“once upon a time，there was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as a blooming rose. to all the suitors who came to the king's palace to ask for the hand of the princess, the old king assigned three tasks to be accomplished, each next to impossible. one day, into the king's palace came a handsome young prince..." well, you know the rest. the three tasks may be different in different versions, but the main plot is always the same, with the prince claiming the princess's hand triumphantly.
and the ending is always the same, finishing with the line "and they live happily every after."
why aren't we tired of something so fanciful, so unrealistic, and, i would say, so unimaginative? how can a story like that endure generations of repetition`? because, i think, it is a typical success story. it is highly philosophical and symbolic. by implication, we see a 4-step definition of success: 1 ) a goal to be set. as represented by the beautiful princess; 2 ) challenges to be met, as represented by the three tasks; 3 ) the process of surmounting difficulties, as represented by the ordeals the youth goes through; and 4 ) the reward of success, as represented by the happy marriage.
the story not only caters to everyone's inward yearning for success, but also emphasizes the inseparability of the process and the result. the reward of success will be much amplified if the path leading towards it is treacherous, and vice versa. if a person inherits his father's millions and leads an easy life, he is not a successful person even in material terms, because there are no difficulties involved in his achieving affluence. the term "success", to be sure. will not sit still for easy definition. but as i understand it, the true meaning of success entails a combination of both the process and the satisfactory result of an endeavor. to clarify my view, let me give another analogy.
if we changed the rules of football, greatly enlarged the goal and sent away david seaman or any other goal keeper, so that another david, namely david beckham, could score easily, then scoring would not give him the thrill of accomplishment and the joy that it brings. if we further changed the rules by not allowing arsenal's defenders to defend, so that beckham needed only to lift a finger, actually a toe, to score, then there would be no game at all, because the meaning of winning would have disappeared. in accepting the challenge, in surmounting the difficulties and in enduring the hardship, success acquires its value. the sense of attainment varies in proportion to the degree of difficulties on overcomes.
译文
“从前,有一个国王有一个女儿就像盛开的玫瑰一样美丽。所有追求者来到王宫里要求公主的手,老国王指派完成三个任务,每一个几乎不可能的。有一天,国王的宫殿是一个年轻英俊的王子……“嗯,你知道。不同版本的三个任务可能会有所不同,但主要情节总是相同的,得意地宣称王子公主的手。
和结局总是一样的,完成与行“每后,他们幸福地生活在一起。”
为什么不我们厌倦了一些幻想,不现实,我想说,如此缺乏想象力?故事怎么能这样忍受一代又一代的重复”?因为,我认为,这是一个典型的成功故事。它是高度哲学和象征性。通过暗示,我们看到一个分4步的成功的定义:1)所代表的一个目标是集美丽的公主;2)挑战,为代表的三个任务;3)克服困难的过程中,所代表的考验的青春经历,和4)成功的奖励,如所代表的`幸福的婚姻。
这个故事不仅迎合每个人的内心渴望成功,但也强调了过程和结果的不可分离性。成功的奖励会放大很多如果路径主要是危险的,反之亦然。如果一个人继承了他父亲的数百万和领导一个简单的生活,在物质财富方面他甚至不是一个成功的人,因为他没有困难参与实现富裕。“成功”这个词,可以肯定的是。不会坐着容易定义。但随着我的理解,成功的真正含义需要两者的结合的过程和满意的结果努力。阐明我的观点,让我给另一个类比。
如果我们改变了足球的规则,大大扩大了目标和打发大卫·希曼或任何其他守门员,这样另一个大卫,大卫·贝克汉姆,可以轻易得分,然后得分不会给他带来的成就感和快乐,兴奋。如果我们进一步改变了规则不允许阿森纳的后卫防守,所以贝克汉姆只需要抬起手指,脚趾,分数,然后就没有游戏,因为胜利的意义就会消失了。在接受挑战,克服困难,在忍受苦难,成功获得它的价值。成就的感觉不同比例的程度上克服困难。