雙語(yǔ)美文欣賞：挖掘黃金

挖掘黃金

When I was a young boy in Santa Cruz, California I used to help my Grandfather in the fields by his home. This was not his land but back in those days it was not unusual to barter with the neighbours to worked it for them so he could grow the vegetables that he loved. He would then share them with the neighbour for payment. He grew corn, beans, peas, zucchini, cucumbers and garlic. And nobody could grow bigger dahlias than my Grandfather.

在我很小的時(shí)候，我的祖父家住在加利福尼亞的圣克魯斯城，我常常去祖父家附近的田地里幫他干農(nóng)活。盡管那塊田地是屬于祖父的鄰居，但在那個(gè)時(shí)候，鄰居之間作實(shí)物交易是很常見(jiàn)的，所以祖父也能在那塊田地種上自己喜愛(ài)的農(nóng)作物。而作為報(bào)酬，在收割時(shí)祖父就與鄰居們一同分享果實(shí)。祖父通常種植玉米、大豆、豌 豆、南瓜、黃瓜和大蒜。祖父的農(nóng)藝很高超，就連他種的大麗花長(zhǎng)得也要比鄰居們種的高大許多。

As I worked along side him he used to love to tell this story of a named Giuseppe (Joe) and his wife who moved to a new farm with their three sons. They were settling into the new community when a nearby farmer told Joe that there was gold in the dirt of his new property. Joe took that statement as that there was actual gold in the land. He thought to himself, "I have three healthy sons, I will tell them about it". Indeed he told his sons that there was gold to be found in their new property. Needless to say his sons actually took charge of their personal enterprise right on their own land. They had visions of what they would do when they found gold. Each son had a different vision. For as young as they were, they set up quite a professional approach in the digging for gold.

當(dāng)我在一旁幫祖父干農(nóng)活時(shí)，他總愛(ài)給我講一個(gè)名叫喬的一家人的故事。故事是這樣的:喬帶著妻子和他們的三個(gè)兒子搬到了一個(gè)新的農(nóng)場(chǎng)。當(dāng)喬一家人住進(jìn)一個(gè)新杜區(qū)以后，附近的一位農(nóng)夫告訴喬說(shuō)他的地里有黃金。喬昕后以為這片土地有真的黃金存在，就在心里暗想我有三個(gè)健壯的兒子，我應(yīng)該把這件事告訴他們。"于是，喬告訴他的兒子說(shuō)，在他們家的這塊新地產(chǎn)上可以找到黃金。不必說(shuō)，他的兒子們立刻去地里挖掘黃金了，就好像把這件事當(dāng)成了自己的事業(yè)一樣。他們幻想著找到黃金以后去做什么，但每一個(gè)人都有各自不同的夢(mèng)想。因?yàn)樗麄內(nèi)绱四贻p，還提出一個(gè)相當(dāng)專業(yè)的挖掘黃金的方法。

They began in one corner with a certain width and kept going until they got to the end. Once they got to the property line they would start another swath and go back the other direction. They began to realize that digging for gold was fun! This procedure went on for about six months and they still weren through going through the whole property.

他們先從一個(gè)角落開(kāi)始挖掘，并以特定的一個(gè)寬度繼續(xù)向前挖，一直挖到這塊土地的盡頭。他們漸漸覺(jué)得挖掘黃金這件事充滿了無(wú)窮的樂(lè)趣!就這樣不知不覺(jué)，他們連續(xù)挖了六個(gè)月，仍然陶醉在擁有黃金以后的美夢(mèng)里。

Meanwhile Joe thought he would plant some crops in the area where the dirt had been turned thoroughly. He planted corn, tomatoes, potatoesand onions. His sons continued to dig through the soil, determined to find gold. As more dirt was available. Joe planted more crops. An interesting point here is that Joe had never farmed before but it had always been a dream of his to do so.

