朋友买来纸笔砚台，请我题几个字挂在新居客厅墙壁上。
A friend of mine brought over a newly purchased set of paper, brush, ink-stick and ink-slab, and asked me to write something for the wall in the sitting room of this new house.
I unfolded the paper, ground the ink-stick on the slab, and wrote out the words: "Dwell on one or two."
我便在朋友面前展纸、磨墨，写了四个字：“常想一二”。
A friend of mine brought over a newly purchased set of paper, brush, ink-stick and ink-slab, and asked me to write something for the wall in the sitting room of this new house.
I unfolded the paper, ground the ink-stick on the slab, and wrote out the words: "Dwell on one or two."
朋友说：“这是什么意思？
"What does this mean?" asked my friend.
”我说：“俗话说‘人生不如意事十常八九’，但扣除八九成的不如意，至少还有一二成是如意的、快乐的、欣慰的事情，我们如果要过快乐人生，就要常想那一二成好事，这样就会感到庆幸、懂得珍惜，不致被八九成的不如意所打倒了。
"What does this mean?" asked my friend.
”朋友听了，非常欢喜，抱着“常想一二”回家了。
"What does this mean?" asked my friend.
几个月后，他来探视我，又来向我求字，说是：“每天在办公室里劳累受气，一回家之后看见那幅‘常想一二’就很开心，但是墙壁太大，字显得太小，你就再写几个字吧！
"You know the popular saying," I replied, "'Life means frustration eight or nine times out of ten'.
Deducting the eighty or ninety per cent of frustration, you still have ten or twenty percent of success, happiness or gratification.
If you want to enjoy life, you should focus on the one or two times you are happy, be thankful and cherish them.
Then you'll never be overwhelmed by the eight or nine times when you are unhappy. " Happily my friend left, carrying the scroll in his arm.
”对于好朋友，我一向有求必应，于是为“常想一二”写下了下联“不思八九”，上面又写了“如意”的横批，中间随手画一幅写意的瓶花。
"You know the popular saying," I replied, "'Life means frustration eight or nine times out of ten'.
Deducting the eighty or ninety per cent of frustration, you still have ten or twenty percent of success, happiness or gratification.
If you want to enjoy life, you should focus on the one or two times you are happy, be thankful and cherish them.
Then you'll never be overwhelmed by the eight or nine times when you are unhappy. " Happily my friend left, carrying the scroll in his arm.
没想到过了几个月，我再婚的消息披露报端，引起许多离奇的传说与流言的困扰，朋友有一天打电话来，说他正坐在客厅我写的字前面，他说“想不出什么话来安慰你，念你自己写的字给你听：常想一二、不思八九，事事如意。
"You know the popular saying," I replied, "'Life means frustration eight or nine times out of ten'.
Deducting the eighty or ninety per cent of frustration, you still have ten or twenty percent of success, happiness or gratification.
If you want to enjoy life, you should focus on the one or two times you are happy, be thankful and cherish them.
Then you'll never be overwhelmed by the eight or nine times when you are unhappy. " Happily my friend left, carrying the scroll in his arm.
”接到朋友的电话使我很感动，我常常觉得在别人的喜庆中锦上添花容易，在别人的苦难里雪中送炭却很困难，那种比例，大约也就是八九与一二之比。
"You know the popular saying," I replied, "'Life means frustration eight or nine times out of ten'.
Deducting the eighty or ninety per cent of frustration, you still have ten or twenty percent of success, happiness or gratification.
If you want to enjoy life, you should focus on the one or two times you are happy, be thankful and cherish them.
Then you'll never be overwhelmed by the eight or nine times when you are unhappy. " Happily my friend left, carrying the scroll in his arm.
不能雪中送炭的不是真朋友，当然更甭说那些落井下石的人了。
"You know the popular saying," I replied, "'Life means frustration eight or nine times out of ten'.
Deducting the eighty or ninety per cent of frustration, you still have ten or twenty percent of success, happiness or gratification.
If you want to enjoy life, you should focus on the one or two times you are happy, be thankful and cherish them.
Then you'll never be overwhelmed by the eight or nine times when you are unhappy. " Happily my friend left, carrying the scroll in his arm.
不过，一个人到了四十岁后，在生活中大概都锻炼出宠辱不惊的本事，也不会在乎锦上添花、雪中送炭或落井下石了。
A few months later, he called on me again and asked for more calligraphy, "Every day I have to slave and suffer in the office.
But as soon as I get home and see the words 'Dwell on one or two', I brighten up and feel happy.
But they do look so small on that big wall, can you write a few more words for me?" As I am always ready to oblige my good friends, I wrote an antithetical couplet for him, adding the second part, "Forget about eight or nine" and the horizontal inscription, "As you wish." To fill up the space in between, I did a free-hand drawing of a vase full of flowers.
那是因为我们已经历过生命的痛苦与挫折，也经验了许多情感的相逢与离散，慢慢地寻索出生命中积极的、快乐的、正向的理念，这种理念正是“常想一二”。
A few months later, he called on me again and asked for more calligraphy, "Every day I have to slave and suffer in the office.
But as soon as I get home and see the words 'Dwell on one or two', I brighten up and feel happy.
