There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy.

 

One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along them.

 

The wise man says, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist you could probably own your own country." And then he went away.

 

That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent, and he was discontent because he was unhappy.

 

The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally¹, physically² and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide³.

 

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle⁴ like a rainbow.

 

He thought it would look good on the mantelpiece（壁炉架）. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling⁵. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?"

 

The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one." The man said, "No, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.

 

从前在非洲有一位快乐而满足的农夫。他因满足而快乐，同时也因快乐而感到满足。

 

有一天，一位智者向他走来并告知他关于钻石的荣耀，以及随之而来权力。

 

智者说，“如果你拥有一块拇指般大的钻石，你就能换到一座属于自己的城市；如果你拥有一块拳头般大的钻石，你就可能会拥有一个属于自己的国家。”说完他便离开了。

 

那一晚，农夫难以入睡，他开始变得不快乐而且不满足起来。他因不满足而不快乐，同样也因为不快乐而变得不满足。

 

第二天早上，他卖掉了自己的农场，安顿好了他的家人便踏上了寻找钻石之路。他寻遍了整个非洲但却一无所获。他找遍整个欧洲还是一无所获。当他到达西班牙的时候，他已精神崩溃、周身疲惫、钱财耗尽。绝望之下，他跳进了巴塞罗那河，自杀了。

 

而在他的家乡，买下他农场的那个人此时正在小溪边给骆驼饮水。潺潺的溪水流经了整个农场。清晨的阳光穿过溪水照射在一块石头上，折射的光芒好像是一道彩虹。

 

这人心想：若是将这块石头摆在壁炉架上一定会十分漂亮。于是，他捡起石头并把它放到客厅里。当天下午，那个智者又出现了。他看到闪闪发光的石头，便问道：“哈夫兹（旧主人）回来了吗?”

 

新主人回答说：“没有啊！你为什么会这么问？”智者回答道：“因为这石头是一块钻石，我一眼就能识别。”新主人说：“不是！这只是我从溪水中捡起的一块石头。不信，你就跟我来，那里还有好多呢!” 于是两人走到小溪边，捡了一些石头送去验证。毫无疑问，这些石头确实是钻石！他们还发现这整个农场蕴藏着大量的钻石。

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