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Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t 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.
從前，女兒向父親抱怨道，她的人生苦不堪言，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。

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.
做廚師的父親把她帶到廚房里。他分別往三口鍋里添上了水，并放到高火上煮。當三口鍋里的水沸騰的時候，他把土豆放到一口鍋里，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。

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
然后他把它們放好，繼續(xù)在沸水中煮，一句話都不跟女兒說。女兒抱怨著，不耐煩地等待著，想知道他在做什么。

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.
二十分鐘后，他關(guān)掉爐灶，從鍋里拿出土豆，放進一個碗里；拿出雞蛋，也放進一個碗里。

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
然后，他用勺子盛出咖啡，放進一個杯子里。他轉(zhuǎn)向女兒，問道，“孩子，你看到了什么？”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“土豆、雞蛋和咖啡，”她急躁地回答道。

“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.
“仔細看看，”他說，“摸摸這些土豆。”她照做了，注意到土豆很軟。然后父親讓她拿一個雞蛋，并把它敲碎。她把蛋殼剝下后，觀察了一下這個煮老了的蛋。最后，父親讓她喝一口咖啡?？Х葷庥舻南銡庾屝θ葜匦禄氐剿哪樕?。

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
“爸爸，這是什么意思？”她問道。

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
然后父親解釋道，土豆、雞蛋和咖啡豆都分別經(jīng)歷過相同的逆境——沸水。

However, each one reacted differently.
然而，它們的反應(yīng)卻各不相同。

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
土豆一開始強壯、堅硬、不屈不撓，但是在沸水中，它卻變得軟弱。

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
雞蛋易碎，只有外面那層薄殼保護著里面的蛋液。當雞蛋被放進沸水之后，雞蛋內(nèi)部就變硬了。

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
然而，研磨過的咖啡豆卻很獨特。把它們放進沸水中之后，它們改變了水，創(chuàng)造了新的事物。

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
“你是哪一種呢？”他問女兒?！爱敳恍医蹬R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，不過他們的好壞則完全取決于我們自身。

Which one are you?
你是哪一種呢？

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（翻譯：Dlacus）