If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
如果你把一只放进一个顶部完全敞开的六平方英尺或八平方英尺的围栏里，这只尽管会飞，也只会成为一只十足的笼中鸟，不会飞出去，因为起飞时总是要先在地面上助跑十至十二英尺。习惯上，没有足够的助跑空间， 根本不试图去飞，而会终生呆在一个没有顶的小监狱里。
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
夜间四处飞翔的普通蝙蝠在空中异常灵巧敏捷，但却无法从水平面上起飞。如果将其放置在平地上，它只能在地上无助而痛苦地走来走去，直到它到了一个稍微有些坡度的地方，这时，它就会一跃而起，立即像箭一样一飞冲天。
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
如果把一只大黄蜂丢进一只敞口平底玻璃杯里，不把它拿出来，它会在那儿一直呆到死。它永远看不到顶端的出口，只会一直在杯底周围寻找出路。它会在没有出路的地方寻找出路，直至彻底毁灭自己。
In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there above them.
很多人在许多方面就像、蝙蝠和大黄蜂一样。他们在各种问题和挫折中挣扎来挣扎去，就是没有发现出路就在他们的头顶上。
|