智慧是别人无法拿走的东西

     Isn't it amazing how one person, sharing one idea, at the right time and place can change the course of your life's history? This is certainly what happened in my life. When I was 14, I was hitchhiking from Houston, Texas, through El Paso on my way to California. I was following my dream, journeying with the sun. I was a high school dropout¹ with learning disabilities and was set on surfing the biggest waves in the world, first in California and then in Hawaii, where I would later live.

    Upon reaching downtown El Paso, I met an old man, a bum², on the street corner. He saw me walking, stopped me and questioned me as I passed by. He asked me if I was running away from home, I suppose because I looked so young. I told him, "Not exactly, sir," since my father had given me a ride to the freeway in Houston and given me his blessings³ while saying, "It is important to follow your dream and what is in your heart. Son. "The bum then asked me if he could buy me a cup of coffee. I told him, "No, sir, but a soda⁴ would be great." We walked to a corner malt shop and sat down on a couple of swiveling stools⁵ while we enjoyed our drinks.

    After conversing⁶ for a few minutes, the friendly bum told me to follow him. He told me that he had something grand to show me and share with me. We walked a couple of blocks until we came upon the downtown El Paso Public Library.

    We walked up its front steps and stopped at a small information stand. Here the bum spoke⁷ to a smiling old lady, and asked her if she would be kind enough to watch my things for a moment while he and I entered the library. I left my belongings⁸ with this grandmotherly figure and entered into this magnificent hall of learning.

    The bum first led me to a table and asked me to sit down and wait for a moment while he looked for something special amongst the shelves. A few moments later, he returned with a couple of old books under his arms and set them on the table. He then sat down beside me and spoke. He started with a few statements that were very special and that changed my life. He said, "There are two things that I want to teach you, young man, and they are these:

    "Number one is to never judge a book by its cover, for a cover can fool you. "He followed with, "I ll bet you think I m a bum, don t you, young man?"I said, "Well, uh, yes, I guess so, sir. ""Well, young man, I've got a little surprise for you. I am one of the wealthiest men in the world. I have probably everything any man could ever want. I originally come from the Northeast and have all the things that money can buy. But a year ago, my wife passed away, bless her soul, and since then I have been deeply reflecting upon life. I realized there were certain things I had not yet experienced in life, one of which was what it would be like to live like a bum on the streets. I made a commitment to myself to do exactly that for one year. For the past year I have been going from city to city doing just that. So, you see, don't ever judge a book by its cover, for a cover can fool you.

    "Number two is to learn how to read, my boy. For there is only one thing that people can't take away from you, and that is your wisdom. " At that moment, he reached forward, grabbed⁹ my right hand in his and put them upon the books he'd pulled from the shelves. They were the writings of Plato and Aristotle-immortal classics from ancient times.

    The bum then led me back past the smiling old woman near the entrance, down the steps and back on the streets near where we first met. His parting request was for me to never forget what he taught me.

    I haven't.

    中文：

    如果一个人，在适当的时候和地方因为一句话而改变了他的人生历程，你会感到惊异和不可思议吗？然而这的确是千真万确的，它就发生在我14岁那年。那时，我正在从得克萨斯州的休斯敦，经由爱坡索市前往加利福尼亚州去的旅途中。日出即行，日落即息，痴痴地追寻着我的梦想。我本来在读高中，也许我天生就不是读书的材料，因此我不得不中途辍学。随即我决心要到世界上最大的海浪上去冲浪，先准备到加利福尼亚州，再到夏威夷，然后我准备就在那里住下来。

    在刚进入爱坡索市区的时候，我看到有一个老头，一个流浪者，坐在街道的拐角处。他看见了走路的我，当我就要从他的旁边走过去时，他拦住了我，并开口向我发问。他问我是不是偷着从家里跑出来的，我想他这么问我一定是看我太年轻，觉得我太嫩的缘故。“不完全是，先生，"因为是我爸爸开车把我送到休斯敦的高速公路上的，他还一边为我祝福，一边说：‘儿子，追寻你的梦想和心中的憧憬非常重要。’”

    然后那个流浪者问我他能请我喝咖啡吗？我回答说：“不，先生，一杯汽水就可以了。”

    于是，我们走进街道拐角处的一家酒吧，坐在一双转椅上，喝着饮料。

    在闲聊了几分钟后，这个和蔼可亲的老流浪汉要我跟他走。他告诉我说他有一样大东西给我看，要与我分享。我们走过了几个街区，来到了爱坡索市的公立图书馆。

    我们沿着它前面的台阶向上走，在一处小小的咨询台前停了下来。老流浪汉向一位笑容可掬的老太太说了几句话，并问她是否愿意在他和我进图书馆时帮忙照看一下我的行李。我把行李放在那位老奶奶般的人那里，走进了那座宏伟的学习殿堂。

    老流浪汉先把我带到一张桌子前，让我坐下来稍等片刻，而他则到那些林立的书架中去寻找那个特别重要的东西去了。不一会儿，他腋下夹着几本旧书回来了。他把书放到桌子上，然后他在我的身边坐了下来，打开了话匣子，出口便不凡，其话语非常特别，改变了我一生的命运。他说：“年轻人，我想教你两件事，就是：第一是切记不要从封面来判断一本书的好坏，因为封面有时也会蒙骗你。"他接着说道："我敢打赌，你一定认为我是个老流浪汉，是不是？年轻人。”

    我说：“嗯，是的，先生，我想是的。”

    “嗯，年轻人，我要给你一个小惊喜：其实我是这个世界上最富有的人之一，人们梦寐以求的任何东西我几乎都有。我最初从美国东北部来，凡是金钱能买到的东西，我全都有。但是一年前，我妻子死了，愿上帝保祐她的在天之灵，从那以后，我开始深深地反思人生的意义。我意识到，生活中有些东西我还没有体验过，其中之一就是做一个沿街乞讨的流浪汉滋味如何。于是我对自己发誓要像流浪汉一样活一年。在过去的一年里，我从一个城市流浪到另一个城市，就像流浪汉一样生活。所以，你看，切记不要从封面来判断一本书的好坏，因为封面有时也会蒙骗你。”

    “第二，我的孩子，是要学会如何读书。因为这个世界上只有一种东西是别人无法从你的身上拿走的，那，就是你的智慧！”说到这，他俯身向着我，抓住我的右手放在他从书架中找到的书上。那是柏拉图和亚里士多德的著作--尚古以降已经流传了几千年的不朽的经典。

1 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

2 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

3 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

5 stools   

n.凳子( stool的名词复数 )；大便，粪便

参考例句：

• If you don't make your choice in time, you are likely to fall between two stools. 如果你不及时作出决定，就会两头落空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 48 Between two stools one goes to the ground. 48脚踏两条船，迟早要落水。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

6 conversing   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I find that conversing with her is quite difficult. 和她交谈实在很困难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were conversing in the parlor. 他们正在客厅谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

9 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。