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Plato
柏拉圖
One day, Plato asked his teacher,“What is love? How can I find it?”
柏拉圖有一天問老師蘇格拉底：“什么是愛情？我如何找到它？”
His teacher answered, “There is a vast wheat field in front. Walk forward without turning back, and pick only one stalk. If you find the most magnificent stalk, then you have found love.”
老師回答說：“前面有一片廣袤的麥田。你一直往前走，不要回頭，摘一棵麥穗。如果你摘到最大最好的麥穗，你就找到愛情了。”
Plato thought it was easy, so he walked forward confidently. But it was a long time before he returned with empty hands, having picked nothing. His teacher asked,“Why did you not pick any stalk?” Plato answered, “Because I could only pick once, and yet I could not turn back. I did find the most magnificent stalk, but did not know if there were any better ones ahead, so I did not pick it. As I walked further, the stalks that I saw were not as good as the earlier one, so I did not pick any in the end.”
柏拉圖覺得很容易，充滿信心地出去。可是過了許久他才回來，空著手，什么都沒揀回來。老師問：“你為什么一棵麥穗都沒有拾回？”柏拉圖解釋道：“因為我只能揀一棵麥穗，而且我不能回頭。我確實發現一棵看似很不錯的麥穗，可不知道前面有沒有更好的，所以就沒揀它。當我繼續往前走時，我所看到的麥穗還不如先前的那棵好，所以最后什么都沒揀到。”
His teacher then said, “And that is love.”
這時，蘇格拉底告訴他：“那就是愛情”。
On another day, Plato asked his teacher,“What is marriage? How can I find it?”
柏拉圖有一天又問老師蘇格拉底：“什么是婚姻？我如何才能找到它呢？ ”
His teacher answered, “There is a thriving forest in front. Walk forward without turning back, and chop down only one tree. If you find the tallest tree, then you have found marriage.” Learning from the last failure, Plato walked forward in confidence this time, and before long, he returned exhausted with a straight, green tree. The tree was not thriving, and it was not tall either. It was an ordinary tree. His teacher asked, “Why did you chop down such an ordinary tree?”
老師回答說：“前面有一片茂密的樹林。一直向前走，不要回頭，然后砍一棵樹回來。如果你找到最高的樹，那么你就找到了婚姻。”柏拉圖有了上回的教訓, 這次充滿信心地出去。不久，他一身疲憊地拖了一棵看起來直挺、翠綠，卻有點稀疏也并不高大的樹。這只是一棵普通的樹。老師問他：“你為什么砍了這么一棵普通的樹？ ”
Plato answered, “Because of my previous experience, I walked halfway through the field, but returned with empty hands. This time, I saw this tree, and I felt that it was not bad, so I chopped it down and brought it back. I did not want to miss the opportunity.”
柏拉圖回答老師：“上一次，我走了半個麥田，卻空手而歸。這次，我看到了這棵樹，覺得它還不錯，就砍下帶了回來，我不想錯過這個機會。”
His teacher then said,“And that is marriage.”
這時，蘇格拉底告訴他：“這就是婚姻”。
