A king was embarked on board a ship, which also carried a slave. The boy had never been at sea, nor experienced the inconvenience of a ship. He set up weeping and wailing, and all his limbs were in a state of trepidation ; and, however much they soothed him, he was not to be pacified . The king's pleasure party was disconcerted by him; but they offered no help. On board that ship there was a physician. He said to the king, “If you will order it, I can manage to silence him.” The king replied, “It will be an act of great favor.”
The physician directed that they throw the boy into the sea, and after he had plunged repeatedly, they seized him by the hair of the head and drew him close to the ship, where he grabbed the rudder with both hands and, scrambling up on to the deck, slunk into a corner and sat down quiet.
The king, pleased with what he saw, said, “What art is there in this?” The physician replied, “Originally he had not experienced the danger of being drowned, and undervalued the safety of being in a ship; just as a person is aware of the preciousness of health only when he is overtaken with the calamity of sickness.”
一个国王登上一艘船，乘客里还有一个奴隶。这个男孩从没出过海，也没有经历过乘船的诸多不便。他一路哭哭啼啼，胳膊腿儿颤抖个不停。不管怎么安抚，他就是静不下来。国王的欢乐派对也被他搅和了，可就是没人出来帮忙。船上还有位医生，他对国王说：“如果您下令，我就能让他安静下来。”国王说：“那你可就帮了我大忙了。”
医生指挥众人把男孩扔到海里去。反复被扔到水里几次以后，人们揪着男孩的头发，把他拖到船边。男孩双手抓住船舵，爬上甲板，溜进一个角落里，安静地坐了下来。
国王看了很高兴，说：“这里面有什么道理吗？”医生回答：“以前，他没体会过溺水有多危险，也低估了乘船的安全性。这就好像一个人只有生了病，才能意识到健康的珍贵一样。”
-embark [ɪmˈbɑːk] v. 上飞机；上船
-trepidation [ˌtrepɪˈdeɪʃn] n. 害怕；颤抖
-pacify [ˈpæsɪfaɪ] v. 使安静
-rudder [ˈrʌdə(r)] n. 船舵
-calamity [kəˈlæmətɪ] n. 灾祸
经历绝境有益于适应常态。