The Rivals in Life
生活中的對手

1. The Jaguar is an endangered animal. It is said that currently, there are less than 20 jaguars in the world. One of them is now living in the national zoo of Peru. In order to protect this jaguar, Peruvians singled out a pitch of land in the zoo for it, where there are herds of cattle, sheep and deer for the jaguar to eat. Anyone who has visited the zoo praised it to be a "Heaven for Jaguars". However, strangely enough, no one has ever seen the jaguar prey on the cattle and sheep. What we could see is that it is lying in its' house, eating and sleeping.
美洲豹是一種瀕臨滅絕的動物，據(jù)說，目前世界上僅存不足20只，其中有一只現(xiàn)在就生活在秘魯?shù)膰覄游飯@里。為了保護這只美洲豹，秘魯人在動物園里單獨為它圈出一塊地來，且圈地中有成群的牛、羊、鹿供其食用用。參觀過豹園的人都驚嘆地稱這里是“美洲豹的天堂”。然而，令人感到非常奇怪的是，沒有人看見這只美洲豹去捕捉牛羊，唯一能見到的就是它躺在它的房里重復(fù)著吃與睡。
2. Some people thought that the jaguar felt too lonely, so they collected money and rented a female jaguar to accompany it. Nonetheless, it did not make too much sense. The jaguar just sometimes went out of its house with its "girlfriend" and stayed in the sun for a while before it came back to its house again.
一些人認(rèn)為肯定是美洲豹太孤獨了，于是就集資從國外租來一只雌豹陪它生活。然而此舉并未帶來多大改觀，那只豹只是偶爾陪伴外來的“女友”走出豹房，到陽光下站一會兒，不久就又回到它的“臥室”。
"It is normal for the jaguar to be lazy in this environment. The jaguar is the king of this piece of land, simply because there are only some small animals around him，that is why the jaguar shows no interest in going out. Why don't match you put two wolves or at least a jackal around him?" A visitor proposed.
“在這種環(huán)境下，美洲豹不懶散才怪呢！它本是這片領(lǐng)地之王，你們在它周圍放這么一群小動物，它怎么可能有興趣走出來？為什么你們不放上兩只狼呢，即使不放狼，至少也得放一只豺吧？”一位來此參觀的人建議道。

3. Others all agreed with that, and put five panthers into the jaguars' territory. Since then, the jaguar did not go back to its house anymore. It either stands on top of the hill roaring, or goes down from the hill strolling, without sleeping all day long. It did not eat the meat provided by the zoo staff and has totally gotten back to its nature.
其他人都覺得他說得很有道理，就把5只黑豹送進了美洲豹的領(lǐng)地。自那以后美洲豹就再沒回過豹房。它不是站在山頂長嘯，就是從山上下來，在草地上逡巡游蕩；它不再整日睡覺，也不再吃動物園管理員送來的肉，它徹底恢復(fù)了本性。
4. Actually, this principle does not only apply to animals, but also applies to human beings. Here is another story: There was a rich man who was selecting a husband for his only child amongst a multitude of pursuers. The man led all the pursuers to a river and pointed to the crocodiles in it, saying: "Anyone who can swim across the river safe and sound will marry my daughter." Those pursuers looked at each other and no one dared to take the initiative. At that moment, a man bravely plunged into the river and swam at a staggering speed to the other side. AII the people applauded for his courage with a great sense of admiration. Nevertheless, the man, after landing on the bank, shouted angrily, "Who pushed me into the river just now?"
其實，這個原則不只適用于動物，也適用于人。有這樣一則故事：一個富人為其獨生女兒選婿，而求婚者眾多。于是這個富人將所有的求婚者帶到一條河邊，指著河里的鱷魚說道，“如果誰能夠安全地游到對岸，我就會把我的女兒嫁給他?！边@些追求者們你看看我，我看看你，沒有人敢跳進河里。正在這時，突然有一個男子“撲通”一聲很勇敢地跳了下去，然后以超乎尋常的速度游到對岸。所有的人對這名勇氣十足的男子投以欽佩和羨慕的目光。沒想到，這個男子上岸后，生氣地大聲問道：“剛才是誰把我推下河去的？”
5. Maybe the man, after thinking of the whole process and the good consequence he was going to obtain, felt obliged to the one who pushed him into the river. It is fairly common that disadvantages will turn into advantages and misfortunes into fortunes! But many of us cannot manage to realize the significance our "rivals" have to our success. Generally speaking, many people will see the one who "pushes him into the river" as an opponent. However, if you think about it in a deeper sense, you will realize that it is also a blessing and opportunity to have someone like that! It is the one who "pushes you into the river" who makes you feel a sense of crisis and stimulates your ambition and desire to strive! You will resolve the crisis by eliminating all difficulties, and then progress to another stage of your life!
或許那位男子在回頭想想整件事情的經(jīng)過后，會有很大的收獲，也會很感謝那位推他下河的人。把不利變有利，將壞事變好事，這樣的例子在現(xiàn)實屢見不鮮。但很少有人能認(rèn)識到造成這個結(jié)果的那個“對手”在此之中所起的重要作用。一般講來，多數(shù)人都會把推他“下河”的人視做敵人，不過你只要往深處想想就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，這未嘗不是一種福分、一種機遇。有這樣一個“推你下河”的人的存在，會促使你產(chǎn)生危機感，從而激發(fā)你更加旺盛的精神和斗志! 你會下定決心排除一切艱難險阻，在前行路上躍上一個更高的舞臺！
6. In our world, one creature without any rivals is a lifeless creature. If a man lives without rivals, he is bound to be satisfied with the present and will not strive for the better. He would hold back before all difficulties and decline in inaction and laziness. An adverse environment tends to cultivate successful people. Therefore, your rivals are not your opponents or those you grudge. Instead, they are your good friends! In our lives, we need some rivals to "push us into the river", leaving us striving ahead in all difficulties and competitions. In our work, we need some rivals to be picky about us and supervise our work with rigorous requirements and standards. Due to our rivals, we can bring out our potential to the best; Due to our rivals, we will continuously promote our capabilities when competing with them!
在這個優(yōu)勝劣汰的世界，任何一種生物，假如沒有了對手，必將變得死氣沉沉。假如一個人沒有了對手，他就會變得安于現(xiàn)狀，不思進取。以后遇到困難，他會畏縮，最終在怠情和沒落中消沉。逆境往往造就成功，因此，對手不是你的敵人，而是你的摯友，你不必嫉恨他。人生中，我們需要一些對手推自己“下河”讓自己無論路遇多少艱難競爭，也會奮勇向前。在工作中，我們需要一些對手，對自己百般挑剔，督促你發(fā)現(xiàn)不足，高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，嚴(yán)要求。有了對手，我們就會把自己的潛能發(fā)揮到極致；有了對手，我們就會在與對手的比拼中不斷提高自身能力，站得更高更遠！