佚名/Anonymous
A philosopher found a statue of Double-faced God in the ruins of Rome. As it was the first time he had seen such an image he asked curiously,“What god are you? Why do you have double faces?”
The god answered,“I am Double-faced God. I look back to the past with one face to learn lessons and look forward to the future with another full of hope.”
The philosopher asked again,“What about the present —the most significant present? Have you paid any attention to it?”
“The present!”the god was taken aback,“How could I spare a minute to it since I am so busy with the past and the future?”
“The past is gone,”said the philosopher,“while the future is yet to come. What we can grasp is the present; if you ignore the present, your knowledge about the past and future will be meaningless however great it is!”
The god, suddenly awakened to the truth, burst out crying,“How correct your comment is! It was precisely because I didn't grasp the present that the ancient city of Rome was turned into a page of history while I myself was thrown into the ruins.”
在古罗马的废墟里，哲学家发现了一尊双面神像。因为从未见过这样的神像，所以哲学家就好奇地问：“你是什么神啊，为什么有两张面孔？”
神像回答道：“我是双面神。我一面可以回顾过去，吸取教训；一面可以展望未来，充满希望。”
哲学家又问：“那现在呢？你注意到无比重要的现在了吗？”
“现在！”神像愣住了，“我忙于追溯过去和展望未来，怎么会有时间去管现在？”
哲学家说：“过去已经逝去，将来还未到来，现在才是我们唯一能够把握的。如果你忽视了现在，你对过去和未来的认识也就没有任何意义了。所以，不管怎么说，现在都是重要的。”
双面神恍然大悟，痛哭起来：“你说得太对了！古罗马之所以成为历史，我之所以被埋在废墟里，都是因为我没有把握住现在。”