Horror gripped the heart of the World War I soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the “No Man’s Land” between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back.
“You can go,” said the Lieutenant, “but I don’t think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away.” The Lieutenant’s words didn’t matter, and the soldier went anyway.
Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and brought him back to their company’s trench. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, then looked kindly at his friend. “I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,” he said. “Your friend is dead, and you are mortally wounded.”
“It was worth it, though, sir,” the soldier said.
“How do you mean ‘worth it’?” responded the Lieutenant. “Your friend is dead!”
“Yes sir,” the private answered. “But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, ‘Jim, I knew you’d come.’”
Many a time in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it.
Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in life.
【日积月累】
trench n. 堑壕
lieutenant n. 中尉
hoist v. 举起
mortally adv. 致命地
private n. 士兵，列兵
【参考译文】
值不值得
当他看到从小到大的朋友在战役中倒下时，这名一战士兵的心因恐惧而揪得紧紧的。他们被困在一个战壕里，战火不停从他们上方呼啸而过，士兵请示中尉他能不能走到战壕间的无人区把倒下的同志带回来。
“你可以去，”中尉说，“但是我觉得不值得。你的朋友很可能已经死了，你有可能丢掉自己的性命。”中尉的话没起作用，士兵还是去了。
他奇迹般地走到了朋友身边，把他扛在肩膀上，带回了战壕。当他们俩跌跌撞撞到达战壕底部的时候，中尉察看了受伤的士兵，然后温和地看着他的朋友。“我说过不值得，”他说，“你朋友已经死了，而你落得一身重伤。”
“但还是值得，中尉，”士兵说。
“你说‘值得’是什么意思?”中尉说，“你朋友已经死了!”
“没错，中尉，”士兵回答道，“但是当我到他身边的时候，他还活着。听到他说‘吉姆，我就知道你会来’的时候我就心满意足了。”
生活中很多时候，一件事是否值得去做，完全在于你对它的看法。
鼓起勇气，做你内心告诉你去做的事，这样你才不会在未来的日子后悔。
【人生启迪】
失信还是破财，是一道太好做的二选一题。商场上很多例子都告诉我们，不惜代价把诚信坚持到底的人才会名利双收。但是，如果在天平一边的筹码上添上你的性命，你还是能轻而易举就做出抉择吗?每个人都只能活一次，把诚信这些品质看得比生命还重的人才真正活过。