The story begins with fishing. Once a boy and his father went fishing before bass (a kind of special fish) season opened. They were fishing ea  rly in the evening, catching other fish with worms. Then the boy tied on a small silver lure (鱼饵) and put it into the lake. Suddenly he felt that something very big pulling on the lure. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully brought the fish beside the bank. Finally he lifted the tired fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass(the special fish).The boy and his father looked at the big fish. The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 pm – two hours before the bass season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. “You’ll have to put it back, son,” he said. “Dad!” cried the boy, “There will be other fish,” said his father. “Not as big as this one,” cried the boy. He looked around the la  ke. No other fishermen or boats were in sight in the moonlight. He looked again at his father.Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he had caught the fish, the boy could tell from his father’s voice that the decision couldn’t be changed. He threw the huge bass into the black water. The big fish disappeared. The boy thought that he would never again see such a big fish. That was 34 years ago. Today the boy is a successful architect in New York City. He often takes his own son and daughters to fish at the same place. And he was right. He has never again caught such a large fish as the one he got that night long ago. But he does see that same fish … again and again … every time he has an ethical decision to make. For, as his father had  taught him, ethics (伦理道德)are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.小题1: What happened when the big fish turned out to be a bass?
|