提 要

有人說「做自己喜愛的工作」；有人說「喜愛自己做的工作」，但是同樣周而復始的「機械式」動作，容易覺得倦怠。因此有人建議，應該「做自己擅長的工作」，幸福研究學者馬丁．塞利格曼的研究顯示，真正能滿足自己的最好方法，是「找到一份工作能專注於和自己的核心優勢相匹配的事。」

Once on a time, there lived four friends. One of them was a weaver, the other a carpenter, the third a goldsmith and the fourth a hawker who sold vermilion. Every evening, they would meet in the woods and share the day's experience.

One such evening, they were feeling sad and depressed. "Life is so boring!" said the weaver. "I spin thread, weave clothes and the day comes to a close!" "It is the same with me, friend!" said the hawker. "I buy vermilion from the wholesaler, go hawking through the village and the day is over."

"My life is boring too!" said the carpenter. "I chop wood and make furniture. Is this the best way to spend a day?" The goldsmith said, "I am no better, friends! I melt gold, mold it into beautiful designs and that is the work I do the whole day."

So, the four planned to go to the town in search of new jobs. "Let's sleep here tonight and start early morning!" they decided. "But we must take turns and keep a watch for wild animals." The carpenter was the first to keep vigil while the other three slept.

Suddenly, he saw a lovely pike of dry wood. He chiseled it, carved a statue of a woman and placed it on the ground under the tree. Then the carpenter woke up the goldsmith and went to sleep. "Ah, I feel so refreshed!" the goldsmith sat up with a yawn. He stretched his limbs and was ready to keep vigil while his three friends slept.

The goldsmith then noticed the wooden figure. "Beautiful!" he exclaimed. "But she needs ornaments!" So, he made a gold chain and put it around her neck. He also made some bangles and a pair of earrings and adorned the statue. Then keeping the statue under the tree, the goldsmith woke up the weaver and went to sleep.

The weaver sat up, rubbing his eyes and scratching his head. As he looked around, he spotted the wooden statue. "How Wonderful." exclaimed the weaver. Then he went close to the statue and picked it up in his hands. "Umm...... something is missing!" thought the weaver. "Yes...... CLOTHES! She should wear a sari."

And then he wove a sari and wrapped the statue in it. "That looks nice!" said the weaver and smiled to himself. He then placed the statue under the tree and woke up the hawker to take his turn.

When the hawker sat up, he saw the beautiful statue under the tree." This is indeed a masterful work of art!" he cried. "I wish someday to marry a girl as beautiful as her."

The hawker took a pinch of vermilion from his bag and placed it on the statue's forehead. Much to the hawker's surprise, the statue came to life and transformed itself into a charming woman!

She was smiling at the hawker. As it was dawn by now, the other three friends also woke up. Seeing the beautiful woman, they all began to quarrel as to who should wed her. "I made her,” said the carpenter, "So I am the correct match for her!" "No, I am the correct match, since I adorned her," said the goldsmith. "I gave her the clothes," said the weaver, "So she is mine." "She wears my vermilion," clamed the hawker," So I shall wed her."

As they quarreled, there came a wise man.

After hearing the story, the wise man said, "He who made her is her father; he who adorned her is her uncle; he who clothed her is her brother; but he who put vermilion on her forehead is her husband."

The other three friends agreed and thus the hawker married the woman, and after this experience, they found their occupation was pretty good, so they lived happily thereafter.

解說

從前，住著四個朋友。一個織工、一個木匠，第三個是金匠，還有賣硃砂的飼鷹小販。他們每天晚上都在樹林裡會面，分享一天的經歷。

一個這樣的夜晚，他們覺得沮喪失落。「生活是太無聊了！」織工說： 「我紡線、織衣服，一天就結束了！」 「朋友，我的生活也是這樣！」小販說：「我向批發商買硃砂，放鷹飛過村莊，日子就這麼過了。」

「我的生活也很無聊呢！」木匠說：「我砍木頭、製作家具，這是一天的最佳生活方式嗎？」金匠說：「朋友們，我也沒好到哪兒去，我把金子熔了、放進模具，然後製成藝品，這就是我一整天做的事。」

因此，這四個朋友打算去鎮上找新的工作：「我們今晚睡在這裡，清晨再出發。」他們如此決定：「但我們必須輪流守夜，防範野獸。」木匠率先輪第一班守夜，讓其他三人先睡。

突然，木匠看到了一根形狀可愛的乾柴，他把它雕琢成輪廓分明的女人雕像，放在樹下，然後他叫醒金匠輪第二班守夜。 「嗯，我覺得神清氣爽！」金匠坐起來打了一個哈欠、伸展四肢，並準備繼續守夜，讓他的三個朋友睡大覺。

接著，金匠注意到了木雕， 「美麗啊！」他感嘆道：「但她需要裝飾品！」於是，他做了一條金鍊，並把它掛在木雕的脖子上，他還做了一些手鐲、一對耳環裝飾雕像，然後把雕像放回樹下，叫醒織工後，該金匠睡覺去了。

織工坐起來，揉了揉眼睛、抓抓頭。當他環顧四周，他發現了木雕。 「多麼美妙啊！」織工驚呼。然後，他靠近端詳這尊雕像，「嗯……缺少了什麼東西呢？」織工想到了「是衣服！她應該披裹莎麗捲布在身上。」

於是他織一匹紗麗，幫雕像穿好。 「這看起來真不錯！」織工說著得意地笑了笑，然後，他把雕像放回樹下，叫醒了飼鷹小販，輪到他守夜了。

當小販坐起來，看到樹下美麗的雕像，「這的確是一個藝術大師級的作品！」他不禁落淚：「我真希望有一天，能夠跟如此美麗的女孩結婚。」

小販從他的背包裡拿出一撮硃砂，點在雕像的額頭。令小販目瞪口呆的，是這座雕像活了過來，變成一個真實的迷人女子。

她面帶微笑看著小販時，黎明跟著到來，其他三個朋友也醒了。看著眼前這美麗的女人，他們開始爭吵：「誰應該娶她！」木匠說：「她是我的創作，所以我是她正確的匹配！」「不，是我才對，因為我點綴了她。」金匠說。「我給她穿美麗的衣服。」織工說：「所以她是我的。」「她頂著我的硃砂，」小販宣稱：「所以我該娶她。」

當他們吵個不停時，一位智者出現了。

聽完他們的故事後，智者說：「創作她的是『父親』」；「點綴她的是『叔叔』」；「給她美麗衣服穿的是『兄弟』」；但是，「把硃砂點在她額頭的，是她的丈夫。」

其他三個朋友都同意這種說法，因此，小販娶了美麗女人。經過這件事之後 ，四個朋友也覺得「自己的工作其實很好」，大家從此幸福地過日子。