羽毛枕頭

我們說過的話就像是風中一吹即散的羽毛，一旦說出口就無法收回，所以我們要謹言慎行，以免給別人帶去無法彌補的傷害。

In a small town somewhere in Eastern Europe lived a nice businessman with a nasty1) problem: he talked too much about other people. He loved the attention he got， and was delighted when people laughed because of the way he told his \"anecdotes\"， which he sometimes embellished2) with little details he invented to make them funnier and juicier3).

One day he found out something really weird4) about another businessman in town. Of course he felt compelled5) to share what he knew with his colleagues， who told it to their friends， who told it to people they knew. It went around town， till the unhappy businessman who was the main character in the story heard it. He ran to the rabbi6) of the town and wailed7) and complained8) that he was ruined! Nobody would want to deal with him after this.

The rabbi decided to summon9) the man who loved to tell stories. When the nice man with the nasty problem saw the rabbi， he said he had not considered it such a big deal to tell this story， because it was true. The rabbi sighed.

\"True， not true， that really makes no difference! You just cannot tell stories about people. This is all lashon hara10)， slander11)， and it's like murder—you kill a person's reputation.\" He said a lot more， and the man now felt really bad and sorry. \"What can I do to make it undone?\" he sobbed. \"I will do anything you say!\"

The rabbi looked at him. \"Do you have any feather pillows in your house?\" \"Rabbi， I am not poor; I have a whole bunch of them.\"

\"Then bring me one.\"

The man was mystified12)， but he returned a bit later to the rabbi's study with a nice fluffy13) pillow under his arm. The rabbi opened the window and handed him a knife. \"Cut it open!\"

\"But Rabbi， here in your study? It will make a mess!\"

\"Do as I say!\"

The man cut the pillow. A cloud of feathers came out. They landed on the chairs and on the bookcase， on the clock， on the cat which jumped after them. They floated over the table and into the teacups， and a lot of them flew out of the window in a big swirling14)， whirling15) trail.

The rabbi waited ten minutes. Then he ordered the man， \"Now bring me back all the feathers， and stuff them back in your pillow. All of them， mind you. Not one may be missing!\"

The man stared at the rabbi in disbelief. \"That is impossible， Rabbi. The ones here in the room I might get， most of them， but the ones that flew out of the window are gone. Rabbi， I can't do that， you know it!\"

\"Yes，\" said the rabbi and nodded gravely， \"that is how it is: once a rumor， a gossipy16) story， a 'secret'， leaves your mouth， you do not know where it ends up. It flies on the wings of the wind17)， and you can never get it back!\"

在東歐某個地方的一座小鎮上，住著一個為人和善的商人，不過他有一個壞毛病：太愛講別人的閑話。他喜歡講閑話時別人對他的那種關注，也很喜歡看到人們被他講“逸聞趣事”的方式逗樂。他講那些“逸聞趣事”時有時會添油加醋，讓那些故事聽起來更滑稽更搞笑。

一天，他發現鎮上另一位商人的一件怪事，他自然忍不住把這個發現告訴了他的同事們，這些同事又告訴了他們各自的朋友，而那些朋友又告訴了他們自己的熟人。事情就這樣在鎮上傳開了，一直傳到傳聞的主角——那位郁悶的商人的耳朵里。那位商人跑去找鎮上的拉比，向他哭訴說自己完了，今后不會再有人愿意和他做生意了。

拉比決定把那個愛說閑話的商人找來。那個愛說閑話的善良商人來到拉比面前，說他覺得把這件事告訴別人沒什么大不了的，因為他說的都是實話。拉比嘆了口氣。

“是不是實話并不重要！你就是不該說別人的閑話。這是在搬弄是非、詆毀別人，簡直就像謀殺——你毀掉了一個人的名譽。”拉比接下來又講了許多道理，商人這時真的感到后悔和歉疚了。“我怎樣才能收回我說過的話呢？”他抽噎著說，“您讓我做什么都行！”

拉比看著他說：“你家里有羽毛枕頭嗎？”“拉比，我還算有錢，我有好幾個羽毛枕頭呢。”

“拿一個到我這兒來。”

商人雖然感到很困惑，但還是照辦了。不一會兒，他腋下夾著一個精致又松軟的羽毛枕頭回到拉比的書房。拉比打開書房的窗戶，遞給他一把刀，對他說：“把枕頭割開！”

“什么，拉比，在您的書房里嗎？會把房間弄亂的！”

“照我說的做！”

商人把枕頭割開，一大團羽毛散落出來。它們落在椅子上，落在書架上，落在鐘上，落在蹦蹦跳跳追逐著它們的小貓身上。它們飄過桌面落入茶杯，還有許多羽毛匯成旋渦狀飛出了窗外。

拉比等了十分鐘。然后，他吩咐商人說：“現在，把所有的羽毛都撿回來，再把它們塞回枕頭里。聽好，是所有羽毛，一根也不能少！”

商人難以置信地盯著拉比：“這不可能，拉比。我也許能把大部分落在屋里的羽毛撿回來，但是飄到窗外的那些已經不見了。拉比，我做不到，您知道的！”

“是啊，”拉比說道，神情嚴肅地點點頭，“事情就是這樣：一句謠言、一則花邊新聞或是一樁‘秘聞’一旦出口，便不知會流傳到什么地方。流言傳得飛快，說出口就再也收不回來了！”

1.nasty [?nɑ?sti] adj. 令人厭惡的

2.embellish [?m?bel??] vt. 渲染；添枝加葉(如使之更有趣、更可笑)

3.juicy [?d?u?si] adj. 有趣味的(尤指丑事)

4.weird [w??d] adj. 不尋常的；古怪的

5.compel [k?m?pel] vt. 使(某人)做某事；強迫

6.rabbi [?r?ba?] n. 拉比(猶太教教士及其頭銜；猶太教法學導師)

7.wail [we?l] vi. (大聲)哭，訴苦

8.complain [k?m?ple?n] vt. 抱怨；訴苦；發牢騷

9.summon [?s?m?n] vt. 召喚(某人)

10.lashon hara: 邪惡的舌頭。《圣經·新約》中有這樣的經文：這樣，舌頭在百體里也是最小的，卻能說大話。看哪，最小的火能點著最大的樹林。舌頭就是火，在我們百體中，舌頭是個罪惡的世界，能污穢全身，也能把生命的輪子點起來，并且是從地獄里點著的。

11.slander [?slɑ?nd?(r)] n. 誹謗；詆毀

12.mystify [?m?st?fa?] vt. 使(某人)困惑不解；使迷惑

13.fluffy [?fl?fi] adj. 蓬松的；松軟的

14.swirl [sw??l] v. (使)打旋，(使)旋動

15.whirl [w??l] v. (使)旋轉，(使)打轉，(使)回旋

16.gossipy [?ɡ?s?pi] adj. 充滿流言蜚語(或內幕新聞、小道消息)的

17.on the wings of the wind: 以極快的速度