雙語小說閱讀:《誰動了我的奶酪》
Once, long ago in a land far away, there lived four little characters who ran through a maze looking for cheese to nourish them and make them happy.
Two were mice named ''Sniff'' and ''Scurry'' and two were little people -- beings who were as small as mice but who looked and acted a lot like people today. Their names were "Hem" and "Haw".
Due to their small size, it would be easy not to notice what the four of them were doing. But if you looked closely enough, you could discover the most amazing things!
Every day, the mice and the little people spent time in the Maze looking for their own special cheese.
The mice, Sniff and Scurry, possessing only simple rodent brains, but good instincts, searched for the hard nibbling cheese they liked, as mice often do.
The two little people, Hem and Haw, used their brains, filled with many beliefs and emotions, to search for a very different kind of Cheese -- with a capital C -- which they believed would make them feel happy and successful.
As different as the mice and little people were, they shared something in common. Every morning, they each put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their little homes, and raced out into the Maze looking for their favorite cheese.
The Maze was a labyrinth of corridors and chambers, some containing delicious cheese. But there were also dark corners and blind alleys leading nowhere. It was an easy place for anyone to get lost.
However, for those who found their way, the Maze held secrets that let them enjoy a better life.
The mice, Sniff and Scurry, used a simple trial-and-error method of finding cheese. They ran down one corridor and, if it proved empty, they turned and ran down another. They remembered the corridors that held no cheese and quickly went into new areas.
Sniff would smell out the general direction of the cheese, using his great nose, and Scurry would race ahead. They got lost, as you might expect, went off in the wrong direction and often bumped into walls. But after a while, they found their way.
Like the mice, the two little people, Hem and Haw, also used their ability to think and learn from their past experiences. However, they relied on their complex brains to develop more sophisticated methods of finding Cheese.
Sometimes they did well, but at other times their powerful human beliefs and emotions took over and clouded the way they looked at things. It made life in the Maze more complicated and challenging.
Nonetheless, Sniff; Scurry, Hem and Haw all discovered, in their own way, what they were looking for. They each found their own kind of cheese one day at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C.
Every morning after that, the mice and the little people dressed in their running gear and headed over to Cheese Station C. It wasn't long before they each established their own routine.
Sniff and Scurry continued to wake early every day and race through the Maze, always following the same route.
When they arrived at their destination, the mice took off their running shoes, tied them together and hung them around their necks—so they could get to them quickly whenever they needed them again. Then they enjoyed the cheese.
In the beginning, Hem and Haw also raced toward Cheese Station C every morning to enjoy the tasty new morsels that awaited them.
But after a while, a different routine set in for the little people.
Hem and Haw awoke each day a little later, dressed a little slower, and walked to Cheese Station C. After all, they knew where the Cheese was now and how to get there.
They had no idea where the Cheese came from, or who put it there. They just assumed it would be there.
從前，在一個遙遠的地方，住着四人小傢伙。爲了填飽肚子和享受樂趣，他們每天在不遠處的一座奇妙的迷宮裏跑來跑去，在那裏尋找一種叫做“奶酪”的黃橙橙、香噴噴的食物。
有兩個小傢伙是老鼠，一個叫“嗅嗅”，另一個叫“匆匆”。另外兩個傢伙則是小矮人，和老鼠一般大小，但和人一個模樣，而且他們的行爲也和我們今天的人類差不多。他的名字，一個叫“哼哼”，另一個叫“唧唧”。
由於他們 四個實在太小了，他們在幹什麼當然不太會吸引起旁人的注意。但如果你湊近去仔細觀察，你會發現許多令人驚奇不已的事情！
兩個老鼠和兩個小矮人每天都在迷宮中度過，在其中尋找他們各自喜歡的奶酪。嗅嗅、匆匆的大腦和其他齧齒類動物的差不多一樣簡單，但他們有很好的直覺。和別的老鼠一樣，他們喜歡的是那種適合啃咬的、硬一點的奶酪。
而那兩個小矮人，哼哼和唧唧，則靠腦袋行事，他們的腦袋裏裝滿了各種信念和情感。他們要找的是一種帶字母"C"的奶酪。他們相信，這樣的奶酪會給他們帶來幸福，使他們成功。儘管小老鼠和小矮人的目標各不相同，但他們做的事情是差不多的。每天早上，他們會各自穿上運動服和慢跑鞋，離開他們的小房子，跑進迷宮尋找他們各自鍾愛的奶酪。
迷宮中有許多曲折的走廊和好像蜂窩似的房間，其中的一些房間裏藏着美味的奶酪，但更多的地方則是黑暗的角落和隱蔽的死衚衕，任何人走進去都很容易迷路。
同時，這座迷宮還有一種神奇的力量，對那些找到出路的人，它能使他們享受到美好的生活。
兩上小老鼠，嗅嗅和匆匆，總是運用簡單低效的反覆嘗試的辦法找奶酪。他們跑進一條走廊，如果走廊裏的房間都是空的，他們就返回來，再去另一個走廊搜尋。沒有奶酪的走廊他們都會記住。就這樣，很快地他們從一個地方找到另一個地方。嗅嗅可以用他那了不起的鼻子嗅出奶酪的大致方向，匆匆則跑到前面開路。然而迷宮太大太複雜，如你所料，他們經常會迷路，離開正道走錯了方向，有時甚至還會撞到牆上。
而兩個小矮人，哼哼和唧唧，則運用他們思考的能力，從過去的經驗中學習。他們靠複雜的腦袋，搞出了一套複雜的尋找奶酪的方法。
哼哼和唧唧的方法比他們的老鼠朋友要高效，因此他們走進死衚衕和碰壁的情況要比小老鼠們少得多。他們也爲此而時常沾沾自喜很是得意，甚至有些看不起低智商的老鼠朋友。然而有時候，人類複雜的頭腦所帶來的複雜感情也會戰勝他們的理性思維，使他們看問題的眼光變得黯然起來。這也使得他們在迷宮中的生活更加複雜化，也更具有挑戰性了。
但是不管怎樣，這四個傢伙——嗅嗅與匆匆，哼哼和唧唧都以他們各自的方式不懈地追尋着他們想要得到的東西。最後，終於有一天，在某個走廊的盡頭，在奶酪C站，他們都找到了自己想要的奶酪。
這裏真是一個天堂，四個小傢伙被眼前的情景驚呆了，無數各式各樣的奶酪堆積如山，閃着誘人的光亮。四個小傢伙呆了半晌，然後瘋了般地衝進奶酪堆，開始狂歡。
從那以後，這四個傢伙，小老鼠和小矮人，每天早上穿上他們的跑步裝備後便毫不猶豫地直奔奶酪C站。不久，他們都建立了熟悉的路線，並形成了各自的生活習慣。
嗅嗅和匆匆仍舊每天都起得很早，然後沿着相同的路線跑進迷宮中。當老鼠們到達目的地後，他們脫下自己的跑鞋，有條不紊地將兩隻鞋系在一起，掛在脖子上——以便需要有時候能夠很快穿上。然後，他們纔開始盡情享用奶酪。
在剛開始的一段時間裏，哼哼和唧唧也是如此行事，每天早晨趕到奶酪C站，按部就班的把鞋子掛在脖子上，享用在那裏等着他們的美味佳餚。
然而，不久以後，小矮人們改變了他們的常規。
哼哼和唧唧每天起得比老鼠們晚一些，懶懶地穿好運動服，然後信步走到奶酪C站。不管怎樣，反正已經找到了奶酪。
他們從沒想過，奶酪是從哪裏來的，是誰把它們放在那裏的。他們只是理所當然地認爲，奶酪總是會在那裏的。
