WHAT GOD ARE YOU?

　　请问您是什么神啊？

　　A philosopher found a statue of Double-faced God in the ruins of Rome. As it was the firsttime he had seen such an image he asked curiously, “What god are you? Why do you have doublefaces?”

　　The god answered, “I am Double-faced God. I look back to the past with one face to learnlessons and look forward to the future with another full of hope.”

　　The philosopher asked again. “What about the present — the most significant present? Haveyou paid any attention to it?”

　　“The present!” the god was taken back. “How could I spare a minute to it since I am so busywith the past and the future?”

　　“The past is gone,” said the philosopher, “while the future is yet to come. What we can graspis the present; if you ignore the present, your knowledge about the past and future will bemeaningless however great it is!”

　　The god, suddenly awakened to the truth, burst out crying, “How correct your comment is! Itwas precisely because I didn't grasp the present that the ancient city of Rome was turned into pageof history while I myself was thrown into the ruins.”

　　一位哲学家在古罗马废墟中发现了一尊双面神像。因为是头一次看见，所以他好奇地问：“您是什么神啊？您为什么有两张脸？”

　　神说：“我是双面神。一面回望过去，吸取教训，另一面则充满希望，展望未来。”

　　哲学家又问：“那现在呢？——现在才最有意义啊。您关注过当下吗？”

　　“当下？”神吃了一惊。“我这么忙，过去和未来都唯恐顾之不及，哪有时间管当下啊？”

　　“可是过去的已经过去了，”哲学家说，“未来又尚未到来。我们能够把握的只有当下。

　　如果忽视当下，就算对过去和未来了解再多，都是没有任何意义的！”

　　神这才恍然大悟，痛哭流涕：“您说得太对了！正是因为我没有把握好当下，罗马古城才会成为一页历史，我才会被扔到这废墟中来啊。”