作品原文

林清玄 《桃花心木》

乡下老家前面的空地，租给人家种桃花心木的树苗。
树苗种下以后，植树人总是隔几天才来浇水。他来的天数并没有规律，有时三天，有时五天，有时十几天才来一次。浇水的量也不一定，有时浇得多，有时浇得少。桃花心木苗有时就莫名其妙地枯萎了，所以，他来的时候总会带几株树苗来补种。
我起先以为他太懒，隔那么久才为树浇水。但是，懒人怎么知道有几棵树会枯萎呢？他说：“种树是百年的基业，所以，树木自己要学会在土里找水源。我浇水只是模仿老天下雨，老天下雨是算不准的。如果无法在这种不确定中汲水生长，树苗自然就枯萎了。但是，只要在不确定中找到水源、拼命扎根，长成百年的大树就不成问题了。”
种树人语重心长地说：“如果我每天都来浇水，每天定时浇一定量的水，树苗就会养成依赖的心，根就会浮在地表上，无法深入地下，一旦我停止浇水，树苗会枯萎得更多。幸而存活的树苗，遇到狂风暴雨，也会一吹就倒了。”
植树者言，使我非常感动，想到不只是树，人也是一样。在不确定中，我们会养成独立自主的心，不会依赖，我们会把很少的养分转化为巨大的能量，努力生长。

作品译文

Mahogany

In front of my old country house, a piece of uncultivated land was rented to others to plant mahogany trees. After the tree saplings were planted, the planter would come over to water them once every few days. His visits were on an irregular basis, an interval of three, sometimes five, or even a dozen of days. The amount of water he used for watering was also varied from time to time, somtimes more, sometimes less. Some mahogany saplings would then be found withered. Hence, whenever he came by, he would bring a few young plants to replace the withering ones.
At first, I took him for a lazy man, someone who's too casual to take to heart the time to attend to his seedlings. However, how could someone like that know exactly how many plants were there withering? He said, "It takes a hundred years for trees to establish their firm footing. They need to explore water sources deep down n the soil for themselves. My watering is a simulation for raining, as unpredictable as rainfall. If a sapling can't adjust itself to the environment and find moisture for its own growth, naturally, it goes to wither. However, once it found water supply and settled its root deep in earth, no doubt the sapling would grow into a long-lasting tree."
What he said was thought-provoking. He went on to explain, "If I came every day to give them a definite amount of water, the saplings would get used to it and rely on it. Their roots would remain skin-deep in the surface; there is no need for them to strike deep into the earth. If I happen to stop watering, the saplings would wither badly. Even those that survived accidentally would be easily broken in the storms."
I was moved by his remarks. I think the same is true for us human beings. When we encounter uncertainties, we would have to rely on ourselves and act on our own. In that way, we would be like the mahogany trees. Turning the little amount of nutirent we have absorbed into powerful energy to help us grow.