x

​​Reasons for My Appreciation of Readers

Zhang Ying

我对《读者》的好感始于她的良好口碑。从前我可以说每期必买，但仅限于翻翻。然而后来却大有不同，我对它越来越依赖，甚至到了不可或缺的地步。 My appreciation of Readers originated from its popularity. In the past, I bought virtually every issue of the magazine just for casual reading, but over time I was becoming more and more attached to it—so attached that I could hardly go without it.

那是新世纪到来时，正赶上西部大开发的机遇，我随中石化的石油勘探大军进入了有“死亡之海”之称的塔克拉玛干大沙漠。没想到，一待就是几个月，而且连续几年都是如此。在沙漠勘探的艰苦生活中，书和杂志成了最美好的精神食粮。 On the threshold of the new century, when the drive of the western region development was launched, I joined one of Sino-pec’s oil prospecting teams and went into the Taklamakan Desert (dubbed the sea of death). But unexpectedly, our oil-exploring mission extended for several months, and remained that long for each mission for the next several years. Life was long and hard there, and thus book and magazines became the best nourishment for the mind.

那时，不知是谁弄到了一期《读者》，看上去已经不知经过多少人的手了。当得知其中有一篇教人正确面对人生。后来我看见她时，她已经发黄很旧了。听说书上有篇文章讲的是人应当在困境中如何正确的面对人生、面对困难时，我就再也坐不住了。我也不知哪来的冲动，整天想着一定要把那本《读者》弄到手。后来一段时间，阅读那篇文章称了我最大的奢望，因为那篇文章被传得太神了。我想尽了各种办法，就差跪下求了，可那本《读者》的持有者愣是不为所动。 One day, someone came up with an issue of Readers, which looked badly thumbed. When I learned that it contained an essay about how to confront life and cope with challenges, a sudden impulse arose in me that I had to get that magazine and read it immediately, so I pondered all day long to figure out how to get it. For several days, I was seized with that desire, a desire that was becoming more and more intense as people around kept talking about the magical power it bore. Therefore I left no stone unturned in my efforts to borrow it; in fact I came close to getting down on my knees, begging its owner to lend it to me, but he just refused to depart with it.

苍天不负有心人。当我拿到那期《读者》时，我顿时感觉天旋地转，脑子里突然一片空白了。我把那本已经泛黄且破旧不堪的《读者》紧紧地握在手里，激动得很久没有打开它。也许是因为来得太突然，即使现在回想起当时的情景，我也清楚地记得自己那时的激动心情，那种感觉以后再也没有出现过。 Thank God! Finally my efforts paid off—I got that issue of the magazine in the end. The moment I took that magazine, which was faded and worn-out, my mind went blank: I was too excited to open it, and instead I held it fast for a long time, probably because the long-awaited chance came too abruptly. Today when I look back on those days, the great thrill I experienced at that moment still remains fresh in my memory. Such a feeling of excitement, however, has not happened to me since.

时隔多年，文章的题目我不记得了，但内容我记得非常清楚。文中有一段非常经典的内容，大意是，当一个人身处逆境时，要学会常想一二，不思八九。文章说，人生在世，如意的事不足一二，不如意的是常有八九，所以人要常想一二，不思八九，或少思八九。文章还举了令人心悦诚服的例子，告诉人们遭遇逆境时应当如何面对现实。读了这篇文章后，我仿佛一下明白了许多事情和道理，人生原来是如此多灾多难啊！这篇文章给我和很多当时身在大沙漠的石油工人以莫大的安慰和鼓舞。每当我遇到挫折时，都会用“常想一二，不思八九”来激励自己、宽慰自己，让自己有一个好的心态去面对一切。不仅如此，我还用这句深含哲理的话宽慰过很多逆境中的人。 Now many years have elapsed, and I still distinctly remember that essay, though its title has become blurred in my mind. In the essay there was a classical saying that when one is in time of adversity, he ought to think about what is satisfactory and refrain from what is not—because normally in one’s lifetime less than 20% of what one experiences is satisfactory, but over 80% isn’t. The writing also cited convincing examples with which to tell people how to confront the hard reality of life. Having read the essay, I seemed to realize that, among other things, a man’s life was full of sufferings and misfortunes after all! The writing gave a great comfort and encouragement to me as well as the oil workers working in the desert; whenever I met setbacks, I would think of what was satisfying in my life and avoid turning my thoughts to what was dissatisfying just to cheer myself up and prepare myself for the future. I would console those in adverse circumstances by conveying to them this saying, a saying that bears such wise philosophy of life.

时至今日，我依然庆幸自己在那个时候读了那篇文章。正如《红灯记》中主人公李玉和说过的一句话：“有这碗酒垫底，什么样的酒我都能对付。”至今，每当想起这句“常想一二，不思八九”，我都会感谢《读者》带给我的人生启迪，让我受用终身。 Today I still feel lucky to have read that essay at that time, and thus managed to survive various types of adverse circumstances, an experience that is analogous to protagonist Li Yuhe’s metaphorical line from the Beijing opera of The Red Lantern: “Having drunk this bowl of liquor, I can cope with any other liquor.” Now whenever I think of the saying, I’ll feel indebted to Readers for its enlightenment, which has been beneficial to me before and will always be so for the rest of my life.

[注：文章版权属于原作者所有，如本文涉及任何版权问题，请与我们联系：admin@jooyee.com,谢谢]