然后，他用勺子盛出咖啡，放进一个杯子里。他转向女儿，问道，“孩子，你看到了什么?”
“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“土豆、鸡蛋和咖啡，”她急躁地回答道。
“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“仔细看看，”他说，“摸摸这些土豆。”她照做了，注意到土豆很软。然后父亲让她拿一个鸡蛋，并把它敲碎。她把蛋壳剥下后，观察了一下这个煮老了的蛋。最后，父亲让她喝一口咖啡。咖啡浓郁的香气让笑容重新回到她的脸上。
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
“爸爸，这是什么意思?”她问道。
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
然后父亲解释道，土豆、鸡蛋和咖啡豆都分别经历过相同的逆境——沸水。
However, each one reacted differently.
然而，它们的反应却各不相同。
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
土豆一开始强壮、坚硬、不屈不挠，但是在沸水中，它却变得软弱。
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
鸡蛋易碎，只有外面那层薄壳保护着里面的蛋液。当鸡蛋被放进沸水之后，鸡蛋内部就变硬了。
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. 然而，研磨过的咖啡豆却很独特。把它们放进沸水中之后，它们改变了水，创造了新的事物。
“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
“你是哪一种呢?”他问女儿。“当不幸降临时，你该如何应对?你是一枚土豆、一颗鸡蛋还是一粒咖啡豆?”
Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.
寓意：生活中，事情发生在我们身边，发生在我们身上，不过他们的好坏则完全取决于我们自身。
Which one are you?
你是哪一种呢?