The Tale of the Thumb
故事全文
Once upon a time, there was a young man called Zheng Zhong-bian. He was very strong and had never been sick in his life. One day, he noticed a small bump on his left thumb. People who saw it thought there was no need to worry. After three days, the bump grew to the size of a coin. Zheng Zhong-bian started to be concerned, but everyone dismissed it as nothing serious. Another three days passed, his thumb had swollen to the size of a fist, and his other four fingers began to hurt too.
Zheng Zhong-bian was terrified, and went to see the doctor. The doctor exclaimed, “This illness is hard to cure! If you had come in when it was just a bump, it would have been cured in a day. After three days, it would have taken over ten days and a lot of medicinal herbs to cure. But now, your condition is very serious. Your hand is so swollen, you might even be disabled! It may take over three months to fully cure! ” In the end, it took three months before Zheng Zhong-bian’s thumb was finally cured.
Most big problems usually start off as something trivial. At first, they are easy to tackle. But, if ignored, they may take a lot of time and effort to resolve. So, while people know to be scared of immediate dangers and emergencies, they often neglect small issues and don't take them seriously.
