，是一块发光的石头——很大一块——他欣赏着它，并把它当作一个有趣的珍藏放在壁炉架上。

  Several weeks later, a visitor admired the stone, looked closely at it, hefted it in his hand and nearly fainted. He asked the farmer if he knew what he'd found. When the farmer said no, that he thought it was just a piece of crystal, the visitor told him he had found one of the largest diamonds ever discovered.

  几个星期后，一位客人来欣赏那块石头，他仔细观摩着，放在手上掂量着，然后几乎晖厥过去。他问那个农民是否知道自己捡到的是什么。农民说不知道，他以为只是一块水晶。那位客人告诉他，他捡到的是迄今为止人类发现的最大钻石之一。

  The farmer was astonished. He told the man that his creek³ was full of these brilliant stone and his farmland was covered with them. Not all were as large, perhap as the one on his mantel, but they were sprinkled generously throughout his property.

  那个农民震惊极了。他告诉那位客人他的小溪里到处都是这种发光的石头，他的农田也被这种石头覆盖着。也许不是所有都象壁炉架上的那块一样大，但是它们遍布农场的每一个角落。

  Needless to say, the farm the first farmer had sold, so that he could search for a diamond mine, turned out to be the most productive diamond mine on the entire African continent.

  不必说，第一个农民为了搜寻钻矿而卖掉的农场结果却是整个非洲大陆上最多产的钻矿。

  The first farmer had owned, free and clear, acres of diamond but had sold them for practically nothing in order to look for them elsewhere.

   第一个农民本来名正言顺地拥有几亩的钻石，但他却为了去其他地方找钻石而把它们卖了，卖得一文不值。

 The moral is clear: If the first farmer hadonly taken the time to study and prepare himself - to learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state - and, since he had already owned a piece of land, to thoroughly⁴ explore the property he had before looking elsewhere, his wildest dreams would have come true.

  寓意很明白，如果第一个农民花一点时间去学习和准备——弄清楚未经打磨的钻石长什么样——并在探索其他地方之前先彻底地发掘一下自己已经拥有的那块地，他的美梦就可以成真。

  EACH OF US IS, AT THIS MOMENT, STANDING⁵ IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS OR HER OWN ACRE OF DIAMONDS. 

  我们每一个人，在此刻，都站在他/她自己的钻石田上。

  If each of us will only have the wisdom and patience to begin by exploring ourselve we will find that we contain all the riches necessary to be able to succeed in whatever endeavors to which we may set our minds and hearts.

   如果我们每个人都有智慧和耐心去首先探索自己，我们就会发现，我们拥有所有让我们能在任何我们决心从事的事业中成功的必备财富。

1 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。

2 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。