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到南京时，有朋友约去游逛，勾留了一日；第二日上午便须渡江到浦口，下午上车北去。父亲因为事忙，本已说定不送我，叫旅馆里一个熟识的茶房陪我同去。他再三嘱咐茶房，甚是仔细。但他终于不放心，怕茶房不妥帖；颇踌躇了一会。其实我那年已二十岁，北京已来往过两三次，是没有甚么要紧的了。他踌躇了一会，终于决定还是自己送我去。我两三回劝他不必去；他只说，“不要紧，他们去不好！”

dào Nánjīng shí ，yǒu péngyou yuē qù yóuguàng ，gōuliú le yī rì ；dì èr rì shàngwǔ biàn xū dù jiāng dào pǔkǒu ，xiàwǔ shàngchē běiqù 。fùqin yīnwèi shì máng ，běn yǐ shuō dìng bú sòng wǒ ，jiào lǚguǎn lǐ yī gè shúshí de cháfáng péi wǒ tóng qù 。tā zàisān zhǔfù cháfáng ，shèn shì zǐxì 。dàn tā zhōngyú bù fàngxīn ，pà cháfáng bù tuǒtiē ；pō chóuchú le yīhuì 。qíshí wǒ nà nián yǐ èrshí suì ，Běijīng yǐ láiwǎng guò liǎng sān cì ，shì méiyǒu shènma yàojǐn de le 。tā chóuchú le yīhuì ，zhōngyú decision háishì zìjǐ sòng wǒ qù 。wǒ liǎng sān huí quàn tā búbì qù ；tā zhī shuō ，“bùyàojǐn ，tāmen qù bù hǎo ！”

When we got to Nanjing, a friend showed us around and we stayed for a day. The next morning I had to take the ferry to Pukou so that I could catch the afternoon train to Beijing. My father had business to attended to so we had decided that there was no need for him to see me off. Yet he still asked a waiter he knew from the teahouse to go with me. He gave his detailed instructions to the waiter again and again. Yet, he still felt uneasy, worried that the waiter wouldn't do the job properly. He mulled over the situation, still unsure of what to do. I was actually already twenty that year, and I'd already travelled back and forth to Beijing quite few time, there really wasn't anything to worry about. Yet, he was still hesitating over what to do. Finally, he decided that he would see me off himself. I tried to tell him several times that he didn't need to come. He just kept saying: "no bother, it's no good them going".

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禅师说：“你一开始踌躇满志，树立了太多的目标，就像这个大水壶装了太多水一样，而你又没有足够的柴，所以不能把水烧开。要想把水烧开，你或者倒出一些水，或者先去准备更多的柴。”

chánshī shuō ：“nǐ yīkāishǐ chóuchúmǎnzhì ，shùlì le tài duō de mùbiāo ，jiù xiàng zhè ge dà shuǐhú zhuāng le tài duō shuǐ yīyàng ，ér nǐ yòu méiyǒu zúgòu de chái ，suǒyǐ bùnéng bǎ shuǐ shāokāi 。yào xiǎng bǎ shuǐ shāokāi ，nǐ huò zhě dào chū yīxiē shuǐ ，huò zhě xiān qù zhǔnbèi gèngduō de chái 。”

The master said, 'At first, you were smug and you had too many goals. You were just like this kettle with too much water in it. Also, you didn't have enough firewood, so you couldn't bring your water to a boil. If you want to bring your water to a boil, you have to either pour out some of your water, or first prepare more firewood.'

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