第116期:栓象之绳

 　　As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused¹ by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds² but for some reason, they did not.

　　He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away."Well,"trainer said,"when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."

　　The man was amazed³. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

　　Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

　　Failure is part of learning⁴; we should never give up the struggle in life.

　　其思即其人-栓象之绳

　　当有个人经过一群大象的时，他突然停了下来，他非常疑惑。因为这些巨大的生物被它们的前腿绑在一根小绳上拴着。没有锁链，没有牢笼。很明显，大象可以随时挣脱他们的镣铐，但由于某种原因，他们没有。

　　他看到附近有一个驯兽师，问为什么这些动物只是站在那里，并没有试图逃跑。“好吧，”教练说，“当他们年幼时，我们用同样大小的绳子绑着他们，在那个年龄，这足以拴住他们。当他们长大后，他们习惯于相信他们无法逃跑。他们相信绳子仍然可以拴住他们，所以他们从来没有试图挣脱。”

　　这个人很惊讶。这些动物可以随时挣脱他们的镣铐，但因为他们认为自己不能，他们就只能被困在原地。

　　像大象一样，我们中有多少人仅仅因为自己曾经失败过，便在生活中相信自己不能做什么事情？

　　失败是学习的一部分，我们不应该在生活中放弃努力。

1 confused   

adj.困惑的，烦恼的

参考例句：

• They asked so many questions that they confused me.他们问了许多问题，都把我弄糊涂了。
• A wise man is never confused.智者不惑。

2 bonds   

镣铐，监禁； [常作复数]结合（力）( bond的名词复数 )； 结合物； 联系； 连接

参考例句：

• He paid the pill by cashing in some bonds. 他把一些证券兑换成现金付账。
• They are eager to buy their government bonds. 他们热心购买公债。

3 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。