Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was bad and that she didnt know how she was going to make it.

She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time.

It seemed just as one problem was solved， another one soon followed.

Her father， a chef， took her to the kitchen.

He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil， he placed potatoes in one pot， eggs in the second pot， and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil， without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter wondered what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her， he asked， “Daughter， what do you see？”

“Potatoes， eggs， and coffee，” she replied.

“Look closer，” he said， “and touch the potatoes.”

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.

Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father， what does this mean？” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes， the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same situation—the boiling water.

However， each one reacted differently.

The potato went in hard， but in boiling water， it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile， with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid inside until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However， the ground coffee beans were unique.

After they were put into the boiling water， they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you，” he asked his daughter. “When a bad thing knocks on your door， how do you respond？ Are you a potato， an egg， or a coffee bean？”

從前，女兒向父親抱怨她的人生很糟糕。她不知道如何繼續(xù)生活下去。

她厭倦了一直奮斗掙扎。

仿佛解決了一個問題，立刻就會出現(xiàn)另一個問題。

做廚師的父親把她帶到廚房。

他分別往三口鍋里添上了水，并放到大火上煮。

當(dāng)三口鍋里的水沸騰時，他把土豆放到其中一口鍋里，把雞蛋放到第二口鍋里，最后把研磨過的咖啡豆放到第三口鍋里。

然后他把它們放好，讓它們繼續(xù)在沸水中煮。他一句話也沒同女兒說。

女兒想知道他在做什么。

二十分鐘后，他關(guān)掉爐火，從鍋里拿出土豆，放進(jìn)一個碗里；拿出雞蛋，也放進(jìn)一個碗里。

然后他用勺子盛出咖啡，放進(jìn)一個杯子里。

他轉(zhuǎn)向女兒，問道：“女兒，你看到了什么？”

“土豆、雞蛋和咖啡?！彼卮鸬馈?/p>

他說：“仔細(xì)看看，摸摸這些土豆?！?/p>

她照做了，并且注意到土豆很軟。

然后父親讓她拿一個雞蛋，并把它剝開。

她把蛋殼剝下后，觀察了一下這個煮老了的雞蛋。

最后，父親讓她喝一口咖啡。

咖啡濃郁的香氣讓她的臉上露出了笑容。

“爸爸，這是什么意思？”她問道。

然后父親解釋道，土豆、雞蛋和咖啡豆都面對著相同的處境——沸水。

然而，它們的反應(yīng)卻各不相同。

土豆一開始堅(jiān)硬，但是在沸水中，它卻變得軟弱。

雞蛋易碎，只有外面那層薄殼保護(hù)著里面的蛋液。當(dāng)雞蛋被放進(jìn)沸水之后，雞蛋內(nèi)部就變堅(jiān)硬了。

然而，研磨過的咖啡豆卻很獨(dú)特。

把它們放進(jìn)沸水之后，它們改變了水，創(chuàng)造了新的事物。

“你是哪一種呢？”他問女兒，“當(dāng)不好的事降臨時，你該如何應(yīng)對？你是一枚土豆、一顆雞蛋還是一?？Х榷?？”

Moral： In life， things happen around us， things happen to us， but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

寓意：生活中，事情發(fā)生在我們身邊，發(fā)生在我們身上，不過它們的好壞則完全取決于我們自身。

Vocabulary

complain v. 抱怨；埋怨（complained是過去式）

observe v. 觀察；注意到（observed是過去式）

react v. 反應(yīng)（reacted是過去式）

protect v. 保護(hù)（protecting是現(xiàn)在分詞形式）