第41章错了就坦诚地承认吧
IfY,AdmitIt
?戴尔·卡耐基Daleegie
Withinaminute’swalkofmyhousetherewasawildstretchintimber,wheretheblackberrythiedwhiteiime,wherethesquirrelsedaheiryoung,andthehrewastallasahorse’shead。ThisunspoiledwoodlandwascalledForestPark—anditwasaforest,probablynotmuchdifferentinappearanhenbusdiserica。IfrequehisparkwithRex,mylittleBostonbulldog。Hewasafriendly,harmlesslittlehound;andsincewerarelymetahepark,Itwithoutaleashoramuzzle。
Oeredamountedpolithepark,thepoliitgtoshowhisauthority。
“Whatdoyoumeahatdogruheparkwithoutamuzzleandaleash?”hereprimayouknowit’sagainstthelaw?”
“Yes,Iknowitis,”Irepliedsofty,“butIdidn’tthinkhewoulddoanyharmouthere。”
“Youdidn’tthink!Youdidn’tthink!Thelawdoesinker’sdamnaboutwhatyouthink。Thatdogmightkillasquirrelorbiteagoiyouoffthistime;butifIcatchthisdainwithoutamuzzleandaleash,you’llhavetotellittothejudge。”
Imeeklypromisedtoobey。
AndIdidobey—forafewtimes。ButRexdidhemuzzle,aherdidI;sowedecidedtotakeace。Everythingwaslovelyforawhile,aruag。Rexahebrowofahilloernoonandthere,suddenly—tomydismayIsawthemajestyofthelaw,astrideabayhorse。Rexwasoutinfroraightfortheofficer。
Iwasinforit。Ik。SoIdidn’twaituntilthepolistartedtalkioit。Isaid:“Officer,you’vecaughtmered-handed。I’mguilty。Ihavenoalibis,noexcuses。YouwarweekthatifIbroughtthedainwithoutamuzzleyouwouldfineme。”
“Well,now,”thepolirespondedinasofttone。“Iknotatioledoglikethathavearunoutherewhennobodyisaround。”
&emptation,”Ireplied。“butitisagainstthelaw。”
&tledoglikethatisn’tgoingtoharmanybody,”thepoliremonstrated。
“No,buthemaykillsquirrels,”Isaid。
“Wellnow,Ithihisabittooseriously,”hetoldme。
“I’lltellyouwhatyoudo。YoujustlethimruherewhereI’tseehim—andwe’llfetallaboutit。”
Thatpoli,beinghuman,wantedafeelingofimportance;sowheoyself,theonlywayheourishhisself-esteemwastotakethemagnanimousattitudeofshowingmercy。
从我家的房子出发步行一分钟,就能看到一片野生林。到了春季,那里的黑莓丛便会开出一片片白色的花朵。小松鼠们在这片灌木丛中繁衍生息,而莴苣长得几乎和马儿一样高。这片还没有被开发的原始森林被称为森林公园——它确实是一片森林。或许从哥伦布发现新大陆起就不曾改变过。我经常牵着我的小波士顿哈巴狗雷克斯到公园里散步。小狗对人很友好,是个温驯的小家伙。因为我们在公园里很少遇到人,我从没有给它拴上狗链,或戴上口套。
一天,我们在公园里遇见了一位骑警——一位渴望发号施令的骑警。
“你为什么不给狗拴上狗链,还让它在这里到处乱跑?”他十分严厉地训斥我,“难道你不知道这样做触犯了法律吗?”