雙語美文分享:扔海星的人 The starfish thrower

The starfish thrower

扔海星的人

Once upon a time， there was a wise man who used togo to the ocean to do his writing。

從前有一位哲人常到海邊去寫作。

He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work。

他有個習慣，就是在開始之前要到海邊散步。

One day， as he was walking along the shore， he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer。

有一天，他正沿著岸邊走。當順著海邊向遠處看時，他看到個人，那人的動作看起來像是位舞蹈演員在跳舞。

He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day， and so， he walked faster to catch up。

他很高興，以為今天正好能看到有人跳舞。於是，他加快步伐以免錯過。

As he got closer， he noticed that the figure was that of a young man， and that what he was doing was not dancing at all。

當靠近之後，他才看清這是一個年輕人，他不是在跳舞，

The young man was reaching down to the shore， picking up small objects， and throwing them into the ocean。

而是彎下腰來，從海灘上撿著什麼，輕輕地扔到海里。

He came closer still and called out Goodmorning！

他走近了大聲說：早上好！

May I ask what it is that you are doing？

你在做什麼？

The young man paused， looked up， and replied， Throwing starfish into the ocean。

這個年輕人停了下來，抬起頭回答道：把海星扔進海里。

Imust ask， then， why are you throwing starfish into the ocean asked the somewhat startledwise man。

我想我問的是，為什麼你要把海星扔進海里？

To this， the young man replied， The sun is up and the tide is going out。

太陽昇起來了，潮就要退了，

If I don‘t throw them in， they’ll die。

如果不把它們扔進海里，它們將會死去。

Upon hearing this， the wise man commented， But， young man， do you not realize that there aremiles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile？You can‘t possibly make adifference！

但是年輕人，難道你沒有看到這長長的海灘上面佈滿了海星。你起不到什麼作用的！

At this， the young man bent down， picked up yet another starfish， and threw it into the ocean。

年輕人有禮貌地聽著，然後彎下腰，又撿起一隻海星扔進了海里，

As it met the water， he said， It made a difference for that one。

這時滾湧的波浪走了過來，他說道：對於那一隻就起作用了。