适时舍得的智慧

原文

There once was a master who went to India. In those times， we didnt have the communications or airplanes or many kinds of transportation that we do now. So the master went to India on foot. He had never been to India before； perhaps he came from Persia. And when he got there， he saw a lot of fruit. In India they have plenty of fruit to sell， but much of it is expensive because they cant grow much due to the water situation. So he saw one basket， a big basket of some very red， long fruit. And it was the cheapest in the shop， not expensive at all.

So he went up and asked， “How much per kilo？” And the shopkeeper said， “Two rupees.” Two rupees in India is nothing； its like dirt. So he bought a whole kilogram of the fruit and started eating it. But after he ate some of it： Oh， my God！ His eyes watered， his mouth watered and burned， his eyes were burning， his head was burning and his face became red. As he coughed and choked and gasped for breath， he jumped up and down， saying， “Ah！ Ah！ Ah！”

But he still continued to eat the fruit！ Some people who were looking at him shook their heads and said， “Youre crazy， man. Those are chilies！ You cant eat so many； theyre not good for you！ People use them as a condiment， but only a little bit to put into food for taste. You cant just eat them by the handful like that； theyre not fruit！” So the stupid master said， “No， I cant stop！ I paid money for them， and now Ill eat them. Its my money！”

And you think that master was stupid， right？ Similarly， we sometimes do a lot of things like that. We invest money， time or effort in a relationship， business or job. And even though its been a long time， bitter experience tells us it wont work， and we know theres no more hope that things will change in the future—this we definitely know by intuition—we still continue just because weve invested money， time， effort and love into it. If so， were kaput in the brain. Just like the man who ate the chilies and suffered so much but couldnt stop because he didnt want to waste the money hed paid.

So even if youve lost something， let it go and move on. Thats better than continuing to lose.

譯文

适时舍得的智慧

曾经有个大师到印度去。当时没有飞机或我们现在知晓的许多交通工具，因此大师只能步行前往。大师从未到过印度，也许来自波斯。当他到达印度时，他看到了许多水果，印度销售的水果很多，但由于水的原因，许多水果非常昂贵。这时，他看见一个大篮子里面有许多红红的、长长的水果，并且一点也不贵，是店里最便宜的。

所以他就走上前去询问：“一公斤多少钱？”“两卢布”，店员回答道。在印度，两卢布就像尘土，不值一提。所以大师买了整整一公斤这种水果开始吃起来。但才吃了几口，眼里和嘴里就呛出了水，头和眼睛感觉火辣辣的，脸也红了，咳嗽得几乎要窒息，他上蹿下跳，嘴里“啊，啊，啊”地不知说着什么。

但是他仍然继续吃着这种水果！ “你疯了吗？那些是辣椒！你不能多吃，对你没好处。人们用它做佐料，食物中放一点调味用的，你不能大把大把地这样吃，他们可不是水果！” 看着他这样，旁人摇着头说，而愚昧的大师回答道：“不，我不能停，这是我花钱买的，我得把这钱吃回来！”

你也认为大师愚蠢，对吗？其实，我们有时也会做这样的事。我们投入金钱、时间或努力在关系、生意或工作上，虽然持续很长时间，痛苦的经历告诉我们这样不会奏效，并且凭直觉我们也知道以后状况不会有起色，但我们依然继续下去，仅仅因为我们投入了时间、金钱和努力。如果这样，我们的脑子就出问题了。就像吃辣椒的那个人，即便辣成那样也不肯停，就因为他不想浪费他付的钱。

一旦失去，就该适时放手，顺其自然，这样不会失去更多，结果更好。

（作者：殷华新，泰州市第三高级中学）endprint