双语美文：先洗干净你自己的杯子

I recently started a new job, in a small office, where four of us share a fridge. In that fridge is a Brita water filter pitcher. One of my coworkers complained the water tasted "dirty". It went on for a few days, and she was stunned I could drink the water without any trouble. I started to doubt my taste buds, but the water really tasted fine.

最近我找了份新工作,是在一间小办公室里,我们四个人共用一个冰箱。冰箱里有一个Brita牌滤水壶,有一个同事抱怨说水喝起来感觉很“脏”,她连续抱怨了几天,还很震惊我喝这样的水竟然没事。我开始怀疑自己的味蕾出问题了,但我真觉着水喝着还不错。

Finally, she figured out the problem was actually her cup. She simply forgot to clean it, and after awhile started to affect the water inside it. She cleaned her cup, and drank the water with no problem.

最后,她发现问题出在了她的杯子上,她只是忘了刷杯子,过一段时间就影响里面水的味道了。她把杯子洗干净了,水就没有异味了。

I can't help but think about the world we live in. Too often we quickly blame other people, other things, anything else but ourselves. "You're racist". "You're intolerant". "You're the problem". The world isn't perfect, I know, but I think we should take a step back sometimes and ask ourselves some tough questions.

我禁不住思考了我们生活的世界,我们总是急于责备其他人、其他事、除了自己之外的一切东西。“你有种族歧视”、“你太狭隘”、“是你的问题”,我知道世界并不完美,但我认为有时我们应该退一步,问自己几个很难回答的问题。

Can I be better? Is my heart really pure? Can I help this situation with kindness?

我能变得更好吗?我的心真的纯洁吗?我能带着善意解决问题吗?

I want to tell you this; please clean your cup. Because when you do, the water will taste much better. I promise you this.

我想告诉你这个道理:请洗干净自己的杯子。因为只有你把杯子洗干净了,里面的水味道才会好,我保证。