事情并不总是非黑即白

李荷卿

When I was in elementary school, I got into a major1) argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.

I was convinced that "I" was right and "he" was wrong—and he was just as convinced that "I" was wrong and "he" was right. Our teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. The teacher asked the boy what color the object was. "White," he answered.

I couldn't believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between the boy and me, this time about the color of the object.

The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, "White." It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side was it black.

My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must stand in the other person's shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective2).

在我上小学的时候，我和同班的一个男孩发生了一场激烈的争论。我已经忘记我们当时为什么争吵，但那天我所受到的教训却永生难忘。

我认为“我”是对的，“他”是错的——而他恰恰与我相反，坚信“我”是错的，“他”是对的。于是，老师决定给我们上很重要的一课。她把我们带到讲台前，让他站在讲台的这一边，让我站在讲台的另一边。在讲台的正中间有一个又大又圆的东西。我能清楚地看见它是黑色的。老师问那个男孩那个东西是什么颜色的。“白色。”他回答说。

我简直不敢相信，那个东西明明是黑色的，他却说它是白色的！于是，我和那个男孩之间又爆发了一场争论，只不过这次争论的是那个东西的颜色。

老师让我站到那个男孩站的地方，让他站到我原来站的地方。我们交换了位置。现在，老师又问我那个物体的颜色。我不得不回答：“白色。”原来，那个物体两边颜色不同。站在他那边看，它是白色的。只有从我这边看，它才是黑色的。

那天，我的老师给我上了非常重要的一课：要想真实地理解他人的观点，就必须设身处地，从他人的角度看问题。

Vocabulary

1. major [5meIdVE] adj. (数量、大小、程度等)较大的；较多的；较大范围的

2. perspective

[pE5spektIv] n. 观点，想法