The Seamstress
电子邮箱里看到一个诚实的妇女撒谎的故事。这原本是一段供午间闲读的文章，它却引发出一个严肃的话题 _ 诚实与撒谎。下面是这个故事以及我的评论。
One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked,” My dear child, why are you crying?"
The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.
The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with pearls.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.
The seamstress replied, "No."
The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a silver thimble ringed with sapphires.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.
Again, the seamstress replied, "No."
The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.
The seamstress replied, "Yes."
The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.
Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are you crying?"
"Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"
The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.
"Is this your husband?" the Lord asked.
"Yes," cried the seamstress.
The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"
The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.
And so the Lord let her keep him.
The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others.
That's our story, and we're sticking to it.
Signed,
All Us Women
My comments:
The seamstress’s reason is understandable. Even The Lord forgives her lie. But in real life, people may not have a chance to explain why they have to lie, and others may not be interested in try to understand why someone lies. When someone lies, she/he could face the consequence of lose her/his creditability.
When I was a child, my parents told me a story about “The little Shepherd” I learned that one should never call “The wolf is approaching” when the wolf is not be approaching. I still believe only someone has the credit of honesty, whose call will/should be answered.
I cannot say: “I never lie.” I cannot promise that I will never lie. But I cannot agree with the statement signed by “All Us Women”--- “Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That’s our story, and we're sticking to it.” I hope this statement was not written by a proud liar, but a liar who was trying to cover her shamefulness.
In certain circumstance, for some special reason, one may not be able avoid lying. But even one has a million of good reasons to make a lie; she/he still should not be excused herself/himself. She/he should not repeat lie thinking about they may be excused. She/he certainly should not be proud of for lying. If people excuse themselves all the time, they may lose their self-consciousness. It is dangerous.
