除了你自己,沒人能打敗你

A young painter resided in a small narrow house， living on painting portraits before he became famous.

One day， a rich man came by and found the painter painting so meticulously that he liked it and asked him to draw a portrait. They agreed on the remuneration of 10，000 dollars.

After a week， the portrait was done. The rich man came to take the painting as agreed on. At this moment， the rich man hit on an evil idea of bullying the unknown young artist， so he refused to pay the remuneration.

The rich man thought， \"The man in the painting is me. If I don't buy this painting， no one will buy it. Why should I pay so much money for it?\" So the rich man said， \"I will only pay 3，000 dollars to buy this painting.\"

The young artist was stunned， for he had never come across such things. He strongly argued on just grounds， expecting the rich man to abide by the agreement and to be a trustworthy man.

\"I can only pay 3，000 dollars to buy the painting. Speak no more.\" The rich man thought he had won， \"I ask you at last， will you sell it 3，000 dollars or not?\"

The young artist knew the rich man deliberately went back on his word， so he felt indignant. He said in a firm tone， \"No. I would prefer not to sell the painting rather than to be humiliated by you. Today you break your word and someday you must pay 20 times.\"

\"What a joke! 20 times will be 200，000! I won't be stupid to pay 200，000 dollars to buy the painting!\"

\"Well， we'd better wait and see，\" the young artist said to the rich man who left angrily.

After the stimulation of such an incident， the painter moved out of this sad place， anew formally acknowledged teachers to work hard night and day.

More than a dozen years later， he finally blazed a new way and became popular in the circle of art.

After he left the studio， the rich man had forgotten the artist's painting and words the next day. Until one day， some friends of the rich man simultaneously came to tell him， \"Something is so strange! We paid a visit to a famous artist's exhibition of paintings， in which one painting is marked 200，000 dollars and the man in the painting looks exactly the same as you. It is so ridiculous that the title of the painting is Thief.\"

It came to him a terrible blow that he immediately thought of what had happened to the painter more than a dozen years before. If the painting were really the one he broke his promise that year， it would be terrible to him. He went to find the young painter the same night right away. As expected， the painting titled as Thief was no other than that one he had broken his word that year. He quickly apologized to the artist and paid 200，000 dollars to buy back the portrait.

With an undefeated ambition， the young painter made the rich man bend his head. This young man was Pablo Picasso.

有一位青年畫家，成名前住在一間狹窄的小房子里，靠畫人像為生。

一天，一個富人經過，看他的畫工細致，很喜歡，便請他幫忙畫一幅人像。雙方約好酬金是一萬元。

一個星期后，人像完成了。富人依約前來取畫。這時，富人心里起了歹念，欺畫家年輕又未成名，不肯按約定支付酬金。

富人心想:“畫中的人是我，這幅畫如果我不買，那絕不會有別人買。我又何必花那么多錢來買呢?”于是，富人說:“我只愿花3000元買這幅畫。”

青年畫家愣住了，他從來沒碰到過這種事，費了許多口舌向富人據理力爭，希望富人能遵守約定，做個守信用的人。

“我只能花3000元買這幅畫，你別再羅嗦了。”富人認為他居上風，“我最后再問你一句，3000元賣不賣?”

青年畫家知道富人故意賴賬，心中憤憤不平。他以堅定的語氣說:“不賣。我寧可不賣這幅畫，也不愿受你的屈辱。今天你失信毀約，將來一定要你付出20倍的代價。”

“笑話，20倍，是20萬啊!我才不會笨得花20萬買這幅畫!”

“那我們等著瞧好了。”青年畫家對悻悻離去的富人說。

經過這一事件的刺激后，畫家搬離了這個傷心地，重新拜師學藝，日夜苦練。

十幾年后，他終于闖出了一片天地，在藝術界成了一位知名人物。

離開畫室后，那個富人第二天就把畫家的畫和話忘到了腦后。直到有一天，富人的幾位朋友不約而同地來告訴他:“有件事好怪!我們去參觀一位著名藝術家的畫展，其中有幅畫標價20萬，畫中的人跟你長得一模一樣。好笑的是，這幅畫的標題竟然是《賊》。”

富人好像挨了當頭一棒，立刻想起了十多年前畫家的事。如果這幅畫正是自己當年賴賬的那幅畫，那么這件事對自己的影響可就太壞了。他立刻連夜趕去找青年畫家，果然不出所料，這幅標題為《賊》的畫，正是自己當年賴賬的那幅畫。他趕緊向畫家道歉，并花20萬買回了那幅人像畫。

憑著一股不服輸的勁頭，青年畫家終于讓富人低下了頭。這個年輕人就是帕布羅·畢加索。

注釋

1. meticulously adv.謹小慎微地;極度細心地

2. remuneration n.報酬，酬勞

3. stun vt. 使目瞪口呆;使發愣

4. trustworthy adj.可靠的;可信的，信得過的

5. deliberately adv.故意地

6. indignant adj.憤慨的，憤憤不平的

7. humiliate vt. 羞辱，使丟臉

8. stimulation n.刺激，鼓舞

9. acknowledge vt. 承認

10. blaze vt.開拓

11. simultaneously adv.同時地

12. ridiculous adj. 荒唐的;可笑的