But they do look so small on that big wall, can you write a few more words for me?" As I am always ready to oblige my good friends, I wrote an antithetical couplet for him, adding the second part, "Forget about eight or nine" and the horizontal inscription, "As you wish." To fill up the space in between, I did a free-hand drawing of a vase full of flowers.
“常想一二”的理念，乃是在重重乌云中寻觅一丝黎明的曙光，乃是在滚滚红尘中开启一些宁静的消息，乃是在濒临窒息时，有一次深长的呼吸。
A few months later, he called on me again and asked for more calligraphy, "Every day I have to slave and suffer in the office.
But as soon as I get home and see the words 'Dwell on one or two', I brighten up and feel happy.
But they do look so small on that big wall, can you write a few more words for me?" As I am always ready to oblige my good friends, I wrote an antithetical couplet for him, adding the second part, "Forget about eight or nine" and the horizontal inscription, "As you wish." To fill up the space in between, I did a free-hand drawing of a vase full of flowers.
生命已经够苦了，如果我们把几十年的不如意事总和起来，一定会使我们举步维艰。
A few months later, he called on me again and asked for more calligraphy, "Every day I have to slave and suffer in the office.
But as soon as I get home and see the words 'Dwell on one or two', I brighten up and feel happy.
But they do look so small on that big wall, can you write a few more words for me?" As I am always ready to oblige my good friends, I wrote an antithetical couplet for him, adding the second part, "Forget about eight or nine" and the horizontal inscription, "As you wish." To fill up the space in between, I did a free-hand drawing of a vase full of flowers.
生活与感情陷入苦境，有时是无可奈何的，但是如果连思想和心情都陷入苦境，那就是自讨苦吃，苦上加苦了。
A few months later, he called on me again and asked for more calligraphy, "Every day I have to slave and suffer in the office.
But as soon as I get home and see the words 'Dwell on one or two', I brighten up and feel happy.
But they do look so small on that big wall, can you write a few more words for me?" As I am always ready to oblige my good friends, I wrote an antithetical couplet for him, adding the second part, "Forget about eight or nine" and the horizontal inscription, "As you wish." To fill up the space in between, I did a free-hand drawing of a vase full of flowers.
我从小喜欢阅读大人物的传记和回忆录，慢慢归纳出一个公式：凡是大人物都是受苦受难的，他们的生命几乎就是“人生不如意事十常八九”的真实证言，但他们在面对苦难时也能保持正向的思考，能“常想一二”，最后他们超越苦难，苦难便化成生命中最肥沃的养料。
Then, a few months later, something quite unexpected happened when my remarriage was reported in the newspapers, giving rise to numerous strange tales and annoying rumors.
My friend called me, saying that he was sitting in front of my inscription. "As I can't think of better words to comfort you, let me read what you wrote: Dwell on one or two; Forget about eight or nine — Everything as you wish." I was very moved by this.
How easy it is to add to somebody's joy, I often think, and how hard to lend a helping hand in times of distress — the ratio would probably come to nine to one, too.
But those who do not help you when you need it most are not true friends, much less those who hit you when you're down.
使我深受感动的不是他们的苦难，因为苦难到处都有，使我感动的是：他们面对苦难时的坚持、乐观与勇气。
Then, a few months later, something quite unexpected happened when my remarriage was reported in the newspapers, giving rise to numerous strange tales and annoying rumors.
My friend called me, saying that he was sitting in front of my inscription. "As I can't think of better words to comfort you, let me read what you wrote: Dwell on one or two; Forget about eight or nine — Everything as you wish." I was very moved by this.
How easy it is to add to somebody's joy, I often think, and how hard to lend a helping hand in times of distress — the ratio would probably come to nine to one, too.
But those who do not help you when you need it most are not true friends, much less those who hit you when you're down.
原来如意或不如意，并不是决定于人生的际遇，而是取决于思想的瞬间。
Come to think of it, people over forty are mostly inured to the vicissitudes of life, caring little about receiving congratulations for success, getting help when in need, or being hit when down.
For after experiencing so much anguish and frustration in life and going though so many sentimental meetings and partings, we have gradually found certain dynamic, happy, positive precepts in life, which may be summed up as "Dwell on one or two." This means focusing on specks of light in the murky dark, gleaning bits of peace and quiet from the raucous, mundane world, or striving for refreshing breath on the verge of suffocation.
Life is hard enough as it is; if we burden ourselves with all the frustrations built up over dozens of years, how can we go even on step further?
At times, we can't help it when we find ourselves in dire straits, materially or emotionally; but if we let that make us miserable in mind or mood, we would only be piling more hardship on ourselves and suffer twice as much through our own fault.
原来，决定生命品质的不是八九，而是一二。
I have been keen on reading biographies or memoirs of the great since childhood and found a kind of rule about their lives: all great people suffer.
They mostly testify to the saying that life means frustration eight or nine times out of ten.
Despite their sufferings, however, they can always maintain a positive way of thinking, or in other words, they can "dwell on one or two," until they finally transcend their sufferings and turn them into great inspiration for life.
What deeply moves me about great people is not their sufferings, for sufferings are common and omnipresent; it is their perseverance, optimism and courage in the face of suffering that move me most.