At the age of 16, Einstein failed in several courses because he mixed with a group of mischievous kids. One weekend morning, Einstein held a fishing rod and was about to fish with those kids. His father stopped him and said to him calmly, “Einstein, you're so fond of playing all the day that you failed in the examination. Your mother and I are so worried about your future.”
“What are you worrying about? Jack and Robert also failed, but don't they go fishing as usual?”
“My boy, you can't think so.” Looking at Einstein, his father said lovingly, “There goes a fable in our hometown. I hope you can listen to it carefully.”
“There were two cats playing on the roof. Once off guard, a cat fell into the chimney holding another one. When the two cats climbed out of the chimney, a cat's face was stained with the soot while the other's face was clean. Seeing the soot-faced cat, the clean cat thought its face was dirty and ugly, so it quickly ran to the riverside and washed its face. The soot-faced cat saw the clean-faced cat, thinking its face was also clean, so it swaggered in the street.”
“Einstein, no one can be your mirror. Only you are your own mirror. Taking other people to be your mirror, even a genius may become a fool.”
Hearing this, Einstein was ashamed to lay down his fishing rod and returned to his small room.
Since then, Einstein often took himself as a mirror to examine and reflect himself, and kept hinting himself: “I was unique, so I needn't be as mediocre as other.” This is why Einstein succeeded.
爱因斯坦十六岁的时候，因为和一群淘气的孩子混在一起，好几门功课考试都不及格。一个周末的清晨，爱因斯坦拿着渔竿正要和那帮孩子一起去钓鱼。父亲叫住了他，平静地说：“爱因斯坦，你就是整天太爱玩儿了，考试才不及格的。你妈妈和我都为你的未来感到担忧。”
“你们担什么忧啊？杰克和罗伯特也没及格，人家不照样去钓鱼吗？”
“儿子，你可不能这么想。”父亲看着爱因斯坦，和蔼地说：“咱们家乡有这么一则寓言，希望你能认真听我讲。”
“有两只猫在屋顶上玩耍。一个不小心，一只猫抓着另一只掉进了烟囱里。他俩爬出烟囱的时候，一只猫的脸上蹭到了烟灰，另一只的脸却干干净净。脸很干净的猫看到伙伴的脸沾着烟灰，觉得自己的脸肯定是脏兮兮的、很难看，它就快速跑到河边去洗脸。脸被弄脏的猫看到朋友的脸很干净，认定自己的脸肯定也很干净，就昂首阔步地上了街。”
“爱因斯坦，没人能做你的镜子。只有你才是自己的镜子。拿别人当自己的镜子照，就算是天才也会变成傻瓜。”
听到这话，爱因斯坦很惭愧，他放下渔竿，回到了自己的小房间。
从那以后，爱因斯坦经常拿自己当镜子审视自己、反省自己。他不断提醒自己：“我就是我，不一样的我，无须和别人一样平庸。”这就是爱因斯坦能成功的原因。
-soot [sʊt] n. 烟灰
-swagger [ˈswæɡə(r)] v. 昂首阔步
-mediocre [ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə(r)] adj. 普通的
没人能做你的镜子，想要自知，就要把审视的目光凝聚在自己身上。