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A cobbler passed his time in singing from morning till night; it was wonderful to see, wonderful to hear him; he was more contented in making shoes, than was any of the seven sages. His neighbor, on the contrary, who was rolling in wealth, sung but little, and slept less. He was a banker; when by chance he fell into a doze at day-break, the cobbler awoke him with his song. The banker complained sadly that Providence had not made sleep a saleable commodity, like edibles or drinkables. Having at length sent for the songster, he said to him, "How much a year do you earn, Master Gregory?"

"How much a year, sir?" said the merry cobbler laughing, "I never reckon in that way, living as I do from one day to another; somehow I manage to reach the end of the year; each day brings its meal."

"Well then! How much a day do you earn, my friend?"

"Sometimes more, sometimes less; but the worst of it is, -and, without that our earnings would be very tolerable, -a number of days occur in the year on which we are forbidden to work; and the curate, moreover, is constantly adding some new saint to the list."

The banker, laughing at his simplicity, said, "In the future I shall place you above want. Take this hundred crowns, preserve them carefully, and make use of them in time of need."

The cobbler fancied he beheld all the wealth which the earth had produced in the past century for the use of mankind. Returning home, he buried his money and his happiness at the same time. No more singing; he lost his voice, the moment he acquired that which is the source of so much grief. Sleep quitted his dwelling; and cares, suspicions, and false alarms took its place. All day, his eye wandered in the direction of the treasure; and at night, if some stray cat made a noise, the cat was robbing him. At length the poor man ran to the house of his rich neighbor; "Give me back," said he, "sleep and my voice, and take your hundred crowns."

一个皮匠从早到晚在唱歌中度过。 无论见到他本人或听见他的歌声都使人觉得很愉快。 他对于制鞋工作比当上了希腊七圣还要满足。 与此相反，他的邻居是个银行家，拥有万贯家财，却很少唱歌，晚上也睡得不好。 他偶尔在黎明时分迷迷糊糊刚入睡，皮匠的歌声便把他吵醒了。 银行家郁郁寡欢地抱怨上帝没有把睡眠也制成一种像食品或饮料那样可以买卖的商品。 后来，银行家就叫人把这位歌手请来，问道：“格列戈里师傅，你一年赚多少钱？”

“先生，你问我一年赚多少钱吗？”快乐的皮匠笑道： “我从来不算这笔帐，我是一天一天地过日子，总而言之坚持到年底，每天挣足三餐。”

“啊，朋友，那么你一天赚多少钱呢？”

“有时多一点，有时少一点； 不过最糟糕的是一年中总有些日子不准我们做买卖，否则我们的收入也还算不错的。 而牧师又常常在圣徒名单上添新名字。”

银行家被皮匠的直率逗笑了，他说：“我要你从今以后不愁没钱用。 这一百枚钱你拿去，小心放好，需要时拿来用吧。”

皮匠觉得自己好像看到了过去几百年来大地为人类所需而制造出来的全部财富。 他回到家中，埋藏好硬币，同时也埋藏了他的欢乐。 他不再唱歌了；从他得到这种痛苦的根源那一刻起，他的嗓子就哑了。 睡眠与他分了手；取而代之的却是担心、怀疑、虚惊。 白天，他的目光尽朝埋藏硬币的方向望； 夜间，如果有只迷途的猫弄出一点声响，他就以为是有人来抢他的钱。 最后，这个可怜的皮匠跑到他那富有的邻居家里说：“把你的一百枚钱拿回去，还我的睡眠和歌声来。”

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　　《生命中的大石块》是一片很有这里的故事。很有西方的思想。我在疯狂英语上看到过英文的版。不知你能不能找到。这篇故事本来就是用演示的形式揭示哲理的，所以应该适合表演的。

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　　Don’t hope ,friend,decide!
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had one of those life changing experiences that you hear other people talk about. You know, the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly? Well, this one occurred a mere two feet away from me! Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jetway, I noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.

First, he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long, and movingly loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each other's face, I heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!" His son smiled somewhat shyly, diverted his eyes, and replied softly, "Me too, Dad!"

Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe 9) and while cupping his son's face in his hands he said, "You're already quite the young man. I love you very much Zach!" They too hugged a most loving, tender hug. His son said nothing. No reply was necessary.

While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one and a half) was squirming excitedly in her mother's arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful sight of her returning father. The man said, "Hi babygirl!" as he gently took the child from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply laid her head on his shoulder and remained motionless in total pure contentment.

After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best for last!" and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then quietly said, "I love you so much!". They stared into each other's eyes, beaming big smiles at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant, they reminded me of newlyweds but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't be. I puzzled about it for a moment, then realized how totally engrossed I was in the wonderful display of unconditional love not more than an arm's length away from me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I were invading something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously ask, "Wow! How long have you two been married?"

"Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those." he replied without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face.

"Well then, how long have you been away?" I asked. The man finally looked at me, still beaming his joyous smile and told me, "Two whole days!"

Two days?I was stunned! I was certain by the intensity of the greeting I just witnessed that he'd been gone for at least several weeks, if not months, and I know my expression betrayed me. So, I said almost offhandedly, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance of grace (and to get back to searching for my friend), "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!"

The man suddenly stopped smiling. He looked me straight in the eye, and with an intensity that burned right into my soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, "Don't hope friend...decide." Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!". With that, he and his family turned and energetically strode away together.

I was still watching that special man and his exceptional family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, "What'cha looking at?" Without hesitating, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, "My future!"