A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know she was going to make it and want to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
有一個女孩向她父親抱怨她的生活，她覺得凡事都很艱難，不知該怎樣挺過去，想放棄。她厭倦了不斷的抗爭和奮斗，似乎一個問題剛剛解決，另一個問題馬上呈現。

Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
她的父親是個廚師，他把她帶到了廚房。他在三個壺里分別裝滿了水，然后放到高溫的火上燒。很快，壺里的水被煮開了。他往第一個壺里放了些胡蘿卜，往第二個壺里放了幾個雞蛋，在最后一個壺里放了些磨碎的咖啡豆，然后，一句話也沒說，他由著水把它們煮沸。

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a mug. Turning to her he asked," Darling, what do you see?"
女兒咂巴著牙齒發出聲響，不耐煩地等著，對父親的行為感到很納悶。大約二十分鐘后，父親關掉了火爐，把胡蘿卜撈出來，放到一個碗里。又把雞蛋揀出來放進另一個碗里，接著把咖啡用勺子舀出來倒進一個杯子里，然后轉過頭來，對她說，“親愛的，你看到的是什么？”

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee." she replied.
“胡蘿卜、雞蛋和咖啡。”她答道。

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots, she did and noticed that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
父親把她帶近了這些東西，要她去摸胡蘿卜，她摸了之后，注意到，它們變柔軟了。然后，他又要她去拿一個雞蛋并把它敲破，在把殼剝掉之后，她觀察了這個煮熟的雞蛋。最后，父親要她飲一口咖啡。嘗著芳香四溢的咖啡，她微笑起來。

"What does it mean, Father?" she humbly asked.
“這是什么意思，父親？”她謙遜地問道。

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and weak. The egg had being fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water. Its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
父親解釋說，這三洋東西面臨著同樣的逆境——煮沸的水。但它們的反應卻各不相同。胡蘿卜本是硬的，堅固而且強度大，但受到煮沸的水的影響后，它變得柔軟而脆弱。雞蛋本來易碎，薄薄的外殼保護著內部的液體。但是在經歷過煮沸的水以后，它的內部卻變得堅硬。不過，最獨特的卻是磨碎的咖啡豆，當它們被放入煮沸的水之后，它們卻改變了水。

"Which are you?" he asked his daughter.
“哪一個是你呢？”他問女兒。

When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
當逆境找上你時，你該如何應對呢？ 你是胡蘿卜、雞蛋，還是咖啡豆？

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