Once a king had a great highway built for members of his kingdom. After it was completed， but before it was opened to the public， the king decided to have a contest. He invited as many as desired to participate. Their challenge was to see who could travel the highway best.

On the day of the contest， the people came. Some of them had fine chariots1; some had fine clothing， fine hairdos， or great food. Some young men came in their track clothes and ran along the highway. People traveled the highway all day， but each one， when he arrived at the end， complained to the king that there was a large pile of rocks and debris2 left in the road at one spot， and this got in their way and hindered3 their travel.

At the end of the day， a lone traveler crossed the finish line and wearily walked over to the king. He was tired and dirty， but he addressed the king with great respect and handed him a bag of gold. He explained， \"I stopped along the way to clear away a pile of rocks and debris that was blocking the road. This bag of gold was under it all， and I want you to return it to its rightful owner.\"

The king replied， \"You are the rightful owner.\"

The traveler replied， \"Oh no， this is not mine， I've never known such money.\"

\"Oh， yes，\" said the king， \"you've earned the gold， for you won my contest. He who travels the road best is he who makes the road smoother for those who will follow.\"

May we all adhere to the wisdom of this story and make other people's travels as smooth as we can.

從前，一位國(guó)王為自己的子民修建了一條很長(zhǎng)的公路。公路竣工之后，在向公眾開(kāi)放之前，國(guó)王打算舉辦一場(chǎng)比賽。他邀請(qǐng)了所有想?yún)⒓颖荣惖娜?，比賽的?nèi)容就是看誰(shuí)能最好地在公路上行進(jìn)。

比賽當(dāng)天，參賽的人都來(lái)了。其中一些人乘著豪華的轎車，有一些穿著精美的服裝并做了漂亮的發(fā)型，還有的帶了美味的食物，有一些年輕人身穿寬松的運(yùn)動(dòng)服，沿著公路向前跑。公路上一整天都是人來(lái)人往，但是當(dāng)每個(gè)人到達(dá)終點(diǎn)的時(shí)候，都會(huì)對(duì)國(guó)王抱怨說(shuō)，有一處很大的石堆和碎土堆在路上，擋住了他們的路，阻礙了他們前進(jìn)。

這天就要結(jié)束的時(shí)候，有一個(gè)參賽者獨(dú)自通過(guò)了終點(diǎn)。他疲憊地走向國(guó)王，看起來(lái)又臟又累。他虔誠(chéng)地向國(guó)王致敬，然后遞給國(guó)王一袋金子。他解釋說(shuō):“我在途中停下來(lái)清理掉了一堆擋在路中的石頭和碎土，這袋金子就在那堆東西下面，我想請(qǐng)您把它還給他真正的主人?！?/p>

國(guó)王回答說(shuō):“你就是它真正的主人。”

那名參賽者說(shuō):“噢，我不是，這不是我的，我從來(lái)沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)這么多錢(qián)。”

“這就是你的，”國(guó)王說(shuō)，“這些金子歸你了，因?yàn)槟阍谖业谋荣愔蝎@勝了。在公路上走得最好的人就是給那些后來(lái)者掃除障礙的人?！?/p>

希望我們都能領(lǐng)會(huì)并堅(jiān)信這個(gè)故事中的道理，并盡我們最大可能掃除別人前進(jìn)道路上的障礙。

注釋

①chariot n.(古代的)雙輪戰(zhàn)車或賽車

②debris n.碎片;垃圾;瓦礫堆;廢墟

③hinder vt.阻止，阻礙，妨礙vi.阻礙;成為障礙