Still Waters Run Deep

By Huang Xiaoping

Translation by Li Li

Still Waters Run Deep

By Huang Xiaoping

Translation by Li Li

I remembered my family cooked our meals with firewood in my childhood. If the firewood was wet, the fire would be weak and smoky,and made crackling sounds. One day, I asked my grandma why wet firewood made such a noisy sound. She said readily, “Weak fire makes big sounds.”

I walked along the river with my friend the other day. At first, the river was wide and the rushing water roared. The further we walked, the narrower the river became. It seemed to become slow and calm, not as noisy as before.

When I asked why, my friend answered,“Because the water is deep here.” It is obvious that only shallow waters produce noisy sound. It’s the case for human beings. Shallow-minded people like to make sounds and brag about themselves. They cannot maintain the peace of the heart.

Once I heard a child asking his father, “Dad,why do we always see lightning before we hear thunder?” The father’s explanation was far beyond my expectation. He replied, “When the thunder beats a drum and makes sounds, the lightning has already taken action. That’s why lightning always comes first. My boy, action speaks louder than words.”

One of my friends always liked to talk big and show off. He believed that he was talented, but had never been his boss’s favorite. One day, he complained again and I asked him, “What would be a consumer’s favorite when choosing home appliances? The noisy one or the quiet one?”

He said, “The quiet one, of course. It has better quality and taste.” I said, “That’s right. It’s the same for the boss to choose talents. A person’s words tell people about his/her quality and taste.”

My father once asked me to pick up one piece of quality wood among a big pile to make a table.I checked every piece of wood carefully and chose one piece of thick and straight wood. I thought it was the best one.

My father came to me and knocked on the wood with axe. He said, “How could it be a quality material? It’s just a piece of hollow wood.”

“How do you know it’s hollow?” I was puzzled.

“You can tell it from the sound. If it’s solid, the sound would be low and deep, while hollow wood sounds loud.” My father replied.

Since then, whenever I meet someone who brags about themselves or someone who talks without taking any action, my father’s words come to my mind, “Just another piece of hollow wood.”?

(From Xinyu Evening News, June 7, 2017)

小時(shí)候，家里燒火做飯，用的是柴。如果柴是濕的，燒起來(lái)，不僅火小煙大，還會(huì)發(fā)出噼里啪啦的響聲。一次，我問(wèn)奶奶，為什么濕柴燒起來(lái)會(huì)有這么大的響聲呢？奶奶很隨意地答了一句：“火小的，聲都大。”

一天，與朋友沿江而行。起初，江面寬闊，只見(jiàn)滾滾江水，波濤洶涌。越往下行，江面越窄，可江水反而變得平緩沉靜起來(lái)，沒(méi)有了那份喧嘩。

“因?yàn)檫@里的水深?！迸笥颜f(shuō)，只有淺水才喧嘩。想想，人也是如此。膚淺的人更愛(ài)喧嘩，更愛(ài)張揚(yáng)，總保持不住內(nèi)心的沉穩(wěn)和平靜。

一天散步，聽(tīng)見(jiàn)一個(gè)孩子問(wèn)父親：“爸爸，為什么我們先看到閃電，而后才聽(tīng)到雷聲呢？”這位父親的解釋完全出乎我的意料，他說(shuō)：“因?yàn)槔坠诶薰闹⒋笤炻晞?shì)時(shí)，閃電就迅速行動(dòng)了，所以捷足先登的當(dāng)然是閃電。孩子，一個(gè)無(wú)言的行動(dòng)，勝過(guò)無(wú)數(shù)的口號(hào)和高喊?！?/p>

我有位朋友，工作中愛(ài)夸夸其談，表現(xiàn)自己。他認(rèn)為自己很有才華，可一直得不到上司的重用。一日，他向我訴苦，我問(wèn)他：“人們?cè)谶x購(gòu)家電時(shí)，是選那些發(fā)聲大的還是發(fā)聲小的呢？”

他說(shuō)：“當(dāng)然是發(fā)聲小的，質(zhì)量更好、品位更高嘛?！蔽艺f(shuō)：“是啊。工作中選拔人才也一樣，從一個(gè)人的發(fā)聲里，能識(shí)別出一個(gè)人素質(zhì)的優(yōu)劣和品位的高下?！?/p>

一次，父親要我在一堆木頭中選一段上好的木料做桌面。我在那堆木頭中認(rèn)真地挑選，最后，挑出了一段又大又直的木頭，自認(rèn)為這是最好的木料。

父親走過(guò)來(lái)，用斧頭在我選出的那段木頭上敲了敲，然后說(shuō)：“這哪是什么上好的木料，這分明是一段空心木頭?！?/p>

“你怎么知道這是空心木頭？”我奇怪地問(wèn)。“從聲音就能分辨出來(lái)，如果木頭是實(shí)心的，敲上去，它發(fā)出的聲音很低沉，而越是空心木頭，它發(fā)出的聲音就越高亢?！备赣H答道。

后來(lái)，每當(dāng)我看到夸夸其談、口若懸河的人時(shí)，每當(dāng)我看到只說(shuō)不做的人時(shí)，我的耳邊就會(huì)響起父親的聲音：“這又是一段空心木頭?！?

（摘自《新余晚報(bào)》2017年6月7日）

淺水才喧嘩

文/黃小平 譯/李莉