河流與巖石

The River and the Rock

A river was running towards the valley and the plain, but when it came to a rock, it was afraid and started trembling.

The rock said: “Hi, where are you going?”

The river said timidly, “I’m going to the valley and the plain. They are waiting for me.”

The rock made fun of the river and said, “You are still very young. Go back to the hill immediately, and don’t come back here again!”

Startled, the river said, “I can only go forwards. There is no river that goes backwards.”

The rock became angry and said, “Speak no more! If you don’t go back, you will have to change your direction!”

The river helplessly asked, “Where should I go?”

“Go anywhere you like, just don’t come close to me!”

More and more water gathered as the river hesitated. Then it began to get out of control. The river surged over the rock. When it saw the rock being tossed about pitifully, it said, “Only a weak person will make a detour. A person who is strong will only go ahead, and nothing will stop him!”

【助讀詞匯】

◇timidly adv. 膽小地，羞怯地

◇startle vt. 使人（或動物）驚嚇，使嚇一跳

◇surge vi.（波濤般）洶涌，（波濤、洪水等）洶涌；奔騰

◇toss vi. 上下搖晃，搖動，顛簸，翻來覆去

◇detour n. 便道，繞路 vi. 繞路而行 vt. 使繞道

【參考譯文】

河流與巖石

一條河流向山谷和平原，但當流到一塊巖石邊時，它因害怕而開始顫抖。

巖石說：“喂！你要去哪里？”

河羞怯地說：“我要去山谷和平原那里，它們在等著我。”

巖石戲弄河說：“你還很小，馬上回到山里，別再回到這里來！”

河感到吃驚，說：“我只能往前流，河絕不會倒流。”

巖石生氣了，說：“別再說了！你要不倒流，那就必須改變流向！”

河無奈地說：“那我該怎么辦呢？”

“你愛怎么流就怎么流，只是別靠近我！”

在河猶豫的時候，水流越聚越多，隨后就開始失控了。河洶涌著漫過巖石。看到巖石被可憐地沖來沖去，河說：“只有弱者才會繞道，強者只會勇往直前，任何東西都無法阻擋它！”

【人生啟迪】

　生活像一粒深埋在地下的種子，只有勇往直前才能沖破厚厚的泥土，延續自己的生命，才能將生命的綠色伸向藍天。生活需要勇往直前。縱使暗夜無邊，只要心中有路，光明就在前面。