[每天读一点英文：那些给我勇气的句子]：Are you a Carrot, an Egg or Coffee Bean?

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life, and how
things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make
it, and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It
seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her
mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In
the first pot, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and
the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil
without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the
burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She
pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled(
v.
 以杓舀取, 舀汤) the
coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning
to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs,
and coffee," she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel
the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft. She then asked her
to take the egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed
the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to smell and sip (
v.
 啜; 啜饮)the
coffee. The daughter smiled, as she smelled and tasted its rich aroma(
aroma

 [a·ro·ma || ə'rəʊmə
]
n.
 香味; 香气;
芳香).
The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"

Her
mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity(
adversity

[ad·ver·si·ty || əd'vɜːsətɪ
]
n.
 逆境; 窘境; 厄运; 灾祸;
不幸)- boiling water-but each reacted differently. The carrot went
in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile.
Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after
sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The
ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which
are you?" she asked her daughter. "When trials and adversity knock on
your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee
bean?"