The Touchstone 试金石

屈联西

A poor man read the secret of the “Touchstone” from a book. It was written that the touchstone was a small pebble that could turn and common metal into pure gold. It was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
一个穷人从一本书上读到“试金石”的秘密。书上说，试金石是一个小小的鹅卵石，可以把任何普通的金属变成纯金，它与其他无数鹅卵石混杂在一起，外表看起来几乎一模一样。不过真正的试金石是暖的，而普通的鹅卵石是凉的。
So the man sold his belongings, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.
于是这个人卖掉家当，在海边搭个蓬，开始测试鹅卵石。
He picked up one pebble, and, when it felt cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent weeks and months doing this same thing. One day, however, he picked up a pebble that was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. You see, he had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that, when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
他捡起一棵鹅卵石，当他感到凉凉的便将它仍入大海。就这么周而复始地重复着同样的事情。有一天，他捡起一棵鹅卵石，暖的，但他把它仍向大海后才意识到自己干了什么。他已经养成了根深蒂固的习惯，捡到一棵鹅卵石就仍向大海，等到他真的捡到自己想要的那棵时，他还是将它仍了出去。
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it’s easy to throw an opportunity away when it is in hand.
机会也时如此。我们只有保持警醒，才不致于遇到机会时，随手就仍了出去。

屈联西

核心内容:He picked up one pebble, and, when it felt cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent weeks and months doing this same thing. One day, however, he picked up a pebble that was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. You see, he had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that, when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
他捡起一棵鹅卵石，当他感到凉凉的便将它仍入大海。就这么周而复始地重复着同样的事情。有一天，他捡起一棵鹅卵石，暖的，但他把它仍向大海后才意识到自己干了什么。他已经养成了根深蒂固的习惯，捡到一棵鹅卵石就仍向大海，等到他真的捡到自己想要的那棵时，他还是将它仍了出去。