种苹果 Growing apples

 　　如果一颗小小的苹果树种子静静地躺在你的手心里，你会想到什么？就是这样一颗小小的种子，引发了作者的遐思：为什么不是每颗种子都能长大？为什么不是每个梦想都能开花？读读下面这篇文章吧，相信你一定能找到满意的答案！

　　I realized I was holding an apple tree in the palm¹ of my hand. A little seed with the potential to become a beautiful big tree—a tree that could grow thousands of apples in its lifetime². Thousands of apples, each containing several seeds, each capable³ of growing a new tree which again could produce thousands of apples. Why then the world wasn’t filled with apple trees?

　　It is a rule of nature that only a few of these seeds grow. Most never do or are destroyed early on in their growth⁴.

　　And it came to my mind it’s quite often so with people’s dreams also. Wonderful ideas come to our minds but they die too soon—we don’t tend to the little saplings , we don’t protect them as we should. And then one day we wonder what happened to our dreams—why did they never come true?

　　I put the apple seed on the table, and bent⁵ down to see how the light was reflected from it, this nature’s tiny wonder. I wondered when someone was seriously growing apples, how many times they had to try to get a seed to germinate⁶ ? How much work did it require?

　　Maybe it was like with our dreams: the seeds of your dreams did not automatically⁷ grow. Planting an apple tree, it might take many tries. You might meet dozens of people until you met the true friend.

　　But if you kept on sowing⁸ the seeds of your dream, one day you would succeed. And after that others would comment you were lucky to be successful—when in fact you probably failed more often than you would like to count. But you were good at failing—you learned⁹, you adapted, and then with your new knowledge you tried again. And again. And again. And one day success was yours.

　　I picked up the apple seed again—but instead of throwing it away I took an empty flower pot, poured some earth into it and planted the seed. Maybe one day it would grow into a proud tree. I’d never know if I didn’t try.

　　我意识到被我捧在掌心的是棵苹果树。这颗小小的种子蕴藏着长成一棵美丽大树的潜力——这棵大树在它的生命中又会结出成千上万个苹果。每个苹果里又有几颗种子，每颗种子又可以长成一棵新的苹果树，再结出许多苹果。但为什么世界上并没有到处都是苹果树呢？

　　因为在自然规律的作用下，只有几颗种子能生长起来。大部分种子根本不能生长，即便生长起来也会夭折。

　　于是，这让我联想到，人们的梦想又何尝不是如此。我们常会有不错的想法，但这些想法也只是昙花一现——我们对这些“幼苗”不以为意，根本不去保护它们。而后有一天我们疑惑梦想为何从未实现？

　　我把这颗苹果种子放在桌上，弯下腰观察这颗反着光的小小造物杰作。我想，如果有人一心想种苹果的话，要尝试多少次才能让种子发芽？这需要多少付出？

　　或许这一如我们的梦想：梦想的种子不会自己长大。种下一棵苹果树需要付出许多辛劳。遇见一个知己需要在茫茫人海中寻寻觅觅。

　　但如果你不懈地播种梦想的种子，总有一天你会成功。之后，人们会说你的成功是因为上天的眷顾——殊不知连你自己都不晓得成功前究竟经历过多少次失败。但失败之于你并非坏事——你会适应失败，并从中汲取经验教训，然后用这些经验教训再次尝试。一次又一次。如此反复。终有一天成功如期而至。

　　我再次拿起这颗苹果种子——这次我并未将它扔掉，而是拿来了一个空花盆，倒了些土进去，把这颗种子种在里面。或许有一天它会长成一棵骄傲的苹果树。只有试过了才知道。

1 palm   

n.手掌，棕榈，胜利；vt.与…握手，藏…于掌中

参考例句：

• That woman had her husband in the palm of her hand.那女人牢牢地控制住她丈夫。
• Palm trees grow all around the island.岛上到处长着棕榈树。

2 lifetime   

n.一生，终身，寿命，使用期限

参考例句：

• He wrote many books during his lifetime.他一生著作甚多。
• During his lifetime his work was never published.他的作品在他的有生之年从未出版过。

3 capable   

adj.有能力的，有才能的

参考例句：

• The new woman secretary was extremely clever and capable.这位新来的女秘书很是精明强干。
• Jim is capable at sports.吉姆擅长运动。

4 growth   

n.生长，栽培

参考例句：

• All living things depend on the sun for their growth.万物靠太阳生长。
• Youth is the time of physical growth.青年时期是长身体的时期。

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 germinate   

v.发芽；发生；发展

参考例句：

• Seeds will not germinate without water.没有水，种子是不会发芽的。
• Can thin and hollow seeds germinate?瘦瘪的种子能够发芽吗？

7 automatically   

adv.不加思索地，无意识地，自动地

参考例句：

• The machine cycles automatically.这台机器自动循环运转。
• She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers.她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。

8 sowing   

n.播种v.播（种），播种于( sow的现在分词 )；灌输；激起；散布

参考例句：

• The government's repressive policies are sowing the seeds of rebellion. 政府的镇压政策正在播下叛乱的种子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Autumnal Equinox is the best time for wheat-sowing. 秋分种麦最相宜。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。