第20章 大理石地板 The Marble Floor
佚名/Anonymous
There was a museum in Europe that was filled with artifacts from all over the world.
Some of the items on display were hundreds and even thousands of years old.
The museum itself was awe inspiring as well. It had high ceilings and magnificent window coverings. The museum had a spacious lobby. The floor of the lobby consisted of smooth marble tiles.
There was also a massive marble statue displayed in the middle of the marble floored lobby. This statue was one of the highlights of the museum. Many people came from all over the world just to admire this marvelous marble statue.
At night when there was no one around, the marble floor and the marble statue would talk to one another.
One night, the marble tiles started complaining to the marble statue,“Marble statue, it's just not fair. It's just not fair!”The marble statue groaned because the floor was in a self-pitying mood again.“What are you complaining about this time?”the statue asked.
The marble floor tiles sighed heavily,“People come from all over the world to admire you.”The statue asked,“What's not fair about that?”
The floor continued,“I'm made out of marble too, you know. No one comes all that way to admire me.”“Nonsense,”the statue said,“I've heard lots of people comment on how beautiful you are.”
The floor wasn't convinced.“Still,”it said,“They don't come to see me. They only comment on me on their way over to admire you. It's not fair.”
The statue replied,“You should be honored to have the job of holding people up. That's very honorable. If it weren't for you, people would have nothing to stand on.”The floor wasn't impressed.
“That may be,”it said,“But still, they come for you and not for me. They don't appreciate me.”
The marble statue's patience was wearing thin,“My dear friend, do you remember how we used to live together in the same cave?”
“Yes!”said the marble floor.“That's why I feel it's unfair. We're from the same cave and yet we receive different treatment. I tell you, it's not fair!”The statue continued,“Do you still remember the day when the designer tried to work on you but you resisted the tools?”
The tiles said,“Yes, of course I remember. I hated that guy! He was so rough. I didn't like being chipped and torn up from my home in the cave. I decided if he was hard on me I was going to be hard on him.”
The statue said,“That's right! He almost couldn't work on you at all. You resisted being worked on. You were very hard.”“So?”said the floor.
“So,”said the statue,“When he decided to give up on you and start working on me instead, I knew at once that I would be something different after his efforts. I wanted to find out what I could become. I was willing to change. I wasn't being hardheaded and stubborn like you.”
“I did not resist his tools. Instead, I put up with all the painful tools he used on me. My reward for being flexible was that he turned me into a statue that people from all over the world come to admire. Your price for being hard and resisting was that you were turned into a durable floor.”
欧洲的一座博物馆里，世界各地的史前器物陈列得满满当当。
展示的一些物品已有几百年，甚至几千年的历史。
博物馆本身也同样令人景仰。除了有高高的天花板和华丽的窗帘外，还有宽敞的大厅。大厅的地板由平滑的大理石铺成。
在博物馆大厅的中央，摆放着一尊魁伟的大理石雕像。这尊雕像是博物馆的特色之一。许多来自世界各地的游客，就是因这座非凡的大理石雕像慕名而来。
每当夜晚寂静无声时，大理石地板和大理石雕像就会交谈。
一天晚上，大理石地板开始向大理石雕像诉苦：“大理石雕像，不公平啊，不公平！”地板又在自怨自艾了，于是大理石雕像叹息着问：“这次你又有什么苦要诉啊？”
大理石地板深深地叹息说：“为了一睹你的风采，世界各地的人都到这儿来。”雕像问道：“这又有什么不公平的？”
地板接着说：“我也是大理石做的，这你知道。可是就没人为我慕名而来。”雕像说：“胡说。我听到好多人评价你漂亮呢。”
地板不相信，又说：“就算是这样。他们也是在去看你的路上才评价我的，这不公平。”
雕像回答道：“你能承载着人们在你身上走，这是很值得钦佩的，你应该感到光荣。假如没有了你，人们站在哪里啊？”地板并未为之所动。
它说：“也许是吧。即使这样，他们还是为你而来，不是为我。他们并不感激我。”
大理石雕像变得不耐烦了：“亲爱的朋友，我们过去是怎样在同一个洞穴里一起居住的，你还记得吗？”
“记得！”大理石地板说，“我们来自同一个洞穴，待遇却不同，所以我才会觉得不公平。我告诉你，这不公平！”雕像又说：“设计师想要在你身上做文章，可是你却反抗那些工具。你还记得吗？”
地板说：“记得，我当然记得。我讨厌那东西！太粗鲁了。我可不想在自己家里被人打碎。我当时就决定和他硬碰硬。”
雕像说：“那就对啦！他拿你没办法。你反抗他的雕刻，硬得不可想象。”“那又怎样？”地板问。
“于是，”雕像说，“当他决定放弃你，转而来到我这儿时，我马上明白，自己可以在他的努力下升华成不同的东西。我想知道自己可以变得怎样，我愿意接受改变，没有你那么固执和倔强。”
“我不仅不拒绝他的工具，相反，还要忍受他所使用的工具带给我的所有伤痛。我的柔韧使他将我打造成一尊雕像，受到世人的青睐。这是对我的回报。你坚硬、反抗的代价就是变成耐用的地板。”
记忆填空
1.There was also a massive____________statue displayed in the middle of the marble floored lobby. This____________was one of the highlights of the museum. Many people____________from all over the world____________to admire this marvelous marble statue.
2.The marble floor tiles____________heavily,“People come from all over the world to admire you.”The statue asked,“What's not____________about that?”
3.The marble statue's patience was wearing____________,“My dear friend, do you remember how we used to live together in the____________cave?”
佳句翻译
1.每当夜晚寂静无声时，大理石地板和大理石雕像就会交谈。
译___________________________________________________
2.我们来自同一个洞穴，待遇却不同，所以我才会觉得不公平。
译___________________________________________________
3.我的柔韧使他将我升华成一尊雕像，受到世人的青睐。
译___________________________________________________
短语应用
1.You should be honored to have the job of holding people up.
hold up：举起；阻挡；拦截
造___________________________________________________
2.I did not resist his tools. Instead, I put up with all the painful tools he used on me.
put up with：忍受；容忍
造___________________________________________________