A marvelous lesson appeared for me just now as I was exiting through the garage.
As I opened the garage door, I startled a large moth, which, upon spreading its wings, displayed a bright red "tail" hidden by the motley brown wings, more a "butterfly" than a moth.
It flew immediately to its perceived escape, the circle-topped window where it frantically tried to exit thru the invisible wall of closed glass.
I raised the third-car garage door in hopes of aiding its escape. That caused it to fly higher and higher and become entangled in a spider web. Fearful that it would remain entangled in the web, I selected a long-handled broom to assist him escaping the tangled threads.
At this, he returned to furiously pumping his wings and banging into the glass, which was, in his perspective, the pathway of escape, but remained his cage.
By simply turning his focus to one side, he would have easily exited his prison. Rather, due to his intent on one direction, he remained confined, captive.
精美译文:
刚才正当我把车开出车库之时,一堂精彩绝伦的课展示在我眼前。
当我打开车库的门时,我吓坏了一只大蛾子。当它展开翅膀时,夹杂着其他颜色的褐色翅膀下露出了鲜红色的“尾巴”,它更像是一只蝴蝶,而不是蛾子。
它立即朝自己认为是出口的地方飞去,疯狂地想穿过圆顶窗上透明的密封玻璃逃出去。
为了帮它逃出去,我把车库的第三扇门打开。但这使它飞得越来越高,一头扎在一个蜘蛛网上。我担心它会一直被缠在蜘蛛网上,就拿了一个长柄扫把帮它摆脱蜘蛛网。
一摆脱蜘蛛网,它就猛烈地搧动翅膀,撞到它认为是逃生之路的玻璃上,但是无济于事,仍然被困在里面。
如果简单地把注意力转向另一面,它也许已经轻而易举地逃出去了,但是由于它的执迷不悟要从一个方面逃出去,它仍然身陷囹圄