盲人摸象

字幕原文

Six men from a village in India, all of them blind, 印度一个村子里有六个人，全都是盲人，

were curious to find out what an elephant was really like, 他们很好奇大象到底长什么样，

so they went to meet one. 于是就跑去摸摸看。

The first reached out and touched its broad, solid side. 第一个人伸手摸到了大象又宽又厚实的身侧。

"Ah, I see," he said. “啊，我懂了，”他说，

"An elephant is like a wall." “大象就像一堵墙。”

The second felt its tusk, smooth and sharp. 第二个人摸到了象牙，又光滑又尖锐。

"Not at all. “才不是呢。

It's like a spear." 它就像一根长矛。”

The third grabbed the wriggling trunk. 第三个人一把抓住了动来动去的象鼻。

"You're both wrong. “你们俩都错了。

It's like a snake!" 它明明就像一条蛇！”

The fourth wrapped his arms around a leg. 第四个人抱住了一条象腿。

"Clearly, it's like a tree." “很明显，它就像一棵树。”

The fifth happened to touch an ear. 第五个人正好碰到了象耳朵。

"Anyone can tell it's like a fan." “谁都能看出来，它就像一把扇子。”

And the sixth caught hold of the swinging tail. 第六个人一把抓住了甩来甩去的尾巴。

"Nonsense. “胡扯。

It's like a rope." 它明明就像一根绳子。”

Then they argued about it, loudly and for hours, 接着他们就大声争吵起来，一吵就是好几个小时，

each one completely certain, none of them willing to budge an inch. 每个人都深信自己是对的，谁也不肯退让半步。

The funny thing is, every single one of them was partly right. 搞笑的是，他们每个人都说对了一部分，

And all of them were entirely wrong. 但也全都大错特错。

Most of our fiercest arguments work a lot like that. 我们平时很多吵得最凶的争论，其实也是这么回事。

We're each holding one piece of something much bigger, 我们每个人都只抓着某个庞大事物的一小块，

and insisting it's the whole animal. 却一口咬定这就是全貌。

Before you dig your heels in, 所以在你非要跟人死磕到底之前，

it's worth asking which part of the elephant you've actually got hold of. 不妨先想想，自己手里摸到的到底只是大象的哪一部分。