First Reaction at a Narrow Escaped Disaster

《善的第一反应》

 

The tourist bus winded its way into a mountainous area. When it was about to make a turn two passengers—a couple of young lovers—were so attracted by the beautiful scenery that they called for a halt to get off. They were left behind and the bus went on. As they were admiring the landscape they heard a loud boom ahead the road. It was a huge rock rolling down in a landslide hit the bus and fell with it into a deep valley. The lovers were greatly struck by the news that no passengers on board survived. When they calmed down they sighed and expressed their feelings in a few words.

当旅游大巴进入山区一个拐弯处时，车上一对情侣被窗外的美景所吸引，便招呼司机停车。他们下车后，巴士继续前行。就在这对情侣驻足欣赏山景时，只听前方轰隆一声巨响，那辆大巴被山体滑坡滚下来的巨石砸中，落入了万丈深谷。事后得知，车上乘客无一生还。惊魂甫定之后，这对情侣不无感慨地说了一句话。

The above story was told by a woman guide when were riding a tourist bus to a scenic mountain. She left us in a mysterious suspense and asked us to guess what the lovers said immediately after the catastrophe that they had narrowly escaped.

当时我们正坐在前往一座名山的旅游车上，导游小姐讲到这里，神秘地卖了一个关子，让大家猜猜看，那对情侣会怎样表达自己劫后余生的心情。

On our bus passengers' response to the guide were various, all possible guesses were given.

大家给出的答案五花八门。

Often we read reports about traffic accidents, among which there were lucky ones who missed the bus and avoided the disaster. Those people usually uttered a sigh of relief. "Fortunately I was not on board."

在许多有关交通事故的报道中，我们经常会读到因临时变故错过班车而幸免于难的新闻。按常理，一般人都会说，幸好我们不在车上！

But the answer was quite out of our expectation. "If we hadn't got down1 and delayed the bus, it would have passed the dangerous spot and all the passengers would have been saved."

不料，这个故事的答案却是：假如我们不中途下车，那辆大巴就能赶在山石滑落之前驶过，车上的人也许就不会遭遇这场劫难。

The story passed from person to person as a sort of wit test, but I think otherwise. It actually serves as an examination of a person's mind. I pay my heartfelt respect to the couple of lovers who, instead of feeling lucky for their narrow escape, blamed themselves for causing the loss of lives inadvertently. People all have a heart for mercy, but it is often a flashing thought across one's mind that decides whether it is good or evil.

传播这个段子的人，都把这件事看做是对人生智慧的测试，而我则认为这是对人的心灵的拷问，并为这对情侣面对灾难首先想到他人的心态由衷地敬佩。慈悲之心，虽然人皆有之，但善恶之分，往往系于一念。