孔子——黑暗王国里的残烛

有这样一个有趣而另人深思的实验，把一只青蛙冷不防扔进滚烫的油锅里，青蛙能出人意料地一跃而出，逃离险境。然后又把同一只青蛙放在逐渐加热的水锅里，这次它感到舒服惬意，以致意识到危险来临时却欲跃乏力，最终葬身锅底。由这个实验我们可以看出，青蛙对眼前的危险反映敏感，对还没有到来的危险反映迟钝。由此我想到了人，其实人在这方面也是如此，正如孟子所说的：“生于忧患，死于安乐。”

There is such an interesting and thought-provoking experiment, in which a frog is accidentally thrown into a hot oil pot, and the frog can jump out of danger unexpectedly. Then he put the same frog in the gradually heated water pot. This time, he felt comfortable and comfortable, so that when he realized the danger was coming, he wanted to feel weak and finally died. From this experiment, we can see that frogs are sensitive to the immediate danger and slow to the danger that has not yet arrived. So I think of people. In fact, people are the same in this respect. As Mencius said, "born in trouble, died in happiness."

人生旅途中，逆境催人警醒，激人奋进，而安逸优越的环境却消磨人的意志，使人耽于安乐，尽享舒适，常常一事无成。有的人甚至在安逸之时沉溺酒色，自我毁灭。这与青蛙临难时的奋起一跃和温水中的卧以待毙是何其相似。

In the journey of life, adversity is a wake-up call and an exciting one. However, the comfortable and superior environment kills one's will, makes one stay at ease, enjoy comfort and often accomplish nothing. Some people even indulge in wine and self destruction when they are at ease. This is similar to the frog's rising and jumping in the face of disaster and lying in the warm water waiting for death.

“生于忧患”是千古不变的名言，春秋时越王勾践卧薪尝胆的故事是它最好的注册。那时，勾践屈服求和，卑身事吴，卧薪尝胆，又经“十年生聚，十年数训”，终于转弱为强，起兵灭掉吴国，成为一代霸主，勾践为何能得以复国？这是亡国之辱的忧患使他发愤、催他奋起的结果。这说明，当困难重重、欲退无路时，人们常常能显出非凡的毅力，发挥出意想不到的潜能，拼死杀出重围，开拓出一条生路。

"Born in adversity" is an eternal saying. The story of Goujian, the king of Yue, who lived in hardships in the spring and Autumn period, is its best registration. At that time, Gou Jian succumbed to peace, humbled himself and worked in Wu. After ten years of living together and ten years of training, he finally became weak and strong. He set out to destroy the state of Wu and became the overlord of a generation. Why could Gou Jian recover? This is the result of his indignation and urging him to rise up because of the humiliation of subjugation. This shows that when there are many difficulties and there is no way to retreat, people can often show extraordinary perseverance, give full play to their unexpected potential, fight hard to get out of the encirclement and open up a way of life.

但是，有了生路，有了安逸，人们却往往不能很好地把握，而“死于安乐”。这方面的例子莫过于闯王了。1644年春，闯王攻入北京，以为天下以定，大功告成。那些农民出身的新官僚把起义时打天下的叱咤风云的气魄丧失殆尽，只图在北京城中享受安乐，“日日过年”，李自成想早日称帝、牛金星想当太平宰相，诸将想营造府第。当清兵入关，明朝武装卷土重来时，起义军却一败不可收拾。

However, with life and comfort, people often fail to grasp it well, and "die of happiness". There's no better example of this than the king of adventure. In the spring of 1644, the king broke into Beijing, believing that the world was determined and that he had achieved great success. The new bureaucrats who were born in the peasant family lost their powerful spirit of fighting against the world during the uprising. They only wanted to enjoy peace in Beijing. Li Zicheng wanted to be emperor as soon as possible, Niu Jinxing wanted to be Prime Minister of peace, and Zhu Jiang wanted to build a mansion. When the Qing army entered the pass and the Ming Dynasty's armed forces came back, the insurgents lost out of control.

这令我想起欧阳修说的“忧劳可以兴国，逸豫可以亡身”这句话。险情环生时人们能睁大眼睛去拼搏，因此化险为夷；安逸享乐中却意志消退，锐气全无，结果一败涂地。

This reminds me of Ouyang Xiu's saying that "sorrow and labor can prosper the country, and leisure and Yu can perish". When danger is around, people can open their eyes to fight, so they can get out of danger; when they are at ease and enjoy themselves, they will fade away, and they will lose all their energy.