美文欣賞:土豆、雞蛋與咖啡豆的哲理

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
從前，女兒向父親抱怨道，她的人生苦不堪言，她不知道如何繼續生活下去。她厭倦了一直奮鬥掙扎。彷彿解決了一個問題，立刻就會出現另一個問題。

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
做廚師的父親把她帶到廚房裏。他分別往三口鍋裏添上了水，並放到高火上煮。當三口鍋裏的水沸騰的時候，他把土豆放到一口鍋裏，把雞蛋放到第二口鍋裏，最後把研磨過的咖啡豆放到第三口鍋裏。

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
然後他把它們放好，繼續在沸水中煮，一句話都不跟女兒說。女兒抱怨着，不耐煩地等待着，想知道他在做什麼。

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
二十分鐘後，他關掉爐竈，從鍋裏拿出土豆，放進一個碗裏；拿出雞蛋，也放進一個碗裏。

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
然後，他用勺子盛出咖啡，放進一個杯子裏。他轉向女兒，問道，“孩子，你看到了什麼？”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“土豆、雞蛋和咖啡，”她急躁地回答道。

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“仔細看看，”他說，“摸摸這些土豆。”她照做了，注意到土豆很軟。然後父親讓她拿一個雞蛋，並把它敲碎。她把蛋殼剝下後，觀察了一下這個煮老了的蛋。最後，父親讓她喝一口咖啡。咖啡濃郁的香氣讓笑容重新回到她的臉上。

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
“爸爸，這是什麼意思？”她問道。

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
然後父親解釋道，土豆、雞蛋和咖啡豆都分別經歷過相同的逆境——沸水。

However, each one reacted differently.
然而，它們的反應卻各不相同。

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
土豆一開始強壯、堅硬、不屈不撓，但是在沸水中，它卻變得軟弱。

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
雞蛋易碎，只有外面那層薄殼保護着裏面的蛋液。當雞蛋被放進沸水之後，雞蛋內部就變硬了。

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
然而，研磨過的咖啡豆卻很獨特。把它們放進沸水中之後，它們改變了水，創造了新的事物。

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
“你是哪一種呢？”他問女兒。“當不幸降臨時，你該如何應對？你是一枚土豆、一顆雞蛋還是一粒咖啡豆？”

Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.
寓意：生活中，事情發生在我們身邊，發生在我們身上，不過他們的好壞則完全取決於我們自身。

Which one are you?
你是哪一種呢？