雙語智慧書·懂得易地而處

198．懂得易地而處
　　懂得易地而處。有些國家的人，尤其是身居高位之人，必須離開自己的國家才能令其價值得到重視。他們的祖國對待天才就像后母：其出生之地，嫉妒泛濫；人們只能記住其開初的卑微，而忽視其日后的輝煌。一針一線從世界的這一端走到那一端，也會增值，來自遠方的彩色玻璃其價格可超過鉆石。舶來品都會受到人們的推崇，部分原因在于它來自遠方，部分原因在于它做工精良。有些人曾經(jīng)是同族人的笑柄，現(xiàn)在卻成為世界奇才，受到同胞與外國人（他們現(xiàn)僑居其中）的尊敬--受到后者的尊敬，是因為他來自遠方；受到前者的尊敬，是因為同胞們只能從遠處遙望他。如果一個人知道祭壇上的雕像只是園林中的一段樹干，就不會對其心生敬畏。



198．Know how to transplant yourself
　Know how to transplant yourself. There are nations with whom one must cross their borders to make one's value felt, especially in great posts. Their native land is always a stepmother to great talents: envy flourishes there on its native soil, and they remember one's small beginnings rather than the greatness one has reached. A needle is appreciated that comes from one end of the world to the other, and a piece of painted glass might outvie the diamond in value if it comes from afar. Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from afar, partly because it is ready made and perfect. We have seen persons once the laughing-stock of their village and now the wonder of the whole world, honoured by their fellow-countrymen and by the foreigners [among whom they dwell]: by the latter because they come from afar, by the former because they are seen from afar. The statue on the altar is never reverenced by him who knew it as a trunk in the garden.