The Golden Cup and the Old Jar

翻译：寒 星

The Golden Cup and the Old Jar

金杯和旧罐子

翻译：寒 星

教师节马上就要到啦！来看一则老师与学生的小故事吧！这个故事所反映的和现实生活中的很多时候一样，我们平时看到的或许并不是事情的实质。老师们的良苦用心，大家需要用心才能发现哦！

One day, two students of the teacher Chang Hu came to his house. They sat down at the table. Chang Hu put a golden cup in front of one of his students, and in front of the other student, he put an old and1)cracked jar. Both the cup and the jar were filled with water.

“Help yourself,” Chang Hu said.

The student who got the golden cup drank the water and he2)bowed to his3)former teacher with4)gratitude. The other student, whom the old jar was given to, looked at the teacher with5)reproof and asked, “Tell me, honorable Chang Hu, do you treat your former students so differently, that you offer one of them to drink water from a golden cup, and for the other one—from an old jar?”

Chang Hu smiled and said, “My dear students, the golden cup is stored in my house for many years. I place it before the most honored guest. Not everyone is allowed to drink from it, because it is a6)valuable thing. But I myself never use this cup. However, every day I drink water from my favorite old jar. It7)faithfully8)serves me for so many years. This jar is valuable to my heart. I know every9)cleavage on it. So, my dear students, how I treat both of you, only you can decide. But remember one thing—in this house, I don’t have any dishes apart from a golden cup and an old jar. And into both of them, I simply pour water.”

一天，长湖先生的两名学生到其家中做客。他们在桌前坐了下来。长湖先生把一盏金杯放在了其中一名学生面前，而在另一名学生面前，则放下了一个老旧且开有裂缝的水罐。杯子和罐子里都盛满了水。

“请自便，”长湖先生说。

拿到金杯的学生将水一饮而尽，并向先生鞠躬致谢。而另一个拿到旧水罐的学生则略带责备地看着先生，问道：“可敬的长湖先生，学生不解，为何您如此区别对待您的老学生，让其中一人以金杯饮水，而到了另一个，却只给一个旧罐子呢？”

长湖先生微笑着说：“我亲爱的学生们，这盏金杯已被我珍藏在家多年。我只用它来招待最尊贵的宾客。并非每个人都能用上这盏金杯，因为它价值连城。可我自己从未用过这盏金杯。反而，我每天都会用我最喜爱的旧水罐喝水。它忠诚地为我服务了很多年。在我心里，它很宝贵。我熟悉它上面的每一条裂纹。因此，我亲爱的学生们，我如何对待你们，只有你们才能做出判断。不过请记住一点——在这间屋子里，除了一盏金杯和一个旧水罐，我没有其他器皿了。而且在这两个杯子里，我都只是倒入了水而已。”

词义辨一辨

大家应该都见过honor这个词吧？它在作名词时有“尊敬，荣誉”的意思，而由这个意思演变出来的形容词却有两种不同的形式哦，下面一起来分辨一下吧！

1）honorable形容（人）值得尊敬，强调内在的美德。如：People who works hard is honorable.（努力工作的人值得尊敬。）。它还常被用在某些贵族和法官等官员的名字前，作为尊称，如在本文中，学生将它放在了老师的名字前面，以示对老师的尊敬。

2）honored形容（人）受人尊敬，强调人的名誉。如：That old man was once an honored gentleman.（那个老人曾是一位受人尊敬的绅士。）。

1) cracked [krækt] adj. 有裂痕的

2) bow [baʊ] v. 鞠躬

3) former ['fɔːmə] adj. 以前的，从前的

4) gratitude ['grætɪtjuːd] n. 感激，感谢

5) reproof [rɪ'pruːf] n. 责备

6) valuable ['væljʊəbl] adj. 贵重的，宝贵的

7) faithfully ['feɪθfʊlɪ] adv. 忠实地

8) serve [sзːv] v. 为……服务

9) cleavage ['kliːvɪdʒ] n. 裂痕