英语智慧背囊02-放下手中的木苹果

[00:00.00]Let Go the Wooden Apples 放下手中的木苹果
[00:05.84]There once was a happy monkey wandering the jungle,
[00:10.76]eating delicious fruit when hungry,
[00:13.40]and resting when tired.
[00:15.13]One day he came upon a house,
[00:17.77]where he saw a bowl of the most beautiful apples.
[00:21.37]He took one in each hand and ran back into the forest.
[00:25.96]He sniffed the apples and smelled nothing.
[00:29.34]He tried to eat them, but hurt his teeth.
[00:32.86]They were made of wood,
[00:35.28]but they were beautiful,
[00:36.81]and when the other monkeys saw them,
[00:39.30]he held onto them even tighter.
[00:42.16]He admired his new possessions proudly
[00:45.43]as he wandered the jungle.
[00:47.20]They glistened red in the sun,
[00:49.70]and seemed perfect to him.
[00:51.67]He became so attached to them,
[00:54.51]that he didn’t even notice his hunger at first.
[00:57.69]A fruit tree reminded him,
[01:00.09]but he felt the apples in his hands.
[01:03.17]He couldn’t bear to set them down to reach for the fruit.
[01:07.43]In fact, he couldn’t relax, either,
[01:10.70]if he was to defend his apples.
[01:12.90]A proud, but less happy monkey
[01:15.95]continued to walk along the forest trails.
[01:19.25]The apples became heavier,
[01:22.30]and the poor little monkey thought about leaving them behind.
[01:26.13]He was tired, hungry,
[01:29.09]and he couldn’t climb trees
[01:31.26]or collect fruit with his hands full.
[01:34.13]What if he just let go?
[01:36.63]Letting go of such valuable things seemed crazy,
[01:41.11]but what else could he do?
[01:43.41]He was so tired.
[01:45.26]Seeing the next fruit tree,
[01:47.68]he dropped the wooden apples and reached up for his meal.
[01:51.71]He was happy again.
[01:53.69]Like that little monkey,
[01:55.65]we sometimes carry things that seem too valuable to let go.
[02:00.27]We identify so strongly with our things,
[02:03.87]even feeling pain when our cars are dented.
[02:06.92]How much more powerfully do we identify
[02:10.55]with our beliefs and self-ideas?
[02:13.27]Yet they don’t always feed our souls, do they?
[02:16.76]And we become tired of defending them.
[02:20.06]If he hadn’t now let the wooden apples go,
[02:23.44]he might have been found dead of hunger,
[02:26.16]under a beautiful tree,
[02:27.92]with fruit within reach,
[02:30.12]but still grasping his wooden apples.
[02:32.73]Just remember only with open hands can we receive.