“Sometimes,” Haw said, “things change and they are never the same again. This looks like one of those times, Hem. That’s life! Life moves on. And so should we.
Haw looked at his emaciated companion and tried to talk sense to him, but Hem ‘s fear had turned into anger and he wouldn’t listen.
Haw didn’t mean to be rude to his friend, but he had to laugh at how silly they both looked.
As Haw prepared to leave, he started to feel more alive, knowing that he was finally able to laugh at himself, let go and move on.
He announced, “It’s maze time!”
Hem didn’t laugh and he didn’t respond.
Haw picked up a small, sharp rock and wrote a serious thought on the wall for Hem to think about. As was his custom, Haw even drew a picture of cheese around it, hoping it would help Helm to smile, lighten up, and go after the New Cheese. But Hem didn’t want to see it.
It read:If You Do Not Change,You Can Become Extinct.
Then, Haw stuck his head out and peered anxiously into the maze. He thought about how he’d gotten himself into this cheeseless situation.
He had believed that there may not be any Cheese in the maze, or he may not find it. Such fearful beliefs were immobilizing and killing him.
Haw smiled. He knew Hem was wondering, “Who moved my Cheese?” but Haw was wondering, “Why didn’t I get up and move with the Cheese sooner?”
As he started out into the maze, Haw looked back to where he had come from and felt its comfort. He could feel himself being drawn back into familiar territory-even though he hadn’t found Cheese there for some time.
Haw became more anxious and wondered if he really wanted to go out into the maze. He wrote a saying on the wall ahead of him and stared at it for some time:What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?
He thought about it.
He knew sometimes some fear can be good. When you are afraid things are going to get worse if you don’t do something, it can prompt you into action. But it is not good when you are so afraid that it keeps you from doing anything.
He looked to his right, to the part of the maze where he had never been, and felt the fear.
Then, he took a deep breath, turned right into the maze, and jogged slowly, into the unknown.
于是唧唧轉(zhuǎn)身來(lái)對(duì)哼哼說(shuō):“哼哼,有時(shí)候,事情發(fā)生了改變,就再也變不回原來(lái)的樣子了。我們現(xiàn)在遇到的情況就是這樣。這就是生活!生活在變化,日子在住前走,我們也應(yīng)隨之改變,而不是在原地踟躕不前。”
唧唧看著他那因饑餓和沮喪而顯得有些憔悴的朋友,試圖給予他分析一些道理。但是,哼哼的畏懼早已變成了氣惱,他什么也聽(tīng)不進(jìn)去。
唧唧并不想冒犯他的朋友,但是,他還是忍不住要嘲笑他們自己,因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在看起來(lái)他們倆真的是又狼狽又愚蠢。
當(dāng)唧唧準(zhǔn)備要出發(fā)的時(shí)候,他覺(jué)得自己整個(gè)人都變得都充滿(mǎn)了活力,他挺起了胸膛,他的精神開(kāi)始振作起來(lái):“讓我們出發(fā)吧。”
唧唧大笑著宣稱(chēng):“這是一個(gè)迷宮的時(shí)代!”
哼哼笑不起來(lái),他幾乎沒(méi)有任何反應(yīng)。
唧唧拾起一塊尖硬的小石頭,在墻上寫(xiě)下一句懇切的話,留給哼哼去思考。他沒(méi)有忘記自己的習(xí)慣,在這句話的周?chē)?huà)上奶酪的圖案。唧唧希望這幅畫(huà)能給哼哼帶來(lái)一絲希望,會(huì)對(duì)哼哼有所啟發(fā),并促使哼哼起身去追尋新的奶酪。但是哼哼根本不想朝墻上看一眼。
墻上的話是:
如果你不改變,你就會(huì)被淘汰。
在墻上留完言后,唧唧伸出腦袋小心翼翼地朝迷宮中望了望,回想著到達(dá)奶酪C站以前所走過(guò)的路線。
他曾經(jīng)想過(guò),也許迷宮中再也沒(méi)有奶酪了,或者,他可能永遠(yuǎn)也找不到奶酪。這種悲觀的情緒曾經(jīng)那樣深地根植于他的心底,以到于差一點(diǎn)就毀了他。
想到這里,唧唧會(huì)心地微笑起來(lái)。他知道,哼哼現(xiàn)在一定還在原地懊惱:“究竟是誰(shuí)動(dòng)了我的奶酪?”而唧唧此刻想的卻是:“我為什么沒(méi)有早點(diǎn)行動(dòng)起來(lái),跟隨著奶酪移動(dòng)呢?”
當(dāng)唧唧終于走出奶酪C站踏入黑暗的迷宮時(shí),他忍不住回頭看了看這個(gè)曾經(jīng)伴隨他和哼哼很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間的地方。那一瞬間他幾乎無(wú)法控制自己,又想走回那個(gè)熟悉的地方,又想躲進(jìn)那個(gè)雖已沒(méi)有奶酪但很完全的地方。
唧唧又有些擔(dān)心起來(lái),拿不準(zhǔn)自己是否真的想要進(jìn)入到迷宮中去。片刻以后,他又拿起石塊在面前的墻上寫(xiě)下一句話,盯著它看了許久:
如果你無(wú)所畏懼,你會(huì)怎樣做呢?
他對(duì)著這句話苦思冥想。
他知道,有時(shí)候,有所畏懼是有好處的。當(dāng)你害怕不做某些事情會(huì)使事情變得越來(lái)越糟糕時(shí),恐懼心反而會(huì)激起你采取行動(dòng)。但是,如果你因?yàn)檫^(guò)分害怕而不敢采取任何行動(dòng)時(shí),恐懼心就會(huì)變成前進(jìn)道路上最大的障礙。
他朝迷宮的右側(cè)瞧了瞧,心中生出了恐懼,因?yàn)樗麖奈吹竭^(guò)那里面。
然后,他深吸了一口氣,朝迷宮的右側(cè)緩步跑去,跑向那片未知的領(lǐng)地。