原文

There once was a master who went to India. In those times， we didnt have the communications or airplanes or many kinds of transportation that we do now. So the master went to India on foot. He had never been to India before； perhaps he came from Persia. And when he got there， he saw a lot of fruit. In India they have plenty of fruit to sell， but much of it is expensive because they cant grow much due to the water situation. So he saw one basket， a big basket of some very red， long fruit. And it was the cheapest in the shop， not expensive at all.

So he went up and asked， “How much per kilo？” And the shopkeeper said， “Two rupees.” Two rupees in India is nothing； its like dirt. So he bought a whole kilogram of the fruit and started eating it. But after he ate some of it： Oh， my God！ His eyes watered， his mouth watered and burned， his eyes were burning， his head was burning and his face became red. As he coughed and choked and gasped for breath， he jumped up and down， saying， “Ah！ Ah！ Ah！”

But he still continued to eat the fruit！ Some people who were looking at him shook their heads and said， “Youre crazy， man. Those are chilies！ You cant eat so many； theyre not good for you！ People use them as a condiment， but only a little bit to put into food for taste. You cant just eat them by the handful like that； theyre not fruit！” So the stupid master said， “No， I cant stop！ I paid money for them， and now Ill eat them. Its my money！”

And you think that master was stupid， right？ Similarly， we sometimes do a lot of things like that. We invest money， time or effort in a relationship， business or job. And even though its been a long time， bitter experience tells us it wont work， and we know theres no more hope that things will change in the future—this we definitely know by intuition—we still continue just because weve invested money， time， effort and love into it. If so， were kaput in the brain. Just like the man who ate the chilies and suffered so much but couldnt stop because he didnt want to waste the money hed paid.

So even if youve lost something， let it go and move on. Thats better than continuing to lose.

譯文

適時舍得的智慧

曾經有個大師到印度去。當時沒有飛機或我們現(xiàn)在知曉的許多交通工具，因此大師只能步行前往。大師從未到過印度，也許來自波斯。當他到達印度時，他看到了許多水果，印度銷售的水果很多，但由于水的原因，許多水果非常昂貴。這時，他看見一個大籃子里面有許多紅紅的、長長的水果，并且一點也不貴，是店里最便宜的。

所以他就走上前去詢問：“一公斤多少錢？”“兩盧布”，店員回答道。在印度，兩盧布就像塵土，不值一提。所以大師買了整整一公斤這種水果開始吃起來。但才吃了幾口，眼里和嘴里就嗆出了水，頭和眼睛感覺火辣辣的，臉也紅了，咳嗽得幾乎要窒息，他上躥下跳，嘴里“啊，啊，啊”地不知說著什么。

但是他仍然繼續(xù)吃著這種水果！ “你瘋了嗎？那些是辣椒！你不能多吃，對你沒好處。人們用它做佐料，食物中放一點調味用的，你不能大把大把地這樣吃，他們可不是水果！” 看著他這樣，旁人搖著頭說，而愚昧的大師回答道：“不，我不能停，這是我花錢買的，我得把這錢吃回來！”

你也認為大師愚蠢，對嗎？其實，我們有時也會做這樣的事。我們投入金錢、時間或努力在關系、生意或工作上，雖然持續(xù)很長時間，痛苦的經歷告訴我們這樣不會奏效，并且憑直覺我們也知道以后狀況不會有起色，但我們依然繼續(xù)下去，僅僅因為我們投入了時間、金錢和努力。如果這樣，我們的腦子就出問題了。就像吃辣椒的那個人，即便辣成那樣也不肯停，就因為他不想浪費他付的錢。

一旦失去，就該適時放手，順其自然，這樣不會失去更多，結果更好。

（作者：殷華新，泰州市第三高級中學）