英語小故事：When Adversity Knocks（英漢對照）

Mary was a young girl。 She used to get annoyed with everything。 She had a negative（消極） attitude（態度） towards life。

瑪麗是一個年輕的女孩。她過去對什麼事都生氣。她對生活持消極態度

Once， when she felt that life was unbearable， she asked her father what to do。 She told him that if she was able to manage and solve one problem， another one followed quickly。

有一次，當她感到生活難以忍受時，她問父親該怎麼辦。她告訴他，如果她能夠處理和解決一個問題，另一個問題就會接踵而至。

Her father consoled （安慰）her and took her to the kitchen。 He asked Mary to take a potato， an egg and two spoons （勺子）of tea leaves。 Mary was surprised， and asked her father， “Do you want me to cook？”

“No，” her father said。

父親安慰她，把她帶到廚房。他讓瑪麗帶一個土豆，一個雞蛋和兩勺茶葉。瑪麗很吃驚，就問她的父親：“你要我做飯嗎？” “不，“她的父親說。

He then took three vessels（容器） and poured one cup of water in each vessel。 The vessels were placed on the stove（火爐）。 Once the water started to boil， he dropped the potato in a vessel， egg in the second one and the tea leaves in the third one。

然後他拿了三個容器，每個容器裡倒了一杯水。容器被放在爐子上。水一燒開，他就把土豆丟進一個容器裡，把雞蛋丟進第二個容器裡，把茶葉丟進第三個容器裡。

“Why are you doing all these things？” Mary asked， really annoyed with her father。

“你為什麼要做這些事情？”瑪麗問，很生她父親的氣

“Just wait fifteen minutes，” said her father。

“就等15分鐘吧。”她的父親說。

The impatient daughter managed to wait for around（大約） 15 minutes。

這位不耐煩的女兒設法等了大約15分鐘。

Father removed the potato from the pot and placed in a plate。 He did the same with the eggs。 He filtered（過濾） the tea decoction（湯） using a cup。

父親把土豆從鍋裡拿出來，放到一個盤子裡。他對雞蛋也做了同樣的處理。他用杯子將湯水過濾。

Now， he placed the two plates（盤子）， one with the potato and the other with the egg， and the cup of tea in front of Mary。

He asked Mary， “What do you see？”

“Potato， egg and a cup of tea，” said Mary。

現在，他把兩個盤子，一個放土豆，另一個放雞蛋，還有一杯茶放在瑪麗面前。 他問瑪麗：“你看到了什麼？” “土豆、雞蛋和一杯茶，”瑪麗說。

“No， you are wrong，” said her father。 “Look at it closely and answer me。”

Mary replied the same。

“Now touch it and answer me。”

“不，你錯了。”她的父親說。“仔細看，然後回答我。” 瑪麗也這樣回答。 “現在摸摸它，回答我。”

The potato was cooked and was soft， the egg was boiled hard， and the tea carried a nice aroma（香氣）。

Mary couldn‘t find the correct answer。

土豆煮熟了，變軟了，雞蛋煮硬了，茶還帶著香味。 瑪麗找不到正確的答案。

Her father said， “The potato was so hard and strong before it was boiled； now it has turned soft and smooth。 Also， the egg was delicate but after boiling it became hard。 Sip the tea。 It is delicious！”

她的父親說：“土豆在煮之前又硬又硬；現在它已經變得柔軟光滑。而且，雞蛋本來很脆弱，但煮過之後就變硬了。喝的茶。它是美味的！”

Mary asked， “What does it mean father？ I don’t understand！”

瑪麗問：“爸爸，這是什麼意思？”我不明白！“

“Each object responded differently to water。 Each object was put under the same kind of circumstances， faced similar adversities（逆境）， but reacted differently。 The potato， when put in boiling water， became very weak。 The soft egg became very hard when we put it in boiling water。 And the tea leaves are unique（獨一無二）。 It changed the water itself， giving it a unique flavour（味道） and aroma！ It gave something new。”

每個物體對水的反應都不一樣。每個實驗物件都被置於相同的環境下，面對相似的逆境，但反應不同。土豆放在沸水裡後變得很淡。軟蛋放在沸水裡就變硬了。茶葉是獨一無二的。它改變了水本身，給它一種獨特的味道和香氣！它賦予了一些新的東西。”

Mary understood that we can create something new and unique even when we experience adversities。

瑪麗明白，即使我們經歷逆境，我們也能創造出新的、獨特的東西。

So， what are you？ A potato， an egg， or a tea leaf？

那麼，你是什麼？土豆，雞蛋，還是茶葉？