美文賞析:運用智慧 適時捨得
運用智慧 適時捨得
There once was a master who went to India. In those times, we didn't have the communications or airplanes or many kinds of transportation that we do now. So the master went to India on foot. He had never been to India before; perhaps he came from Persia. And when he got there, he saw a lot of fruit. In India they have plenty of fruit to sell, but much of it is expensive because they can't grow much due to the water situation. So he saw one basket, a big basket of some very red, long fruit. And it was the cheapest in the shop, not expensive at all.
從前有一位師父，他到印度去，那時候因爲交通不發達，沒有飛機，不像現在一樣有很多交通工具，所以這位師父就步行去印度。他有可能是波斯人，以前沒去過印度。他到印度時，看見許許多多的水果。在印度，有時因爲缺水的緣故，水果產量不多，許多小店雖然擺滿了水果，但多半都很貴。那位師父發現有個大籃子裏面裝着一種紅色長條形的水果，這種水果的價格最便宜，一點都不貴.
So he went up and asked, "How much per kilo?" And the shopkeeper said, "Two rupees." Two rupees in India is nothing; it's like dirt. So he bought a whole kilogram of the fruit and started eating it. But after he ate some of it: Oh, my God! His eyes watered, his mouth watered and burned, his eyes were burning, his head was burning and his face became red. As he coughed and choked and gasped for breath, he jumped up and down, saying, "Ah! Ah! Ah!"
他就走過去詢問：“這個一公斤要多少錢？”小販回答：“兩盧比。”兩盧比在印度根本不算什麼，像塵土一樣不值錢，於是他就整整買了一公斤，然後開始吃。 吃了幾口之後，這位師父就眼淚、口水齊流，眼睛發紅，嘴巴辣得像着火一樣，整個頭好像要燒起來，他又咳又嗆，滿臉通紅地喘不過氣來，在那裏邊跳邊叫：“啊！啊！啊！”
But he still continued to eat the fruit! Some people who were looking at him shook their heads and said, "You're crazy, man. Those are chilies! You can't eat so many; they're not good for you! People use them as a condiment, but only a little bit to put into food for taste. You can't just eat them by the handful like that; they're not fruit!" So the stupid master said, "No, I can't stop! I paid money for them, and now I'll eat them. It's my money!"
不過他還是繼續吃！有人看到他這樣子後，就搖搖頭說：“老兄，你是腦袋壞掉啦？這是辣椒耶！不能吃那麼多，這樣對你不好。辣椒是用來調味的，煮菜時每次只放一點點在食物裏增加味道。這個不是水果，不能這樣整把拿起來吃啊！”那位笨師父說：“不行，我已經花錢買了，就要把它吃完，這可都是錢哪！”
And you think that master was stupid, right? Similarly, we sometimes do a lot of things like that. We invest money, time or effort in a relationship, business or job. And even though it's been a long time, bitter experience tells us it won't work, and we know there's no more hope that things will change in the future - this we definitely know by intuition - we still continue just because we've invested money, time, effort and love into it. If so, we're kaput in the brain. Just like the man who ate the chilies and suffered so much but couldn't stop because he didn't want to waste the money he'd paid.
你們覺得這位師父很笨，是嗎？其實我們有時候也做很多類似的傻事。有時候我們在某些感情或事業工作上，投入了金錢、時間和心力，經過長期的經營之後，我們從慘痛的經驗中知道行不通，直覺也很清楚未來不會有任何轉機，但我們還是捨不得放棄，因爲已經投入了金錢、時間、心力和感情在裏面。像這種情形，表示說我們頭腦壞掉，就像那個吃辣椒的人一樣，明明已經那麼痛苦了，還是不肯停止，只因爲不想白白浪費已經付出的錢。
So even if you've lost something, let it go and move on. That's better than continuing to lose.
就算你會有所損失，還是要放下，然後繼續前進！這樣總比一直損失下去來得好。
