One day one of God's messengers descended to the world and happened to meet an eminent monk who was telling fortunes for two boys. The monk pointed at one of the boys saying, “Number One Scholar”, and at another one “Beggar”.
Twenty years later, the messenger came down to the world again. When he saw the previous two boys, he was puzzled about the outcome: the original “Number One Scholar” now became a beggar while the original “Beggar” turned into a Number One Scholar instead.
So the messenger went to ask God.
God answered, “I endow everyone with talent, which only decides one third of his destiny while the rest lies in how he grasps it.”
有一天，上帝的一位信使下到凡间，碰巧遇到一位高僧在给两个男孩算命。僧人指着其中一个男孩说：“状元”，又指着另一个说，“乞丐”。
二十年后，这位信使又下界来。他看到了当初那两个男孩，结果让他困惑不已：原本的“状元”现在成了乞丐，当初的“乞丐”却成了状元。
于是，信使去找上帝寻求答案。
上帝回答说：“我赐给每个人天赋，但这天赋只能决定他三分之一的命运，其他的三分之二就要看他自己能不能够把握了。”
-messenger [ˈmesɪndʒə(r)] n. 信使
-eminent [ˈemɪnənt] adj. 知名的
-endow [ɪnˈdaʊ] v. 赐予
“Every man is the master of his own fortune.”(每个人都是他自己命运的主宰。)