There was a young man who was in trouble. He went bankrupt (破产) and his wife went away from him. From then on, failure was all that he had seen. Struggling (斗争) with this, he went into the forest alone. There, he met an old man who had lived there for along time. He shared his story with the old man and asked, "Can you give me one god reason not to give up?"
"Look", the old man said, "Do you see that fern (蕨类植物) and bamboo there?"
"Yes. " the man answered
"When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds, I watered them carefully. Within a few days, the fern quickly grew from the land," the old man went on.
"However, I watered the bamboo seed for years, it still didn't sprout. But I didn't give up and continued looking after it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out of the land. Within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall. "
" The little bamboo tree had been growing underground in the past four years, developing a root strong enough for its ground growth (生长) in the fifth year. If it hadn't done this, it would not be so strong. So you know, all the time you were struggling, you were actually growing strong roots. " the old man said. Finally, the man thanked the old man deeply. Then he left the forest with the hope for life.
