“相反的”国度

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”国度里，住着一个人，他有一口井。这个人最大的愿望是能让路过的人喝到他井里的水。一天早上，井的主人看到一个旅行者，他说：“我看你又累又热。欢迎来喝我井里的水。”

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.”

旅行者回答说：“我确实很渴，但我现在没有时间。我做了这么多木制汤勺，我得找个人把它们送出去。请帮我找一个需要我的木勺的人，然后我去喝你的井水。”

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.

当这口井的主人听到这些话时，他跑到附近的一家餐馆，因为他确信他们可以用到很多木勺。

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.

当时，餐馆老板正站在厨房里烹调着一些美味佳肴。他想在客人到来之前把食物准备好。

“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。”厨师对井的主人说，“但首先我得找很多人吃饭，因为我已经准备了很多这种美味的食物。”

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个建筑工地。在那里，他看到了许多努力干活、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.”

“你们工作得太辛苦了！”他对所有的工人说，“当然，你们一定很饿了！附近有一家很棒的餐馆，你们可以在那里吃饭。那里的厨师准备了很多美味的食物。”

“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，我们有点饿了，但我们仍然有足够的体力干活。你想让我们为你多挖一口水井吗？”工人们问道。

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.

井的主人同意让建筑工人为他多建一口井，因为他认为有更多的饮用水是值得的。这样一来，他肯定能满足更多的旅行者。

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”.

厨师同意用旅行者的木勺，建筑工人同意在厨师的餐厅用餐。当旅行者听到这一切，他同意喝一些那个人的井水。因此，每个人都平静地生活在“相反的”国度。

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，一位智者来到这个国家。他唯一知道怎么做的就是坐下来思考。

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.

井的主人想给他一些水，厨师想给他一些食物，建筑工人想给他盖一座房子，许多旅行者想给他很多不同的东西，比如木勺和其他物品，但他拒绝接受任何东西，因为他没有什么可以回报的。

“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！

智者说：“我不会从那些好人那儿拿走任何东西，除非我找到一种让他们生活得更轻松的方法。”他坐着，想了又想……最后他找到了答案。他决定发明钱。每个人都将用金币来支付，而不是互相交换东西！

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.

这样的话，井的主人将付钱给那些从井里喝水的人，为了赚取这笔钱，他将不得不要求建筑工人为他建造一些东西。工人们在餐馆吃饭时会收到钱，厨师会从旅行者们那里拿些东西，旅行者们会为此付钱给他。

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.

当然，改变顺序是可能的，因为最重要的是，每个人在接受时都会获益，否则，他们就无法给予他人。如果有人伪造金钱是为了付出而不为自己索取，那么他将被带到法庭上接受审判。

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.

想到这里，他出发去寻找法官。当他找到他时，他看到法官看起来既虚弱又饥饿，没有任何工作。可怜的法官好久没吃东西了，因为他没有工作要做，也没有人需要审判。

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.

这个智者非常了解生活在“相反的”国度的人们。他们只想奉献，为了奉献更多，他们甚至不惜犯罪。而且没有人会只顾自己，相反，每个人都可以为了他人付出更多。

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，智者想出了一个绝妙的主意并对“相反的”国度的人们说：“你们想更方便地为别人付出吗？也许钱和银行可以帮助你们。你们可以给别人钱，也可以从别人那里得到钱，你们还可以把多余的钱存入银行，这样你们就可以更好地帮助别人。”当这里的人们听到他们可以更好地为别人付出时，纷纷点头同意建立银行。

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

这就是智者怎样在“相反的”国度建立第一家银行的。

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.

后来，“相反的”国度变成了一个与世界上其他所有国家一样的国家，现在它们拥有银行和机构，还有工厂、学校、医院、商店、经理、职员、工程师和教师。

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”国度与所有其他国家之间只有一个区别：在“相反的”国度，所有人都尽量少地为自己索取，多给予别人。这是因为在“相反的”国度，每个人都爱每个人，因此每个人都是幸福的。