雙語哲理故事:給對手的"救命草"大綱

I went to hunt for a job in a magazine company. For merely five editing positions, there were more than 300 applicants.
大學畢業後我去一家雜誌社應聘。5個編輯崗位,報名者多達300多人。

After the written test, only 50 candidates could enter the final interview. On the day of the interview, I rose from bed at about 6:00 in the morning and got well dressed in the suit borrowed from one of my classmates. Shortly, I arrived at the interview site without having breakfast. The company required us to draw lots to determine the interview order. I was the 24th candidate to be interviewed. Preceding me was the 22nd candidate who was a short and plain-looking girl wearing light blue casual clothes without using any make-ups to cover her freckles. Her plain looking contrasted tremendously with other girl candidates who were in good dress and make-up in the intensive atmosphere. I greeted her by nodding my head and got a shallow smile in reply. I asked her where she graduated. She dropped down her head and kept silent for a short while, and then told me in a low voice, “I graduated from a junior college, the only one who does not get a bachelor’s degree among the 50 candidates.”
筆試過後只有50個人進入面試。面試那天,不到清晨6點我便起了牀,穿戴好從同學那裏借來的西服和領帶,早點都顧不上吃就趕到了面試地點。雜誌社要求用抽籤的方式來決定面試次序,我抽到了24號。站在我前面的22號是一個身材矮小、相貌不出衆的女生。她穿了一件淺藍色的休閒裝,臉上的斑點都沒有用化妝品覆蓋。她素面朝天的樣子與細細打扮的女生們和屋內嚴肅緊張的氣氛形成了鮮明的對比。我向她點了點頭,她回了我一個淺淺的微笑。我問她是從哪裏畢業?她低頭沉默了片刻,小聲說:“我是從一所大專學校畢業的,是這50個人裏唯一一個大專生。”

I did not expect the interview would last for such a long time. Two hours had passed but only 10 candidates had been interviewed. As I had stomach inflammation and did not have breakfast, my stomach started to ache gradually. Half an hour later, I could hardly focus myself on the book and large drops of sweat ran down from my forehead, making me be only able to lean by the table for a rest.
沒想到面試時間如此之長。時間過去了兩個小時,卻只輪到10號應聘者去面試。由於沒吃早點,我原本就有慢性炎症的胃開始隱隱作痛。半個小時後我已經沒有力氣把精力集中到書本上,大滴大滴的汗珠從額頭上冒了出來。我只能趴在桌子上稍作休息。

All of a sudden, someone patted on my shoulder. I turned round and saw it was the 22nd candidate. She asked me what happened. I told her, “I did not have breakfast this morning, so my stomachache comes to me again. It is nothing serious.” Then I grudged a smile to her. She said, “I am the next one to be interviewed. You should endure the pain and prepare now.” After she went in the interview room, I coordinated my suit again and prepared for my turn. After a while, a staff managing the interviewees at the gate came in and said to me, “No. 24, something for you!” I opened the paper bag and saw a bottle of milk and a piece of bread! Needless to say, it was the girl, No.22, bought for me after the interview. I felt considerably warm all over my heart at that time, because I had not imagined she would be so nice to help me, her rival, in such a intensively competitive condition! After I ate the bread and drank the milk, I felt far better. I had no clue what healed my stomachache at that time. The food or the girl’s golden heart?
有人輕輕拍了一下我的肩,我擡頭一看,是剛纔和我搭話的22號。她問我怎麼了,我說:“早上沒吃飯,胃病犯了。沒事。”然後勉強給她擠出一點微笑。她說:“下一個去面試的人就是我了,你也該做做準備了,稍微忍耐一下。”她進去後我也整理了一下西裝,準備面試。過了一會兒,門口管理秩序的老師進來了,說:“24號,有人捎東西給你。”打開紙袋,我愣住了,裏面是一袋牛奶和一小塊麪包!不用說,這當然是22號女孩面試結束後給我捎來的。一股暖流立刻佈滿了我的全身。在明爭暗鬥的氣氛下她竟然給我這個競爭對手送來了“救命草”。我咬了幾口麪包,喝了那袋牛奶,胃疼也好多了。不知是因爲那些微不足道的食品,還是因爲女孩的細心與善良。

Finally, I outstood among all candidates and managed to be an editor in the company. The first day I went to work, to my surprise, I saw No.22, who was also one among the five employed! Except that I was a college graduate and she junior college graduate, the other three were also masters graduating form famous universities.
最終我從衆多應聘者中脫穎而出,成了那家雜誌的編輯。上班第一天我看到新招來的5個人中竟然有22號女孩。除了我是本科,她是大專生以外,其他3個人都是名牌大學的碩士。

I asked her why she would get employed. She said with smiles, “As with educational qualification, I could not compare with you. But that day when I bought you the milk and bread, an interviewer went to the washroom with loads of materials in hands. He asked me whether I could help him to copy those data while he was in the washroom. I helped him. After I came back to him, he asked me why I would take the food in hands. I told him the truth. Then I got employed miraculously.” At that moment, I came to realize that while the girl did the favor to me and the “stranger”, she also helped herself who did not possess comparable advantages.
那天,我問起22號應聘成功的原因,她笑了,說:“比學歷,比能力我都不如你們。那天給你送牛奶和麪包時面試團的一位老師剛好出來解手,他手裏拿着一大堆資料,看樣子他非常着急,說能不能幫他去複印一份回來。我就跑過去複印。回來時問我爲什麼手裏提着這些東西,我把情況如實地告訴他。就這樣,我陰差陽錯地應聘成功了。”她在給我“救命草”、幫那位“陌生人”複印資料的同時,也拯救了沒有任何優勢的自己。

（ 作者: 來自小故事網 譯者: 愛爾蘭UCD 賴小琪）