提 要

三國劉備的名言：「勿以善小而不為。」意思是：不要因為好事小而不做，小善積多了，就會成為利天下的大善。每個人都可以改變世界，也許不是一蹴可及，而是一點一滴地累積。相信自己每天所做的事情，會讓世界有所不同，也確實如此。

Story1

An old man wandered across the beach, and he came across a young boy throwing something into the breaking waves. Upon closer inspection, the old man could see that the boy was tossing stranded starfish from the sandy beach, back into the ocean.

"What are you doing, young man?" He asked.

"If the starfish are still on the beach when the sun rises, they will die," the boy answered.

"That is ridiculous. There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. It doesn't matter how many you throw in; you can't make a difference."

"It matters to this one," the boy said as he threw another starfish into the waves. "And it matters to those before it."

Story2

Every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. There's a lake located in one corner of the park. Each time I jog by this lake, I see the same elderly woman sitting at the water's edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.

This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped jogging and walked over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal cage was in fact a small trap. There were three turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the base of the trap. She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.

"Hello," I said. "I see you here every Sunday morning. If you don't mind my nosiness, I'd love to know what you're doing with these turtles."

She smiled. "I'm cleaning off their shells," she replied. "Anything on a turtle's shell, like algae or scum, reduces the turtle's ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time."

"Wow! That's really nice of you!" I exclaimed.

She went on: "I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out. It's my own strange way of making a difference."

"But don't most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells?" I asked.

"Yep, sadly, they do," she replied.

I scratched my head. "Well then, don't you think your time could be better spent? I mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but there are fresh water turtles living in lakes all around the world. And 99% of these turtles don't have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, no offense… but how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a difference?"

The woman giggled aloud. She then looked down at the turtle in her lap, scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, "Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he'd tell you I just made all the difference in the world."

解 說

故事1

一位老人在海灘上徘徊，他遇到一個在碎浪中投擲東西的小男孩，趨近仔細一看，老人發現男孩正在從沙灘上撿拾擱淺的海星，拋回海裡。

「你做什麼，年輕人？」老人問。

「如果太陽升起時海星還在沙灘上，牠們就會死亡。」男孩回答。

「這太荒謬了，這綿延數千英里的海灘，有數百萬的海星。無論你扔多少都無法改變什麼，沒用的。」

「這對這隻海星很有用。」男孩在向海浪中投擲另一隻海星時說：「這對那些之前扔回海裡的海星來說，也很重要。」

故事2

每個周日早晨，我都會在家附近的公園裡慢跑。公園的一角有一個湖泊。每當在這個湖邊慢跑時，我都會看到同一位老太太坐在水邊，旁邊放著一個小小的金屬籠子。

最近的這個周日，禁不住自己的好奇心，我停下腳步、走向她。當我靠近時，我發覺到金屬籠其實是個小陷阱。有三隻沒受損傷的烏龜，慢慢地繞著籠子走來走去。她的膝上放第四隻烏龜，老太太正用海綿刷仔細擦洗牠。

「妳好！」我說 ：「每個星期天早上都見到妳。如果你不介意我的愛管閒事，很想知道妳在對這些烏龜做什麼。」

她笑了：「我正在清理牠們的背殼。」她回答：「任何龜殼上的東西，如藻類或浮渣，都會降低烏龜吸收熱量、阻礙游泳的能力。時間長了，也會侵蝕表面讓龜殼變脆變薄弱。

「哇！妳真是太好了！」我驚呼。

她接著說：「我每周日早上都要花幾個小時，在這湖邊放鬆心情，幫助這些小傢伙。這是我做些改變的方式。」

「但是大多數淡水龜，不是都把藻類浮渣背在殼上過一生嗎？」我問。

「是的，可悲的是，牠們是這樣過一生的。」她回答。

我抓了抓頭：「那麼，妳不覺得妳的時間可做更好的事嗎？我的意思是，我認為妳的立意良善，但是世界各地的湖泊都有淡水龜。九成九的烏龜沒有像妳這樣的好人幫助牠們清理背殼。所以，希望沒有冒犯妳……但僅僅在此地的小小努力，究竟能改變些什麼呢？」

那個女人大聲地咯咯笑。然後，她低頭看著膝蓋上的烏龜，從牠的殼上擦去最後一塊藻，然後說：「親愛的，如果這個小傢伙能說話的話，牠會告訴你，我幫牠做了天大的改變。」