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从前，据说魔鬼要准备金盆洗手了，想把自己所有的本事都出让给那些愿意掏钱买下的人。 在出售本事的那个重要的日子里，他把所有诱人的本事都摆出来展示。其中有嫉妒、猜忌、仇恨、怨恨、欺骗、淫荡、傲慢、崇拜以及魔鬼的其他本事。每个本事上面都标明了价码。 在一处角落里有一个并不起眼的楔形工具已经用得很旧了，可与其他本事相比仍然标价不菲。一些人就问魔鬼这是什么东西。他答道：“那是挫人锐气。”很快就有人接着问道：“它看来似乎平淡无奇，而且要比其他的破旧得多，为什么标价还如此之高?” 于是，魔鬼答道:“在我看来，它要比其他本事有用得多。我可以用这个本事 :来窥探并潜入人的内心，而用其他本事便办不到这些。一旦我潜入了人的内心，便可以随心所欲地使用它。它的确用旧了，因为我把它用在所有可用的人身上, 没有多少人知道这一本事是属于我的。” 这个本事标价高得令人咋舌，也就没有人敢应价，所以直到今天仍没有卖出去。它还是属于魔鬼自己，而魔鬼依旧把它用在人类的身上 Discouragement一A Tool of the Devil Once upon a time it was announced that the devil was going out of business and would sell all his equipment to those who were willing to pay the price. On the big day of the sale, all his tools were attractively displayed. There were Envy ,Jealousy，Hatred，Malice，Deceit，Sensuality，Pride，Idolatry，and other implements of evil display. Each of the tools was marked with its own price tag. Over in the comer by itself was a harmless looking，wedge-shaped tool very much worn，but still it bore a higher price than any of the others. Someone asked the devil what it was，and he answered，“ That is Discouragement.” The next question came quickly,“And why is it priced so high even though it is plain to see that it is worn more than these others?” “Because，’’replied the devil，“ It is more useful to me than all these others. I can pry open and get into a man’s heart with that when I cannot get near him with any other tools. Once I get inside,I can use him in whatever way suits me best. It is worn well because I use it on everybody I can，and few people even know it belongs to me. This tool was priced so high that no one could buy it,and to this day it has never been sold. It still belongs to the devil，and he still uses it on mankind. |
