说尺子
About the Ruler
作者未知
编译者 周柯楠
By an unknown author
Compiled by Zhou Kenan
从100分到98分，挨一顿揍；从55分到61分，得一个吻。One scoring from 100 to 98 on the exam gets a beating; another from 55 to 61 gets a kiss.
这看似荒诞不经的故事，却常常发生在我们身边，许多人看来，前者退步了挨揍是天经地义，后者进步了得吻是理所当然。This seemingly absurd story often happens to us, and many people see it as natural for the former to be beaten in retrogression, and it is also natural that the latter has improved to get a kiss.
我们常说，要一把尺子量到底。在现实生活中，应当说尺子是最公平的。We often say that we should measure it to the end with one ruler. In real life, it should be said that the ruler is the fairest.
但拿在不同人的手里，去度量不同的人，就会出现不同的结果。However, the ruler in the hands of different people measuring different people, there will be different results.
我们习惯了妈妈在厨房中的忙碌，一日三餐总是准时吃到可口的饭菜。We are used to our mother's busyness in the kitchen. We always eat delicious food on time for three meals a day.
可当有一天，我们回家面对着干锅冷灶的时候，却首先想到的是无饭可吃，沮丧之余，面露愠色，甚至开口责备。But one day, when we come back home only to face the dry pot and cold stove, the first thing we think of is that we have nothing to eat. We are depressed and sullen, and even to scold.
我们完全忽略了她累了病了，撑不住了，连烧口开水的力气也没有了。We completely neglect that she is tired and sick and can’t hold on,and even she has not the strength to boil water.
而我们的爸爸偶尔下一次厨房，煮一碗面，却能让一家人感到万分知足。However,our father occasionally goes down the kitchen to cook a bowl of noodles, making the family feel very satisfied.
惯性，使我们的尺子变得富有弹性，却无法丈量出爱的深远。Inertia makes our rulers flexible, but it is unable to measure the depth of love.
大家还记得北方小城那位舍粥的大嫂吗？Do you remember the lady who gave alms in the small town in the north?
每到冬天她就半夜起来，熬上满满的三锅热粥，免费送给寒风中瑟缩的清洁工、穷苦人和乞丐，数年如一日，不曾间断。Every winter she got up at midnight,cooked three pots of hot porridge and gave it free of charge to cleaners, poor people and beggars in the cold wind.
而当有一天，一位老汉从中吃出了一粒沙子，顿时将一碗热粥泼在大嫂的身上。And one day, an old man ate a grain of sand from it and immediately poured a bowl of hot porridge on the lady.
而领粥的人，也瞬间划分为两大阵营：有人说老汉不该撒野，也有人指责大嫂不该掺沙子。The porridge recipients were also instantly divided into two camps: some said that the old man should not be wild, while others accused the lady of mixing sand into the porridge.
薄情，让我们的尺子扭曲，冷了多少善良的心。Ungratefulness warps our ruler ,chilling so many kind hearts.
开县一辆满载了19名乘客的中巴，突遇险情，一头栽进深达五米的水塘。A minibus carrying 19 passengers in Kaixian County suddenly ran into a reservoir up to five meters deep.
当地村民金有树跳进冰冷刺骨的水中，砸开车窗将19名乘客全部救出。A local villager named Jin Youshu jumped into the icy water and smashed the windows to rescue all 19 passengers.
他自己却因长时间冷水的浸泡患上肺病，举债治疗数月，告借无门，不得不离开医院，病死家中。However, he himself suffered from lung disease as a result of his long immersion in cold water . He borrowed money to go to the hospital for treatment for several months, and then as nobody lent him money,he had to leave the hospital and died at home.
19名幸存者无一人去医院探视，更无人为他送行。None of the 19 survivors visited him in hospital, let alone to his funeral.
金有树临死前写下一封信，第一句话就是：“我救了19人的命，现在谁来救我的命。”Jin Youshu wrote a letter before he died. The first sentence was: "I saved 19 lives. Now who will save my life?"
冷漠，让我们的尺子訇然寸断，留下无尽的遗憾。Indifference causes our ruler to break,leaving endless regret.
每个人心里都有一把尺子。我们用它来衡量别人，更要时常度量自己。Everyone has a ruler in his heart. We use it to measure others, but all the more to measure ourselves from time to time.
这个世界，应当有这样一把尺子，于情充满温暖，于理凸显公平，于法彰显正义，时时刻刻闪耀着人性的光辉。In this world, there should be such a ruler, full of warmth in love, highlighting fairness in reason, showing justice in law, and shining with the brilliance of human nature at all times.
只要坚持从我做起，从一点一滴做起，苛责自我，宽厚待人，星星之火，势必燎原，人间终会洒充阳光，洒满爱。As long as we insist on starting from ourselves ,starting bit by bit, being critical of ourselves, and being kind to others, a single spark is bound to start a prairie fire, and the world will eventually be full of sunshine and love.
