by Sabina

A man sat at a metro station in Washington D.C. and started to play the violin； it was a cold January morning. He played 6 Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time， since it was rush hour， it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station， most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was music playing. He slowed his pace， stopped for a few seconds， and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later， the violinist received his first dollar tip： a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later， someone leaned against the wall to listen to him， but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother dragged him along， hurriedly， but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents， without exception， forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played， only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over， no one noticed it. No one applauded， nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was 1）Joshua Bell， one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway， Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing 2）incognito in the metro station was organized by the 3）Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception， taste and priorities of people. One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be： If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written， how many other things are we missing？

My additional thoughts would only be that so many people do things because they are“fashionable” that they forget to look at things with their own eyes， listen with their own ears， and appreciate anything with their own hearts.

有个男人在华盛顿特区的一个地铁站里坐下来并拉起了小提琴；那是一个寒冷的一月清晨。在约四十五分钟的时间里，他演奏了六首巴赫的曲子。在他演奏的那段时间里，由于是上班高峰期，差不多几千人穿过那个地铁站，其中大多数人都是在去上班的路上。三分钟后，一个中年男子注意到有音乐在演奏。他放慢了自己的脚步，停了几秒钟，而后又急匆匆地去忙自己的事情了。又过了一分钟，那个小提琴家收到了他的第一份赏金：一位女士把钱扔到了琴盒里，停也没停就继续赶路了。几分钟后，有个人倚在墙边听他演奏，不过那人看着自己的表，又开始赶路了。很显然，他上班迟到了。

最注意小提琴家的是一个三岁的男孩。他的母亲一路拽着他，着急忙慌地，而他则停下来看着那位小提琴家。最终，那位母亲使劲儿地推着男孩，那孩子继续赶着路，但同时却一直回头张望。其他几个孩子也有着同样的表现。而所有的父母，无一例外地，逼着他们继续前行。

在那位音乐家演奏的45分钟里，仅有六个人停下脚步并稍作停留。大约有二十个人给了他钱，但仍然以他们正常的步伐继续赶路。他一共收到了32美元。当他结束演奏，安静离开的时候，没有一个人注意到。没有一个人喝彩，也没有一个人认出他来。没有人知道，那位小提琴家就是乔舒亚·贝尔，世界上最杰出的音乐家之一。他用一把价值350万美元的小提琴演奏了史上难度最高曲目中的一首。在地铁站演奏的两天前，乔舒亚·贝尔在波士顿一家剧院的演奏会门票全部售罄，而且平均票价100美元。

乔舒亚·贝尔潜伏在地铁站演奏是由《华盛顿邮报》策划的，它是一项关于人的感知、品味和优先选择习性的社会实验的一部分。从这个实验可能得出这样一个结论：如果我们没有时间停下来聆听世界上最棒的音乐家当中的一位来演奏史上最棒的音乐，我们还会错过多少事情呢？

我另外的想法只会是：太多人做一些事情只是因为那是“潮流”使然。但是他们忘记了用自己的双眼去观察，用自己的耳朵去聆听以及用自己的心去感受。