The Emperor's Seed
国王的继承者，种子的考验

Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.
曾经有一位远东的皇帝已近暮年，他知道是时候选出他的继位者了。他决定不选自己的助手或孩子，而要做出不一样的选择。
He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"
一天，他把王国的所有年轻人召集到一起，说：“我是时候退位了, 并且要选出下一任皇帝。我决定从你们中选出一人作为我的继位者。”孩子们听后都非常震惊！皇帝继续说：“今天我要给你们每一个人一颗种子。它是一颗非常特殊的种子。我希望你们回家种下这颗种子，给它浇水，一年后的今天回到这里，带来用这颗种子生长出的植物。然后，我会通过你们带回来的植物来判断，谁会成为下一任皇帝!”
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.
那天在场的有一个名叫凌的男孩。与其他男孩一样，他也得到了一颗种子。他回到家，兴奋地将这件事情完整地告诉了他的母亲。母亲帮他找来了一个花盆和一些种植用的土壤。他种下了种子，然后细心地浇水。每天，他都会为种子浇水，并观察种子是否生长。
After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.
大约三个星期后，其他的一些年轻人开始谈论他们的种子，以及开始生长的植物。凌不断地回家并查看他的种子，可什么也没长出来。三个星期、四个星期、五个星期过去了，还是什么也没有。

By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
此时，其他男孩都在谈论他们已经长成的植物了，但凌的种子却根本没有发芽生长，他感觉自己可能失败了。六个月过去了，凌的花盆里依旧空无一物。他觉得自己已经把种子养死了。其他人的种子都长成了树木和高大的植物，但他却什么都没有种出来。不过，他没有跟朋友们说什么，只是继续等待他的种子生长。
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.
一年的时间终于过去了，王国里的所有年轻人都带着他们的植物去接受皇帝的检验。凌跟母亲说他不想带着一个空盆去见皇帝，但母亲却鼓励他去这样做，希望他诚实地面对这件事。凌非常难受，但他知道母亲是对的。于是，他就带着那个空盆去了皇宫。
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."
到了皇宫，凌看到其他年轻人带来的各种各样的植物，感到很惊讶。它们的形状大小各异，非常漂亮。凌把自己的空盆放在地上，许多年轻人都嘲笑他。有些人对他表示同情，说：“嗯，你毕竟尝试了。”
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"
皇帝驾到，他扫视了一下房间，并对这些年轻人致以了问候。而凌则只想躲在人群后面。“哎呀，看你们种出来的花卉植物多漂亮啊！”皇帝说，“今天，你们中的一个人将会被选定为下一任皇帝！”
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
突然间，皇帝发现了拿着空花盆站在房间后面的凌。他命令侍卫把凌带到前面来。凌心里感到非常害怕，“皇帝一定是知道我失败了！可能他要处死我！”
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
凌走到了人群前面，皇帝问他叫什么名字。“我叫凌。”他回答说。其他年轻人都在大笑，并取笑着他。皇帝命令所有人安静下来。他看着凌，然后对所有人宣布：“参见你们的新皇帝！他的名字是凌！” 凌简直无法相信这一切。他甚至连自己的种子都没有种活，怎么可能当上新皇帝呢？
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
国王接着说：“一年前的今天，我给这里的每一个人一颗种子。我要你们带走这颗种子，将它种下，给它浇水，然后在今天把它带回来。但我给你们的种子都是煮过的，是无法生长的。除了凌之外，你们所有人都给我带回来树木和花卉。当你们发现这颗种子不会生长后，都把它替换成了其他种子。凌是唯一一个有勇气并且诚实地把我的种子种在盆里带回来的人。因此，他就是我选定的新国王！”