只是因为在人群中多看了你一眼...

October 27, 2007

几乎每天晚上在女儿睡觉之前都和她一起至少读一个故事，这个习惯以经有些年头了。为了培养她爱书的美德，我除了和她去图书馆精选些好书以外，还不时扮演着书中的不同角色来阅读，让她充分享受读书的乐趣，这也成了我们两个每天必做的功课，否则让她睡觉可就真要大费口舌，软硬兼施了。。。话又说回来，我除了珍惜这个父女交流的传统之外，我也在读她的书中发现了很多意想不到的好东西。更让我欣喜的是发现自己原来还可以是个儿童啊！

今天讲的是一个古老的传说 ---

从前有个老人名字叫艾萨克。他穷困潦倒，经常在上床的时候还饿着肚子。

一天晚上，他做了一个梦。梦中有一个声音告诉他去京城，在皇宫的桥下有等着他的财宝。

“这不过是个梦罢了！”他梦醒后自语，也没有把这个梦当成一回事儿。

几天后这个梦又回来了。他还是没有把梦放在心上。

当他第三次做到这个奇怪的梦的时候，他想，“嗯，说不定这是真的呢！” 他决定去京城看一下。

他偶尔也会搭上其他人的车，不过他自己步行了大部分的旅程。 他穿过森林， 越过高山，最后终于到达繁华的京城。

但是当他走近皇宫的那座桥的时候，发现桥下警卫森严，日夜有人守护。他不敢贸然去桥下寻找宝藏，只好每天一早就来到附近游荡，直到天黑才离开。

一天，警卫队长觉得他有些可疑，就问他：“你来这里干什么？”

艾萨克只好实话实说，把自己奇怪的梦告诉了警卫队长。

警卫队长大笑起来 —

“你这个可怜的家伙啊！”他说道。“没见过你这么轻信的人了，为了一个荒唐的梦就这样磨破鞋子，千里迢迢来到这里！听着， 如果我也像你一样傻的话， 我早就会按照我以前做过的那个梦，去你来的那个城市，在一个叫艾萨克的人家里的炉子下面，去寻找梦中启示的所谓宝藏了！”

警卫队长忍不住又大笑起来。。。

艾萨克躬身行礼之后，踏上了回家的漫漫长路。

他越过高山，穿过森林，其他路人偶尔也会搭上他一程，不过他还是步行了大部分的旅程。最后他终于回到了故乡。

他一回到家里，就急忙刨开炉灶，在那下面果然发现了警卫队长所说的那些财宝。

感恩节的时候，他建了一所祈祷的祠堂。在祠堂的一角， 他刻上了这样的句子 —

有时候一个人必须经过长途跋涉才能够发现自己身边的东西。

艾萨克寄给警卫队长一颗无价的红宝石以感谢他的指引。自此以后，他生活得无忧无虑，再也不用担心饿肚子了。

下面是英文原版 —

There once was a man and his name was Isaac.

He lived in such poverty that again and again he went to bed hungry.

One night, he had a dream. In his dream, a voice told him to go to the capital city and look for a treasure under the bridge by the Royal Palace.

“It is only a dream,” he thought when he woke up, and he paid no attention to it.

The dream came back a second time. And Isaac still paid no attention to it.

When the dream came back a third time, he said, “Maybe it is true,” and so he set out on his journey.

Now and then, someone gave him a ride, but most of the way he walked.

He walked through forests. He crossed over mountains.

Finally he reached the capital city.

But when he came to the bridge by the Royal Palace, he found that it was guarded day and night.

He did not dare to search for the treasure. Yet he returned to the bridge every morning and wandered around it until dark.

One day, the captain of the guards asked him, “Why are you here?”

Isaac told him the dream. The captain laughed.

“You poor fellow,” he said, what a pity you wore your shoes out for a dream! Listen, if I believed a dream I once had, I would go right now to the city you came from and I’d look for a treasure under the stove in the house of a fellow name Isaac.

Then he laughed again.

Isaac bowed to the captain and started on his long way home.

He crossed over mountains. He walked through forests. Now and then, someone gave him a ride, but most of the way he walked.

At last, he reached his own town.

When he got home, he dug under his stove, and there he found the treasure.

In Thanksgiving, he built a house of prayer, and in one of its corners he put an inscription: Sometimes one must travel far to discover what it is near.

Isaac sent the captain of the guards a priceless ruby. And for the rest of his days he lived in contentment and he never was poor again.

刚看完的那本 The Religion ，那些为自己的信念而战的勇士们，在举世闻名的茂塔岛之战之前，知道自己为了什么来到那里 — I come to Malta, not for glory and honor, rich or fame, but to save my soul! 我来到茂塔岛， 不是为了 荣耀，财富和声誉，我来是要拯救自己的灵魂！

当我们历经千辛万苦去追求理想而屡屡不得；当我们怀疑自己是否是在追求一个荒唐的，虚无缥缈的梦；当我们抛弃所有，去遥远的异地他乡去寻找自己的时候；当我们在痛苦，绝望中挣扎而开始怀疑人生的意义和宇宙的虚无的时候，别忘了提醒自己 — Sometimes one must travel far to discover what is near! 

世界上有些东西也许只有经过了才会真正让自己发现其价值，也许那些痛苦，孤独，悲伤，失望都是这漫长旅程的一部分？Grind it out and hang in there, 希望我们都能够最终看到那铁鞋踏破后的惊喜！