余文禮

A daughter complained to her father about her life and things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and want to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.

Her father， a cook， took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots， in the second he placed eggs， and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil， without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited， wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners， He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a mug. Turning to her， he asked， “Darling， what do you see？”

“Carrots， eggs， and coffee，” she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots； she did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell， she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally， he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled， as she tasted its rich aroma.

“What does it mean， Father？” she humbly asked. He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity—boiling water， but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong， hard， and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water， it softened and weakened. The egg had being fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water， its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique， however. After they were in the boiling water， they had changed the water.“Which are you？” he asked his daughter.

When adversity knocks on your door， how do you respond？ Are you a carrot， an egg or a coffee bean？

一個(gè)女孩向父親抱怨她的生活，她覺得凡事都很艱難，不知該怎樣挺過去，想放棄努力。她厭倦了不斷地抗?fàn)幒蛫^斗。

她的父親是個(gè)廚師，把她帶到廚房里。他在三個(gè)壺里分別裝滿了水，然后分別放到高溫的火上。很快，壺里的水沸騰了。他往第一個(gè)壺里放了些胡蘿卜，第二個(gè)壺里放了幾個(gè)雞蛋，在最后一個(gè)壺里放了些磨碎的咖啡豆。然后，他一句話也沒說，等著水再次沸騰。

女兒用嘴吸著牙縫發(fā)出聲響，不耐煩地等著，納悶父親到底在干什么。大約20分鐘后，父親關(guān)了火。父親把胡蘿卜撈出來，放到一個(gè)碗里；把雞蛋揀出來，放進(jìn)另一個(gè)碗里；把咖啡舀出來，倒進(jìn)一個(gè)杯子里，然后轉(zhuǎn)身對(duì)她說：“親愛的，你看到的是什么？”

“胡蘿卜、雞蛋和咖啡?！彼鸬?。父親帶她走近些，要她摸摸胡蘿卜。她摸了摸，感覺到它們變軟了。然后，他又要她拿一個(gè)雞蛋并把殼敲破，剝殼后，她察看了這個(gè)煮熟后變硬的雞蛋。最后，父親要她喝一口咖啡。嘗著芳香四溢的咖啡，她微笑起來。

“這是什么意思，父親？”她謙遜地問道。父親解釋說，這三樣?xùn)|西面臨著同樣的逆境——煮沸的水。但它們的反應(yīng)各不相同。胡蘿卜本是強(qiáng)大的、堅(jiān)硬的、不屈不撓的，但在水中煮過后，它變?nèi)趿耍彳浟?。雞蛋本來易碎，薄薄的外殼保護(hù)著里面的液體。但是在水中煮過后，它里面變堅(jiān)硬了。不過，最獨(dú)特的卻是磨碎的咖啡豆，當(dāng)它們被放入煮沸的水之后，它們卻改變了水。“哪一個(gè)是你呢？”他問女兒。

當(dāng)逆境找上你時(shí)，你該如何應(yīng)對(duì)呢？你是胡蘿卜、雞蛋，還是咖啡豆？endprint