與此同時(shí)，喬有了新的想法，他打算在這些徹底翻新過(guò)的土地上種一些農(nóng)作物。于是，他開(kāi)始種玉米、西虹柿、馬鈴薯和洋蔥。而他的兒子們?nèi)栽谶@塊土地上繼續(xù)不停地挖掘著，一心想找到黃金。隨著可利用的土地越來(lái)越多，喬的農(nóng)作物也越種越多。有趣的是，喬以前從來(lái)不會(huì)種田，那似乎是他所不敢想象的，然而現(xiàn)在他卻做到了。

As each different crop became ready to be harvested Joe started to realize that there was more than he and his family could ever eat. One of Joe's neighbours suggested that he set Up a vegetable stand. Joe and his wife did that very thing. They called it Joe and Family Vegetables. Joe even had to leave some crops on the ground because he had more than enough to meet the demands at the vegetable stand.

當(dāng)各種農(nóng)作物快要收割的時(shí)候，喬意識(shí)到這要比他一家人所需要的食物多得多。這時(shí)喬的一位鄰居建議他在地里設(shè)立一個(gè)蔬菜區(qū)用來(lái)出售。于是喬和妻子昕取了他的意見(jiàn)，并把它稱為喬家蔬菜。喬在蔬菜區(qū)留了足夠多的蔬菜，以滿足顧客的需求。

What were Joe's sons doing in the meantime? They were still working the land even after they had finished the entire parcel. They started once again in the original corner. working in the leftover plant material while they were still on their quest to find gold.

那么與此同時(shí)，喬的兒子們?cè)谧鍪裁茨?他們?nèi)匀辉谶@塊土地上挖掘著黃金，甚至當(dāng)所有的土壤都被翻過(guò)以后。他們?cè)谄鸪醯慕锹淅镉种匦峦诹似饋?lái)，而這時(shí)地里的莊稼已經(jīng)收割完，他們?cè)谶@塊留有農(nóng)作物殘枝敗葉的土地上仍然繼續(xù)追逐著他們的黃金夢(mèng)。

This process went on for years and Joe and his wife became quite wealthy from their little vegetable stand. They were even able to send their sons off to college simply because they wanted to find gold.

幾年過(guò)去了，喬和妻子靠著他們的那塊蔬菜地，已經(jīng)變得相當(dāng)富有。他們甚至能供得起兒子去上大學(xué)，而不想再看到他們的兒子只想著挖黃金。

Remember at the beginning of the story when Joe was told by his new neighbour that there was gold in the land? Well, the truth is. Joe's understanding of the English language was less than perfect. His new neighbour friend actually told him that his land had rich soil. So you can see where the concept of gold came In.

再讓我們回顧一下故事的開(kāi)頭，不正是喬的新鄰居告訴他地里出黃金的嗎?然而，事實(shí)上是喬對(duì)英國(guó)的語(yǔ)言理解得還不夠透徹。他的新鄰居其實(shí)是說(shuō)他那塊土地有肥沃的土壤，所以你應(yīng)該知道黃金的概念來(lái)自哪兒了吧。

Did Joe's sons become slaves to the digging? No, they were inspired because they had visions of what money could do for them and did not focus on the money itself.

喬的兒子們成為挖掘土地的奴隸了嗎?不，他們只是一昧地幻想著金錢能為他們做什么，并被無(wú)數(shù)個(gè)幻想所激勵(lì)，但從未考慮過(guò)獲取金錢的正確途徑。

Is there.a way we can take this story to a higher level? Yes. the Universe provides us opportunity and sometimes dangles the carrot to inspire us. In essence. Joe's sons were inspired with the possibility of finding gold in the soil. Some of you I'm sure will draw your own meaning. but here is one to consider. Go out and pretend that there is gold in all your challenges and setbacks so that you can be inspired to motivate yourself to allow the Universe to provide all that you need and then some.

我們對(duì)這個(gè)故事是否可以有一個(gè)更深刻的理解呢?答案是肯定的，這個(gè)世界提供給我們的機(jī)會(huì)有很多，然而，有時(shí)候上天對(duì)我們的這些賞賜又是懸而未定的。事實(shí)上，喬的兒子們是被在土壤里找到黃金的這種可能性所激勵(lì)。我相信，每一個(gè)人對(duì)此都有自己不同的理解，但有一點(diǎn)是值得大家借鑒的。面對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)與挫折時(shí)，假設(shè)它們當(dāng)中也有"黃金讓它激勵(lì)著你勇敢向前，讓這個(gè)世界為你創(chuàng)造出你所需要的一切。