失与得

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 is it 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！”But the stupid master said， “No， I cant stop！ Ipaid money for them， and now Ill eat them. It，s 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.

从前有一位师父，他到印度去，那时候因为交通不发达，没有飞机，不像现在有很多交通工具，所以这位师父就步行去印度。他有可能是波斯人，以前没去过印度。他到印度时，看见许许多多的水果。在印度，因为缺水的缘故，水果产量不多，许多小店虽然摆满了水果，但多半都很贵。那位师父发现有个大篮子里面装着一种红色长条形的水果，这种水果的价格最便宜，一点都不贵。

他就走过去询问：“这个一公斤要多少钱？”小贩回答：“两卢比。”两卢比在印度根本不算什么，像尘土一样不值钱，于是他就买了整整一公斤，然后开始吃。 吃了几口之后，这位师父就眼泪、口水齐流，眼睛发红，嘴巴辣得像着了火一样，整个头好像要烧起来，他又咳又呛，满脸通红地喘不过气来，在那里边上窜下跳边叫：“啊！啊！啊！”

不过他还是继续吃！有人看到他这样子后，就摇摇头说：“老兄，你是脑袋坏掉啦？这是辣椒耶！不能吃那么多，这样对你不好。辣椒是用来调味的，煮菜时每次只放一点点在食物里增加味道。这个不是水果，不能这样整把拿起来吃啊！”但那位笨师父说：“不行，我已经花钱买了，就要把它吃完，这可都是我的钱哪！”

你们觉得这位师父很笨，是吗？其实我们有时候也做很多类似的傻事。有时候我们在感情或事业工作上，投入了金钱、时间和精力，经过长期的经营之后，我们从惨痛的经验中知道行不通，直觉也很清楚未来不会有任何转机，但我们还是舍不得放弃，因为已经投入了金钱、时间、精力和感情在里面。像这种情形，表示说我们头脑坏掉了，就像那个吃辣椒的人一样，明明已经那么痛苦了，还是不肯停止，只因为不想白白浪费已经付出的钱。

所以，就算你会有所损失，但还是要放下，然后继续前进！这样总比一直损失下去要好。

（唐 敏 供稿）