提要

每一天每個人都要作選擇，小者如「吃什麼」、「走哪條路」；大者如「要去哪工作」、「是否繼續升學」等等。一旦遇到足以改變人生的選擇時，一定要謹慎考慮，「choose wisely」（明智選擇）。



A housewife came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them.

She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?", they asked.

"No", she said. "He's out."

"Then we cannot come in", they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. "Go tell them I am home and invite them in!"

The woman went out and invited the men in. "We do not go into a House together," they replied.

"Why is that?" she wanted to know.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said.

Her husband was overjoyed, "How nice!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?"

Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house.

She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Let us heed our girl's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love?

Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success:

"I only invited Love, why are you coming in?"

The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!"



解說



一位家庭主婦發現她房外前院，坐著三個留著長長的白鬍鬚的老人。

雖不認識他們，她還是對他們說，「我們不認識，但你們一定餓了，請進來吃點東西。」

「家裡的男人在嗎？」，老人們問

「不」，主婦說，「他出去了。」「那我們就不能進來，他們回答。

到了晚上，當她的丈夫回家後，婦人告訴他發生了什麼事，丈夫說「去告訴他們我在家，並邀請他們進來！」

婦人走出去邀請三位老人，「我們不能一起進屋，」他們回答。

「這是為什麼？」她想知道，其中一位老人解釋：「他的名字是『財富』，」接著指著指向另一個老人說，「他是『成功』，而我是『愛』。」

然後他補充，「現在請回家與你丈夫商量，妳們準備邀請誰進屋。」婦人於是回去告訴她丈夫。

她的丈夫喜出望外，「太好啦！」，他說，「既然如此，讓我們邀請『財富』進來，把我們的房子塞滿財富！」

他的妻子不同意。「親愛的，何不邀請『成功』？」

聽著他們談論，他們的女兒從房子的另一個角落插話說：「邀請『愛』豈不是更好？我們的家就會充滿愛！」

「就讓我們聽從女兒的意見吧」，丈夫說。

婦人於是出去問老人：「哪一位是『愛』？請進來當我們的客人。」

『愛』起身朝屋子走去，其他兩位老人也起身跟著他。婦人驚訝地問『財富』與『成功』：「我只邀請『愛』，為什麼你們都來了？」

老人們齊聲答道：「如果你邀請的是『財富』或『成功』，我們兩個都會在外面獃著，但是既然你邀請了『愛』，無論他走到哪裡，我們跟他一起去，因為只要有愛，也會有財富與成功！」



原來如此

overjoyed

「overjoyed」表示極度高興、狂喜。 例如：「After the earthquake we were overjoyed that my parents were safe.」（地震過後，我們萬分高興父母都安然無恙。）

類似的還有「overexcited」（過度興奮）；在形容詞前加上「over」就是過度，有些人會說：「你太『over』了」，就是你太過分了！



jumped in

「jump」 是跳，但在文中的「jumped in」跳的是文字，是「插話」的意思。他們的女兒「 jumped in with her own suggestion……」（插話提供意見）。

「jump to conclusion」也不是真的跳。例如：「Don't jump to conclusions, Wait until you hear what I have to say.」（不要驟下結論，先聽聽我要說的是什麼。）



heed

「heed」 是留心、注意。 例如：「Please take heed of these warnings.」 （請注意這些警告。）

「 pay heed to」也是留意的另一用法，例如：「searching for jobs,Mary had to pay heed to her appearance for the first time.」 （為了求職，這是瑪莉首次必須注意自己的外表。）