Posted by 易之 on January 14, 1998 at 12:10:28:
下面是撰寫學位論文的寓言，很久前看到的，轉貼在此，聊供一粲。
On 5 Dec 1996 20:04:21 GMT, in tw.bbs.literal.story c-tsai4@casper.beckman.uiuc.edu (Chih-Hao Tsai) wrote:
兔子、狐狸與狼（寓言）（翻譯）
在一個充滿陽光的午後，一隻兔子從她的洞裡出來享受大好天氣。天
氣好得讓她失去警覺，一隻狐狸危隨其後，抓住了她。
「我要把妳當午餐吃掉！」狐狸說。
「慢著！」兔子答道。「你應該至少等個幾天。」
「喔？是嗎？為什麼我要等？」
「嗯，我正在完成我的博士論文。」
「哈，那是個很蠢的理由。妳的論文題目是什麼？」
「我正在寫『兔子比狐狸與狼的優越性』。」
「妳瘋了嗎？我應該現在就把妳吃了！大家都知道狐狸總是比免子強
的。」
「根據我的研究，並不盡然。如果你想的話，你可以來我洞裡，自己
讀它。如果你不能被說服，你可以把我當午餐吃了。」
「妳真的瘋了！」但狐狸很好奇，而且讀讀論文也不會損失什麼，就
跟兔子進去了。狐狸再也沒有出來。
幾天以後兔子又出來休息。嗯，一隻狼從樹叢中出來並準備吃她。
「慢著！」兔子叫道。「你現在不能吃我。」
「為什麼呢？我毛絨絨的開胃菜。」
「我的論文『兔子比狐狸與狼的優越性』幾乎要完成了。」
狼笑得太厲害，以致於鬆開抓住兔子的手。
「也許我不應該吃妳。妳的腦子真的有病，妳可能有某種傳染病。」
「你可以自己來讀它。如果你不同意我的結論，你可以把我吃掉。」
於是狼跟兔子進洞裡去，再也沒有出來。
兔子終於完成她的論文，並出來在萵苣叢中慶祝。另一隻免子過來問
她，「什麼事？妳看起來很快樂。」
「是啊，我剛剛完成我的論文。」
「恭喜！主題是？」
「『兔子比狐狸與狼的優越性』。」
「妳確定嗎？聽起來不太對。」
「喔！進來自己讀。」
所以他們一起進洞裡去。當他們進去時，朋友看到的是一個典型的研
究生的窩，一團亂，在完成論文後。存放這部具爭議性的論文的電腦
在一個角落，在右邊有一疊狐狸骨頭，在左邊有一疊狼的骨頭，而在
中間，有一隻巨大的、正在舔嘴唇的獅子。
這個故事告訴我們：
你論文的題目並不重要。重要的是誰是你的指導教授。
（以下為原文）
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chih-peng Li
-----
THE RABBIT, THE FOX, AND THE WOLF -- A FABLE
One sunny day a rabbit came out of her hole in the ground to enjoy the
weather. The day was so nice that she became careless, so a fox sneaked up behind her and caught her.
"I am going to eat you for lunch!", said the fox.
"Wait!", replied the rabbit, "you should at least wait a few days".
"Oh yeah? Why should I wait?"
"Well, I am just finishing my Ph.D. dissertation".
"Ha, that's a stupid excuse. What is the title of your dissertation,
anyway?"
"I am writing on 'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves'"
"Are you crazy? I should eat you right now! Everybody knows that a fox will always win over a rabbit".
"Not really, according to my research. If you like, you can come to my hole and read it for yourself. If you are not convinced, you can go ahead and have me for lunch".
"You really are crazy!" But since the fox was curious and had nothing to lose, it went with the rabbit. The fox never came back out.
A few days later the rabbit was again taking a break from writing and sure enough, a wolf came out of the bushes and was ready to set upon her.
"Wait!", yelled the rabbit, "you can't eat me right now".
"And why might that be, my furry appetizer?"
"I am almost finished writing my dissertation on 'The Superiority of
Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves'"
The wolf laughed so hard that it almost lost its hold on the rabbit.
"Maybe I shouldn't eat you, you really are sick in the head, you might
have something contagious".
"Come and read for yourself, you can eat me after that if you disagree
with my conclusions". So the wolf went down into the rabbit's hole and
never came out.
The rabbit finished her dissertation and was out celebrating in the
lettuce patch. Another rabbit came along and asked, "What's up? You seem very happy"
"Yup, I just finished my dissertation".
"Congratulations. What's it about?".
"'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves'".
"Are you sure? That doesn't sound right".
"Oh yes. Come and read it for yourself".
So together they went down into the rabbit's hole. As they went in, the
friend saw a typical graduate student abode, albeit a rather messy one
after writing a dissertation. The computer with the controversial work was in one corner, on the right there was a pile of fox bones, on the left was a pile of wolf bones, and in the middle was a large, lip-smacking lion.
The moral of the story:
The title of your dissertation doesn't matter. All that matters is who your advisor is.
