“相反的”國度

Once upon a time， in the country of “the Opposite”， there lived a man whohad a well2. The man’s greatest wish was to give a drink from his well to anyonewho passed by. One morning， the owner of the well saw a traveler， and he said，“I see that you are very tired and hot. You are welcome to come and drink frommy well.”

很久很久以前，在“相反的”國度里，住著一個(gè)人，他有一口井。這個(gè)人最大的愿望是能讓路過的人喝到他井里的水。一天早上，井的主人看到一個(gè)旅行者，他說：“我看你又累又熱。歡迎來喝我井里的水?！?/p>

The traveler answered， “I am very thirsty indeed， but I have no time now. Ihave made all these wooden spoons and I have to find someone to give them to.Please help me find someone who needs my wooden spoons， and then I will drinksome water from your well.”

旅行者回答說：“我確實(shí)很渴，但我現(xiàn)在沒有時(shí)間。我做了這么多木制湯勺，我得找個(gè)人把它們送出去。請幫我找一個(gè)需要我的木勺的人，然后我去喝你的井水?！?/p>

When the owner of the well heard those words， he ran over to a nearbyrestaurant as he was sure that they could use a lot of wooden spoons.

當(dāng)這口井的主人聽到這些話時(shí)，他跑到附近的一家餐館，因?yàn)樗_信他們可以用到很多木勺。

At that time， the restaurant owner was standing in his kitchen cooking some fine， excellent food. He wanted the food to be ready before any guests arrived.

當(dāng)時(shí)，餐館老板正站在廚房里烹調(diào)著一些美味佳肴。他想在客人到來之前把食物準(zhǔn)備好。

“I’ll take the wooden spoons，”said the cook to the owner of the well.“Butfirst I have to find lots of people to eat meal because I have prepared a lot ofthis delicious food.”

“我要木勺?！睆N師對井的主人說，“但首先我得找很多人吃飯，因?yàn)槲乙呀?jīng)準(zhǔn)備了很多這種美味的食物?！?/p>

The owner of the well immediately3 ran over to a building site. There he saw a lot of hard-working people with an enormous4 appetite5.

井的主人立即跑到一個(gè)建筑工地。在那里，他看到了許多努力干活、食欲旺盛的人。

“You are working so hard！ ”he told all the workers. “Surely， you must bevery hungry！ There is a great restaurant nearby where you can eat. The cookthere has prepared plenty of delicious food.”

“你們工作得太辛苦了！”他對所有的工人說，“當(dāng)然，你們一定很餓了！附近有一家很棒的餐館，你們可以在那里吃飯。那里的廚師準(zhǔn)備了很多美味的食物?！?/p>

“Yes， we are somewhat hungry， but we still have enough strength to work. Would you like us to dig an extra water well for you？”asked the workers.

“是的，我們有點(diǎn)餓了，但我們?nèi)匀挥凶銐虻捏w力干活。你想讓我們?yōu)槟愣嗤谝豢谒畣?？”工人們問道?/p>

The owner of the well agreed to let the construction workers build an extra wellfor him because he thought that it would be worthwhile to have even more drinkingwater. This way he would be sure to have enough water for even more travelers.

井的主人同意讓建筑工人為他多建一口井，因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為有更多的飲用水是值得的。這樣一來，他肯定能滿足更多的旅行者。

The cook agreed to take the traveler’s wooden spoons and the constructionmen agreed to eat at the cook’s restaurant. When the traveler heard about all ofthis， he agreed to drink some water from the man’s well. And so everybody livedcalmly and peacefully in the country of“the Opposite”.

廚師同意用旅行者的木勺，建筑工人同意在廚師的餐廳用餐。當(dāng)旅行者聽到這一切，他同意喝一些那個(gè)人的井水。因此，每個(gè)人都平靜地生活在“相反的”國度。

Until one day a wise man came to the country. The only thing he knew how to do was to sit and think.

直到有一天，一位智者來到這個(gè)國家。他唯一知道怎么做的就是坐下來思考。

The owner of the well wanted to give him some water， the cook wanted togive him some food， the construction workers wanted to build him a house， andmany travelers wanted to give him many different things such as wooden spoonsand other objects， but he refused to take anything because he had nothing to givein return.

