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有一天，一个人在家中阁楼里发现了一本书。 书很旧，书页也发黄了，翻动时，一些页都会破碎。 他发现这是一本魔法书，虽然他尽力去读，却读不懂，只是读懂了一段。那段话说在黑海岸边有一块鹅卵石，任何东西碰到它就会变成金子。 古人说这块鹤卵石与众不同，摸一下就可以辨别出来，它摸起来是温的。 于是那人来到黑海岸边寻找那块鹅卵石。 从早到晚他不断地捡起鹅卵石来摸，为了避免重复摸到同一块鹅卵石，他就把已经摸过的远远扔进海里。 曰复一曰，年复一年，那人还在寻找着那块鹅卵石。但捡起的每块鹅卵石都是冰冷的，他一捡起来就把它们扔到海里。现在他俨然很专业，捡起一块就紧接着把它们扔进海里。 一天晚上，他结束了一天的搜寻,疲惫不堪地准备离开海滩时，眼前又出现了一块鹅卵石，他顺手拣了起来，这块是温热的，但习惯成自然，他把这块鹅卵石也远远扔进了海里！ Force of Habit One day a man found a book in his attic. The book was so old that the papers were yellow and some of the pages crumbled as he turned them. He discovered that it was a book on magic, but try as he might he could not understand any portion of it except one paragraph. The paragraph stated that on the shores of the Black Sea there was a pebble that could turn anything it was touched to into gold. This pebble, the ancient writer said, could be distinguished from the others only by touching it ： unlike the other pebbles it was warm to the touch. The man went to the shores of the Black Sea and began to search for the pebble. From morning to night he would pick up pebbles and feel them. To ensure that he did not pick up the same pebble twice he would fling every pebble he picked up, far out into the sea. The days stretched into weeks and then into months. A year passed. Then another. The man went on looking for the pebble. But every pebble he picked up was as cold as ice and he flung them away as fast as he picked them. Now he had become so expert at it that he could pick up a pebble and fling it into the sea with one smooth action. One evening as he was wearily leaving the beach after another day's search he saw a pebble in front of him. He picked it up. It was warm. But out of force of habit he flung it far out into the sea! |
