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我们不能通过事物的外表来判断它的价值。那些貌似华丽的，往往并没什么价值。而那些看起来很平常的，却可能价值连城。判断事物如此，判断人亦是如此。伯乐选马，关注的不是马的颜色，马的性别，而是它自身的价值。

Gold and Diamond

A long time ago, in Egypt lived a famous mystical person named Zun-Nun. A young man came to visit him and asked,"Teacher, I do not understand why people like you when you dress in such a simple way?"

The mystic only smiled and took his ring from one of his fingers, and said:"Young friend, I will answer your question, but first do one thing for me, take this ring and go to the market across this street, can you sell this for one chip of gold?"

Looking at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, the young man became doubtful, "One chip of gold? I am not sure this ring could be sold at that price."

The young man went to the market quickly. He offered the ring to the textile, vegetable, meat, fish traders, and the others. The fact is that no body was willing to pay for a chip of Gold. He went back to Zun-Nun's residence and reported,"Teacher, nobody's brave enough to offer more than one chip of silver."

With a wise smile Zun-Nun said,"Now go to the Gold Shop at the back of this street and show this to the owner or to the gold trader. Don't give your price; just listen how much he will pay for this ring."

The young man went to the shop mentioned and returned with a different expression on his face. He then reported,"Teacher, the traders in the market really didn't know the value of this ring, the gold trader offered this ring for one thousand of gold, and the value of this ring was one thousands times from what the traders in the market offered."

Zun-Nun just smiled subtly and spoke softly," That was the answer of your question, my friend. Someone cannot be valued only from his dress. The traders in the market give value like that but not for 'the gold trader'."

The gold and diamond inside someone only could be seen and valued if you could look at the inner soul. It needs heart to see, and it needs a process. We cannot see it from the words or attitude. Many a time what we think is a gold, is only a brass but a brass is a gold.

参考译文

黄金与钻石

很久以前，在埃及生活着一位著名的神秘人物，他的名字叫做祖南。有一个年轻人前去拜访他，问道：“老师，我不明白为什么人们喜欢穿着简单的您？”

哲人笑而不答，从他的手指上取下戒指，说：“我的朋友，我会回答你的问题的，但是，你得先替我做件事情。把这只戒指拿到街对面的市场上，看看能不能卖上一块金子。”

年轻人看了看祖南那枚不太干净的戒指，心中充满怀疑：“卖块金子？这枚戒指能卖到那个价钱吗？”

年轻人很快就来到了市场。他把这枚戒指介绍给卖布的、卖菜的、卖肉的，卖鱼的商人和一些其他的人。事实上没有一个人愿意花金子来买这枚戒指。年轻人回到了祖南的住处，说：“老师，这枚戒指连一块银子也没有人愿意买。”

祖南睿智地笑了，说：“现在你把它拿到街后面的金店，给黄金商人看看。你不要给价钱，看看黄金商人会出多少钱。”

年轻人去了金店，回来时表情与刚才大不相同。他说：“老师，市场上的那些商人真的不知道这枚戒指的价值，黄金商人出价一千枚金币，这个价是那些市场上的人的一千倍。”

祖南微笑着说：“这就是我给你的答案。我们不能只凭一个人的衣着来判断他的价值，市场上的商人就是这样，只凭东西的表面样子来定价，而那些黄金商人则恰恰相反。”

只有当你接近一个人的心灵的时候，才能看见这个人内在的“黄金”与“钻石”。这需要用心去观察，而且也需要一个过程。我们不能通过一个人的言语和态度来判断一个人的价值。有许多时候我们认为是金子的东西，只是黄铜而已；而我们认为是黄铜的东西，恰恰是金子。

词汇释义

1.chip n. 薄片，片屑，芯片 v. 屑，切(成碎片)，形成(缺口)

The entire content of a book will be located on a single silicon chip.
整本书的内容只用一片硅芯片就可以装下。

2.textile['tekstail] n. 纺织品

Their main exports are textiles, especially silk and cotton.
他们的主要出口货物是纺织品，特别是丝绸和棉布。

3.subtly adv. 敏锐地，巧妙地，精细地

4.inner adj. 内部的，里面的，内心的 n. 里面

He has no inner resources and hates being alone.
他没有内在的精神寄托，因而害怕孤独。

5.brass[brɑ:s] n. 黄铜(制品), 铜管（乐器） adj. 黄铜的

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.
黄铜是铜和锌的合金。

相关格言

Never judge a man by his appearance because a man can easily change his appearance but can hard change his soul.

不要以一个人的外表来判断一个人，因为一个人很容易改变他的外表却很难改变他的灵魂。

Not all the people can enjoy your value for someone judges the others by appearance. Thus, you need not to doubt yourself and remember the gold will shine.

并不是每个人都会欣赏你的价值，因为有些人是以貌取人的。因此，你没必要怀疑自己，是金子总会发光的。