井的主人想給他一些水，廚師想給他一些食物，建筑工人想給他蓋一座房子，許多旅行者想給他很多不同的東西，比如木勺和其他物品，但他拒絕接受任何東西，因?yàn)樗麤]有什么可以回報(bào)的。

“I will not take anything from those good people， until I find a way tomake their lives easier，”said the wise man. He sat， and thought and thought...and finally he found the answer. He decided to invent money. Instead ofexchanging things with each other， everyone will get paid in gold coins！

智者說：“我不會從那些好人那兒拿走任何東西，除非我找到一種讓他們生活得更輕松的方法。”他坐著，想了又想……最后他找到了答案。他決定發(fā)明錢。每個(gè)人都將用金幣來支付，而不是互相交換東西！

So， the owner of the well will pay those who drink from his well， and inorder to earn this money he will have to ask the construction workers to buildsomething for him. The workers will receive money when they eat at therestaurant， and the cook will take something from the travelers， and they willpay him for that.

這樣的話，井的主人將付錢給那些從井里喝水的人，為了賺取這筆錢，他將不得不要求建筑工人為他建造一些東西。工人們在餐館吃飯時(shí)會收到錢，廚師會從旅行者們那里拿些東西，旅行者們會為此付錢給他。

It is possible to change the order of course， because the main thing is thateveryone gains when he receives， because otherwise， they wouldn’t be able togive to others. And if somebody forges6 money in order to give without takingfor himself， then he will be brought to court7 and judged8.

當(dāng)然，改變順序是可能的，因?yàn)樽钪匾氖牵總€(gè)人在接受時(shí)都會獲益，否則，他們就無法給予他人。如果有人偽造金錢是為了付出而不為自己索取，那么他將被帶到法庭上接受審判。

Thinking of this， he set out to look for the judge and when he found him，he saw that he looked weak and hungry， and that he was without any work.The poor judge hadn’t eaten for such a long time since he had no work to do，and nobody to judge.

想到這里，他出發(fā)去尋找法官。當(dāng)他找到他時(shí)，他看到法官看起來既虛弱又饑餓，沒有任何工作?？蓱z的法官好久沒吃東西了，因?yàn)樗麤]有工作要做，也沒有人需要審判。

The wise man understood the people who lived in the country of“theOpposite”very well. They only wanted to give， and in order to give more，they were even willing to commit9 a crime. And no one would look afterthemselves only， instead everybody would be able to give much moreto others.

這個(gè)智者非常了解生活在“相反的”國度的人們。他們只想奉獻(xiàn)，為了奉獻(xiàn)更多，他們甚至不惜犯罪。而且沒有人會只顧自己，相反，每個(gè)人都可以為了他人付出更多。

All of a sudden， the wise man came up with a brilliant idea and said tothe people of the country of“the Opposite”，“Do you want to make it easierto give to others？ May be money and bank can help you. You can give moneyto others and receive money from others and you can put extra money into thebank then you can better help others.”People here nod their heads to set upa bank and when they hear they can do better for others.

突然，智者想出了一個(gè)絕妙的主意并對“相反的”國度的人們說：“你們想更方便地為別人付出嗎？也許錢和銀行可以幫助你們。你們可以給別人錢，也可以從別人那里得到錢，你們還可以把多余的錢存入銀行，這樣你們就可以更好地幫助別人?！碑?dāng)這里的人們聽到他們可以更好地為別人付出時(shí)，紛紛點(diǎn)頭同意建立銀行。

That is how the wise man set up the first bank in the country of“the Opposite”.

這就是智者怎樣在“相反的”國度建立第一家銀行的。

Later， the country of “the Opposite”became a country just like all othercountries in the world， now they have banks and institutions， along withfactories， schools， hospitals， stores， managers， clerks， engineers， and teachers.

后來，“相反的”國度變成了一個(gè)與世界上其他所有國家一樣的國家，現(xiàn)在它們擁有銀行和機(jī)構(gòu)，還有工廠、學(xué)校、醫(yī)院、商店、經(jīng)理、職員、工程師和教師。

There is only one difference between the country of “the Opposite”andall the other countries： In the country of “the Opposite”all the people try totake much less for themselves， and give a lot more to others. This is becausein the country of “the Opposite”everyone loves everybody， and thereforeeveryone is happy.

“相反的”國度與所有其他國家之間只有一個(gè)區(qū)別：在“相反的”國度，所有人都盡量少地為自己索取，多給予別人。這是因?yàn)樵凇跋喾吹摹眹?，每個(gè)人都愛每個(gè)人，因此每個(gè)人都是幸福的。