【赫临译笔】鹰和蜜蜂 - 心云驛站

老鹰看到一只蜜蜂在一朵花上忙个不停，轻蔑地对它说：“可怜的家伙，我真同情你，有能力又肯付出。整个夏天，你们成千上万地在蜂房里建造蜂窝。但谁能分得出哪是你的劳动成果呢？我坦诚地说，我真不知道你从中能得到什么乐趣。终生劳作，你有什么样的目标？何苦呢，和大家一样，至死也得不到荣誉。我们之间简直是天壤之别！当我舒展开呼呼有声的羽翼时，当我出现在天际时，到处都会引起惊恐。只要看到我，小鸟不敢从地面起飞，牧羊人不敢在他肥壮的羊群旁休息，雨燕不敢冒险来到平原。”

但蜜蜂回答说：“荣耀和尊贵属于你，愿朱庇特继续向你倾洒它慷慨的礼物。然而，我生来是为大众谋福利的，并不寻求自己的劳动多么杰出。但当我看到我们的蜂窝，想到其中有几滴蜜由我新手酿造时，就倍感欣慰。”

那些工作领域引人注目的人是幸运的，知道世人在关注着他的行为时，他会力量倍增。但有些人默默无闻地做着卑微的工作，不眠不休，既不要求名声，也不渴望荣誉，唯一激励他们的是这个想法：我在为大众谋福祉。他们难道不值得尊重吗？

Seeing how a bee was busying itself about a flower, an eagle said to it,with disdain: "How I pity thee, poor thing, with all thy toil and skill! All through the summer, thousands of thy fellows are moulding honeycomb in the hive. Butwho will afterwards separate and distinguish the results of thy labour? I must confess, I do not understand what pleasure thou can take in it. To labour all one's life, and to have what in view? Why, to die without having achieved distinction, exactly like all the rest. What a difference there is between us!When I spread my sounding pinions, and am borne along near the clouds, I am everywhere a cause of alarm. The birds do not dare to rise from the ground, the shepherds fear to repose beside their wellfed flocks, and the swift does,having seen me, will not venture out into the plain."

But the bee replies: "To thee be glory and honour! May Jupiter continue to pour on thee his bounteous gifts!I, however, born to work for the common good, do not seek to make my labour distinguished. But, when I look at our honeycombs, I am consoled by the thought that there are in them a few drops of my own honey."

Fortunate is he, the field of whose labour is conspicuous! He gains added strength from the knowledge that the whole world witnesses his exploits. Buthow deserving of respect is he who, in humble obscurity, hopes for neither fame nor honour in return for all his labour, for all his loss of rest -- who is animated by this thought only, that he works for the common good!