Treasure of Life

Once upon a time, there lived a wise man. His son, however, was very lazy.

The man was worried about his son’s future. And he recognized the need to give something to his son so that he could take care of himself.

One day, the man said to his son, “I want you to find the real purpose of your life.” Then he handed his son a map and asked him to find the treasure.

The son set out the next day. Along the way, he met a lot of people. Some helped him with food, and some with shelter (住所). Finally, after a long year, he reached the place. But he found nothing.

On his way back, he went through the same places. But this time, he stopped to enjoy the beauty of nature. He learned how to hunt, cook, and protect himself from wild animals. He met the same people who had helped him earlier, and this time he helped them in return.

When he reached home, he apologized (道歉) to his father for not finding the treasure.

“There wasn’t any treasure, my son,” the man answered with a smile.

“But why did you send me to find it?” he asked.

Instead of answering the question, the father said, “how was your journey to the place?”

“I didn’t enjoy it at all! Because I was in a hurry looking for the treasure. But I did enjoy the journey on my way back home. I made many friends and I learned so many skills, which made me forget the pain of not finding the treasure.”

His father said to him, “now I think you have found your life’s true purpose. I want you to lead your life with a goal. But if you remain too focused (专注) on your goal, you will miss out the real treasure of life, that is, to just experience it and grow with it every single day.

Joe Brown has a shop. He sells meat in his shop. One Thursday a woman comes into his shop at five to one. “I’m sorry I’m late,” she says. “I need some more meat for my dinner tonight.” Joe has only one piece of meat in his shop. He takes it out of the fridge and says, “This is $6.50.” “That piece is too small.” the woman says, “don’t you have for anything bigger?” Joe goes into the room behind his shop, puts the piece of meat into the fridge, takes it out of again and closes the door with lots of noise. Then he brings the piece of meat to the woman and says, “This piece of meat is bigger and more expensive. It’s $8.75.” “Good,” the woman says with a smile, “give me both of them.”

Answer the following questions within 4 words.（每题答案不超过4个词）

Some time ago, an old businessman had a large store in Boston. He wanted a boy to work for him, and he put an advertisement in the newspapers. The next morning, many boys came to the old man’s office, asking for the job.

There was a post（柱子）by his desk, and there was a nail in it. He took a walking stick and said, “Everyone has three chances. If anyone can hit that nail（钉子）on the head with this stick more than once, I will give him the job.”

The boys thought it was very easy. They all tried, but nobody could make it. So the old man said, “I’m sorry I can’t take any of you,” and they left.

He kept the advertisement in the papers, and the next morning more boys came, and among them he saw a thin boy who had been there the day before. The boy hit the nail successfully for three times. The old man felt surprised and asked how he did that.

“Yes,” said the boy, “I failed yesterday, but I thought that if I kept on trying a while, I could do it. So I went home and practiced hitting a nail with a stick till I could do it, and I got up very early this morning, and tried again.”

The old man said, “You are the boy for me,” and gave him the job. Whatever the boy had to do, he tried to do his best. It was not very long before he became the best clerk in the store.