戰(zhàn)馬和磨坊主 The Charger and the Miller
A CHARGER, feeling the infirmities of age, was sent to work in a mill instead of going out to battle. But when he was compelled to grind instead of serving in the wars, he bewailed his change of fortune and called to mind his former state, saying, "Ah!Miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed from counter to tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I cannot understand what ailed me to prefer the mill before the battle." "Forbear," said the Miller to him, "harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune."
磨坊里有一匹拉磨的老馬,曾在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上打過(guò)仗,因?yàn)槟昀喜艤S落到磨場(chǎng)干活。因此一回想起過(guò)去的戰(zhàn)功累累,它就悲嘆自己的不幸,對(duì)磨坊主說(shuō):“當(dāng)初我雖然在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上打仗很辛苦,可是很受人尊敬,有專(zhuān)人為我洗刷、喂草,與現(xiàn)在的境遇相比,差距太大了。”磨場(chǎng)主說(shuō):“別老是對(duì)過(guò)去念念不忘,要知道,人世間有幸運(yùn),就必然有不幸,這是不可辯駁的事實(shí)。”
這個(gè)故事告訴我們:懷念過(guò)去是人之常情,畢竟回憶是美好的,深刻的,令人難忘。然而終日沉于回憶之中,就會(huì)失去“現(xiàn)在”,印度哲學(xué)家泰戈?duì)栒f(shuō)過(guò):“當(dāng)你為錯(cuò)過(guò)了太陽(yáng)而流淚時(shí),你又錯(cuò)過(guò)了燦爛的群星了。”現(xiàn)實(shí)一些吧! 我們誰(shuí)也不可能總過(guò)著一成不變的生活,一輩子起起落落很正常。時(shí)而榮華富貴,時(shí)而艱難困苦,不管境遇如何,都應(yīng)以一種平和的心態(tài)去面對(duì),要有隨遇而安的準(zhǔn)備,否則只會(huì)讓自己更加痛苦。