2019-11-13 12:36:32 閣香書院

正文

Ayer lived a rich life, so his friends wanted to know the secret of his wealth. One day, Ayer would go to the market to handle affairs, when one of his friends happened to go the same way. So they went along.

艾爾是個有錢人，朋友們都想知道他的致富之道。一天，艾爾要去集市辦事兒，一個朋友碰巧跟他同路，於是兩人同行。

It was terribly sultry（悶熱的）. When they went halfway, they were so tired and thirsty that they stopped and sat down under a big tree by the roadside. Ayer took out two bowls from his backpack, placed before them then untied the water bag and filled the bowls with water.

天氣溼熱難耐。半路上兩人又累又渴，於是停下來坐在路邊的大樹下。艾爾從揹包裡拿出兩隻碗放在身前，然後解開水袋往碗裡倒水。

They carried the bowls and were about to drink off when a gust of （一陣）wind suddenly blew, making them not open their eyes. After the wind stopped, his friend found a lot of sand dropped in his bowl, even with some leaves on it.

他們端起碗正準備喝水，這時，突然刮來一陣風，弄得兩人都睜不開眼睛。風停了，朋友發現碗裡落進了很多沙子，甚至還有樹葉。

The friend frowned, poured away the water in the bowl without hesitation, picked up Ayer's water bag conveniently, poured himself another bowl and drank off without a break.

這位朋友皺起了眉頭，毫不猶豫地倒掉了碗裡的水，順手拿起艾爾的水袋重新給自己倒了一碗水一飲而盡。

When he put down his bowl, he found Ayer's bowl was also muddy, but Ayer only carefully picked up the fallen leaves, threw them off and put the bowl on the ground. After a while, the water was gradually clean and clear, when Ayer carried the bowl and drank slowly.

當他放下碗的時候，他發現艾爾的碗同樣髒兮兮的，可他卻仔細地把落葉撿了出來扔掉，然後把碗擱在了地上。不一會兒，碗裡的水漸漸清澈起來，艾爾端起了碗，慢條斯理地喝著水。

His friend laughed at his misery, for he even regarded a bowl of water as a treasure. After hearing that, Ayer said with a smile, “Each bowl of water is drawn by me from the well, which I took pains to dig. How can't I regard it as a treasure?”

朋友見他居然拿一碗水也當寶貝，嘲笑起他的慘狀。艾爾聽了笑著說：“每一碗水都是我從辛辛苦苦挖的井裡打上來的，我怎麼可能不把它當寶貝呢？”

When sand and leaves dropped into a bowl, what Ayer's saw was still the water, but what his friend saw nothing but the sand and leaves. Maybe it was the secret of Ayer's wealth.

儘管碗裡落進了沙子和葉子，艾爾看到的仍然是碗裡的水，可他的朋友卻只能看到沙子和葉子。也許這就是艾爾的致富之道吧。