小言

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work， his electric saw quit and now his pick-up truck refused to start. While I drove him home， he sat in stony silence. On arriving， he invited me to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door， he paused briefly at a small tree， touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door， he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles， and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward he walked me back to my car. We passed the tree and I asked him what I had seen him do earlier. “Oh， thats my trouble tree，” he replied. “I know I cant help having troubles on the job， but one thing is sure， troubles dont belong to my wife and children. So I just hung them up to the tree every night before I came home. Then in the morning I pick them up again. Funny thing is， when I came out in the morning to pick them up， there arent as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

我雇了一位木匠修理舊農舍。工作第一天，他實在倒霉：一個輪胎爆了，耽誤了他一個小時，接著電鋸罷工，現在他的卡車又拒絕起動。在我駕車送他回家的路上，他像石頭一樣坐在那兒，一聲不吭。到他家院子后，他邀請我見見他的家人。我們往前門走的時候，在一棵小樹前，他雙手抓著樹枝末梢停留了一會。

打開門的那一刻他的表情就變了，曬黑的臉上綻放著笑容，讓我驚訝不已。他抱了抱兩個孩子，并吻了妻子。隨后，他送我上車。再經過那棵樹時，我問他剛才在樹前干什么?！班?，那是我的煩惱樹?！彼卮?，“我知道工作總有煩惱，但有一點是肯定的，這些煩惱不屬于我的妻子和孩子。所以，我每晚回家前把它們掛在樹上，第二天早上再去取。有趣的是，我早上把它們取回來時，它們就沒有我記憶中昨晚掛上去的那么多了?！眅ndprint