第16节

 "Well let's just say I didn't want to go out looking for New Cheese. I thought I had a good reason why change shouldn't happen to mc. So, I was pretty upset at the time."

"噢，还不如说，我只是从来不曾想过要去寻找新的奶酪。我曾经想到很多理由，总觉得变化不应该发生在我身上。老实说，那段时间，我感到非常沮丧。"

Some of their former classmates who had been quiet in the beginning felt more comfortable now and spoke up, including Frank, who had gone into the military.

刚开始的时候，有几位同学一直没有参加讨论，现在听了迈克尔的话也都开始了议论。首先是已经应征入伍的弗兰克。

"Hem reminds me of a friend of mine," Frank said. "His department was closing down, but he didn't want to see it. They kept relocating his people. We all tried to talk to him about the many other opportunities that existed in the company for those who wanted to be flexible, but he didn't think he had to change. He was the only one who was surprised when his department closed. Now he's having a hard time adjusting to the change he didn't think should happen."

"哼哼使我想起了我的一位朋友，"他说："所有迹象显示他所在的部门将被裁撤，但他不肯面对这个现实。公司为所有人做了重新安排。我们都试图劝说他，只要愿意改变，公司里还有很多其他的机会，但他始终觉得自己没有必要改变。当他所在的部门最终关闭时，他是惟一惊讶得不知所措的人。现在，他正在做出艰难的调整，以适应他认为不该发生的变化。"

Jessica said, "I didn't think it should happen to me either, but my 'Cheese' has been moved more than once." Many in the group laughed, except Nathan.

杰西卡说："我也一向认为这种事情不会发生在我身上，但我的奶酪的确已经不止一次地被拿走了。尤其是在我的个人生活中，但最后我总能找到我的奶酪。"除了内森以外，大家都笑了。

"Maybe that's the whole point," Nathan said. "Change happens to all of us."

"也许，这就是关键之处，"内森说："变化发生在我们每一个人身上。"

He added, "I wish my family had heard the Cheese story before this. Unfortunately we didn't want to see the changes coming in our business, and now it's too late -- we're having to close many of our stores."

他补充道："我真希望我的家人以前就听到过这个故事。不幸的是，我们每一个人愿意面对发生在我们家族企业中的变化。现在为时已晚——我们不得不关闭我们的许多家店铺了。"

That surprised many in the group, because they thought Nathan was lucky to be in a secure business he could depend on, year after year.

内森的话让很多人吃了一惊，因为大家一向都很羡慕内森的幸运，认为他可以躺在自己的家族企业中，年复一年地依靠它。

"What happened?" Jessica wanted to know.

"发生了什么事？"杰西卡急于问个究竟。

"Our chain of small stores suddenly became old fashioned when the mega-store came to town with its huge inventory and low prices. We just couldn't compete with that."

"当超级商场进入小镇时，我们的小型连锁店突然间显得过时了。他们有大量丰富且价格低廉的商品，我们完全无法与之竞争。"

"I can see now that instead of being like Sniff and Scurry, we were like Hem. We stayed where we were and didn't change. We tried to ignore what was happening and now we are in trouble. We could have taken a couple of lessons from Haw -because we certainly couldn't laugh at ourselves and change what we were doing."

"现在我终于明白了，这一切后果归咎于我的家人都不是嗅嗅和匆匆，我们就像哼哼。我们呆在原来的地方固卡自封，拒绝改变；我们故意忽略外面的世界，企图对发生的一切视而不见。现在我们陷入了麻烦，这一切只是因为我们不愿意嘲讽自己，不愿意改变所做的一切。我们真应该从唧唧自上学到些什么。"

Laura, who had become a successful businesswoman, had been listening, but had said very little until now. "I thought about the story this afternoon too," she said. "I wondered how I could be more like Haw and see what I'm doing wrong -- laugh at myself, change, and do better." Then she asked, "I'm curious. How many here are afraid of change?" No one responded, so she suggested, "How about a show of hands?"

劳拉已经是一位很成功的商人，到现在为止，她很少说话，一直在聆听。"这个下午，我也一直在思考这个故事，"这时她说；"我不知道自己要怎样做才能更像唧唧，才能够看到自己人的错误，坦然面对自己，改变自己，并将一切做得更好。"

Only one hand went up. "Well, it looks like we've got one honest person in our group!" she said, and then continued, "Maybe you'll like this next question better. How many here think other people are afraid of change?" Practically everyone raised their hands. Then they all started laughing.

沉默了一会儿，她继续说："我想知道，我们这里有多少人害怕改变？"见没有人回答。于是她又提议；"请举手示意。"只有一个人举了手。"很好，看起来，我们之中总算还有一个诚实的人！"她说，并继续道："也许你们更愿意回答下一个问题。有多少人认为别人害怕改变？"这一次几乎每个人都举了手。见些情景，大伙都大笑起来。