第15章TheDaffodilPrinciple(1)

第15章thedaffodilprinciple(1)

·jaroldeenedwards·

severaltimesmydaughterhadtelephonedtosay，“mother，youmustcomeseethedaffodilsbeforetheyareover.”iwantedtogo，butitwasatwo-hourdrivefromlagunatolakearrowhead.

“iwillcomenexttuesday.”ipromised，alittlereluctantly，onherthirdcall.nexttuesdaydawnedcoldandrainy.still，ihadpromised，andsoidrovethere.whenifinallywalkedintocarolyn’shouseandedandgreetedmygrandchildren，isaid，“forgetthedaffodils，carolyn！theroadisinvisibleinthecloudsandfog，andthereisnothingintheworldexceptyouandthesechildrenthatiwanttoseebadlyenoughtodriveanotherinch！”

mydaughtersmiledcalmlyandsaid，“wedriveinthisallthetime，mother.”

“well，youwon’tgetmebackontheroaduntilitclears，andtheni’mheadingforhome！”iassuredher.

“iwashopingyou’dtakemeovertothegaragetopickupmycar.

“howfarwillwehavetodrive？”

“justafewblocks，”carolynsaid，“i’lldrive. i’musedtothis.”

afterseveralminutes，ihadtoask，“wherearewegoing？thisisn’tthewaytothegarage！”“we’regoingtomygaragethelongway，”carolynsmiled，“bywayofthedaffodils.”

“carolyn，”isaidsternly，“pleaseturnaround.”

“it’sallright，mother，ipromise.youwillneverforgiveyourselfifyoumissthisexperience.”

afterabouttwentyminutes，weturnedontoasmallgravelroadandisawasmallchurch.onthefarsideofthechurch，isawahand-letteredsignthatread，“daffodilgarden”.

wegotoutofthecarandeachtookachild’shand，andifollowedcarolyndownthepath.then，weturnedacornerofthepath，andilookedupandgasped.beforemelaythemostglorioussight.itlookedasthoughsomeonehadtakenagreatvatofgoldandpoureditdownoverthemountainpeakandslopes.theflowerswereplantedinmajestic，swirlingpatterns-greatribbonsandswathsofdeeporange，white，lemonyellow，salmonpink，saffron，andbutteryellow.eachdifferent-coloredvarietywasplantedasagroupsothatitswirledandflowedlikeitsownriverwithitsownuniquehue.therewerefiveacresofflowers.

“butwhohasdonethis？”iaskedcarolyn.

“it’sjustonewoman.”carolynanswered.“shelivesontheproperty.that’sherhome.”carolynpointedtoawell-kepta-framehousethatlookedsmallandmodestinthemidstofallthatglory.wewalkeduptothehouse.onthepatio，wesawaposter.“answerstothequestionsiknowyouareasking”wastheheadline.

thefirstanswerwasasimpleone.“50，000bulbs.”itread.

thesecondanswerwas，“onebulbatatime，byonewoman. twohands，twofeet，andaverylittlebrain”.

thethirdanswerwas，“beganin1958”.

thereitwas.thedaffodilprinciple.forme，thatmomentwasalife-changingexperience.ithoughtofthiswomanwhomihadnevermet，who，morethanthirty-fiveyearsbefore，hadbegun—onebulbatatime—tobringhervisionofbeautyandjoytoanobscuremountaintop.

justplantingonebulbatatime，yearafteryear，thisunknownwomanhadforeverchangedtheworldinwhichshelived.shehadcreatedsomethingofineffablemagnificence，beauty，andinspiration.

theprincipleherdaffodilgardentaughtisoneofthegreatestprinciplesofcelebration.thatis，learningtomovetowardourgoalsanddesiresonestepatatimeoftenjustonebaby-stepatatime—andlearningtolovethedoing，learningtousetheaccumulationoftime.whenwemultiplytinypiecesoftimewithsmallincrementsofdailyeffort，wetoowillfindwecanaccomplishmagnificentthings.wecanchangetheworld.

“itmakesmesadinaway.”iadmittedtocarolyn.“whatmightihaveaccomplishedifihadthoughtofawonderfulgoalthirty-fiveyearsagoandhadworkedawayatit‘onebulbatatime’throughallthoseyears？justthinkwhatimighthavebeenabletoachieve！”

mydaughtersummedupthemessageofthedayinherdirectway. “starttomorrow.”shesaid.

水仙定律

贾洛德·爱德华思

好几次了，我女儿打电话来说：“妈妈，你务必得在那些水仙花凋谢之前来看看它们。”我是想去，可从拉古娜到箭头湖要开两个小时的车。

“那我下周二去吧。”在她第三次打来电话时，我极不情愿地答应道。到了那个周二，清晨很冷又下着雨，不过既然答应了，我还是开车去了。等我终于到了卡罗琳家，拥抱问候过我的外孙们，说：“卡罗琳，别想那水仙了！天阴又有雾，路都看不清。这世上除了你和这些孩子，没有什么能让我为想去看他们再开一步车了！”

女儿平静地笑着说：“妈妈，我们一直都在这种天气里开车的呀！”

“那反正你甭想让我再开车上路了，除非天晴了，然后我就直接开车回家！”我重申道。

“我本来指望你能开车捎我去修车厂取我的车呢！”

“我们得开多远啊？”

“就几条街，”卡罗琳说，“我来开，反正我习惯了这种天气。”

过了几分钟，我不得不问：“我们这是去哪儿啊？这不是去修车厂的路啊！”卡罗琳笑了，“我们要去的那个修车厂很远，要经过水仙花。”