除了自己沒(méi)人能打敗你

夏靜

A young painter resided（居住） in a small narrow house， living on painting portraits （肖像） before he became famous.

一位年輕的畫(huà)家住在一個(gè)狹窄的房子里，出名前靠畫(huà)肖像為生。

One day， a rich man came by and found the painter painting so meticulously （細(xì)致地） that he liked it and asked him to draw a portrait. They agreed on the remuneration （報(bào)酬） of 10，000 dollars.

一天，一個(gè)富人經(jīng)過(guò)，看到這個(gè)畫(huà)家畫(huà)畫(huà)很細(xì)致，非常喜歡，就請(qǐng)他為自己畫(huà)一幅肖像。他們談好了酬金——1萬(wàn)美元。

After a week， the portrait was done. The rich man came to take the painting as agreed on. At this moment， the rich man hit on an evil idea of bullying （欺負(fù)） the unknown young artist， so he refused to pay the remuneration.

一周后，肖像畫(huà)好了，富人按約定來(lái)取畫(huà)。這時(shí)，富人心里起了歹念，欺負(fù)這畫(huà)家年輕又不出名，便拒絕支付約定好的酬金。

The rich man thought， “The man in the painting is me. If I dont buy this painting， no one will buy it. Why should I pay so much money for it？” So the rich man said， “I will only pay 3，000 dollars to buy this painting.”

富人想，“反正畫(huà)的是我的肖像，要是我不買這畫(huà)，別人更不會(huì)買，何必要花這么多錢買這畫(huà)？”于是他說(shuō)：“我只出3千美元。”

The young artist was stunned， for he had never come across such things. He strongly

argued on just grounds， expecting the rich man to abide by （遵守） the agreement and to be a

trustworthy （可信賴的） man.

年輕畫(huà)家這時(shí)不知所措，因?yàn)樗麖奈从龅竭^(guò)這樣的事情。他極力爭(zhēng)辯，認(rèn)為自己在理，期望這富人是個(gè)守信的人，能夠遵守約定。

“I can only pay 3，000 dollars to buy the painting. Speak no more.” The rich man thought he had won. “I ask you at last， will you sell it 3，000 dollars or not？”

“反正我只出3千美元，別的不多說(shuō)。”富人認(rèn)為自己勝算在握，“我再問(wèn)你一次，3千美元賣不賣？”

The young artist knew the rich man deliberately （故意地） went back on his word， so he felt indignant. He said in a firm tone， “No. I would prefer not to sell the painting rather than to be humiliated （羞辱） by you. Today you break your word and someday you must pay 20 times.”

畫(huà)家看出富人是故意食言，他感到很氣憤，堅(jiān)定地說(shuō)道：“不賣。我寧愿不賣這幅畫(huà)，也不愿被你羞辱！今天你失信于我，以后你會(huì)以20倍償還！”

“What a joke！20 times will be 200，000！ I wont be stupid to pay 200，000 dollars to buy the painting！”

“真是笑話！20倍，那可是20萬(wàn)！我才不會(huì)傻到花20萬(wàn)買這畫(huà)！”

“Well， wed better wait and see，” the young artist said to the rich man who left angrily.

“好吧，那我們等著瞧！”年輕畫(huà)家說(shuō)道。富人生氣地離開(kāi)了。

After the stimulation （刺激） of such an incident， the painter moved out of this sad place， and formally acknowledged teachers to work hard night and day. More than a dozen years later， he finally blazed a new way and became popular in the circle of art.

畫(huà)家因這件事的刺激離開(kāi)了這個(gè)傷心之地，重新拜師學(xué)藝，日夜苦練。十幾年后，他終于闖出一片新天地，成為了藝術(shù)界的知名人物。

After he left the studio， the rich man had forgotten the artists painting and words the next day. Until one day， some friends of the rich man simultaneously （同時(shí)地） came to tell him， “Something is so strange！We

paid a visit to a famous artists exhibition of paintings， in which one painting is marked 200，000 dollars and the man in the painting looks exactly the same as you. It is so ridiculous that the title of the painting is Thief.

富人那次離開(kāi)畫(huà)室后，第二天就把那件事拋之腦后。直到有一天，富人的幾個(gè)朋友一起來(lái)告訴他，“太奇怪了，我們?nèi)⒂^了一個(gè)著名畫(huà)家的畫(huà)展，其中有一副畫(huà)標(biāo)價(jià)20萬(wàn)，畫(huà)上的人看起來(lái)和你一模一樣！更荒謬的是畫(huà)的標(biāo)題居然是‘賊！”

It came to him a terrible blow that he immediately thought of what had happened more than a dozen years before. He went to find the young painter the same night right away. As expected， the painting titled as Thief was no other than the one he had broken his word that year. He quickly apologized to the artist and paid 200，000 dollars to buy back the portrait.

富人突然想起十幾年前的那件事，深受打擊。他當(dāng)天晚上就找到了那位畫(huà)家。不出預(yù)料，那幅名為“賊”的畫(huà)正是他當(dāng)年食言那次的畫(huà)。他趕緊向畫(huà)家道歉并付了20萬(wàn)把肖像買了回來(lái)。

With an undefeated ambition， the young painter made the rich man bend his head. This young man was Pablo Picasso.

憑著永不言敗的雄心，年輕的畫(huà)家最終使富人向自己低頭。這位畫(huà)家就是巴勃羅·畢加索。