Manybookshavebeenwrittenabout“theartofgiving”.Butwhatabouttheartofreceiving?Sometimes,receivingagiftcanbedifficult,especiallywhensomeonebuysyouagiftyoudon’twant!

　　很多书的主题都是“给予的艺术”,那有关接受的艺术呢?有些时候接受一件礼物也是很困难的,特别是当别人买给你的礼物你其实并不想要.

　　“IrememberwhenIwasabouttwelveyearsold,myparentsboughtmeapurplepurse,”laughsGuoXiaojing.“Itreallymademefeelembarrassed,becausetobehonest,Ithoughtthepursewasreallyugly!Still,IpretendedthatIlikeditbecauseIknewitwouldmakemyparentshappy!”

　　“我记得我在大概十二岁的时候,我的父母给我买了一个紫色的钱包”郭小景（音译）笑道,“真是尴尬,因为老实说,我觉得那个钱包真的很丑.但我还是装成我很喜欢,因为我知道这样我爸妈会很高兴.”

　　HanLingagrees.“Thatsoundslikemygrandparents!Afewyearsago,mygrandparentsgavemeanorangesweaterformybirthday.IusedtoweariteverytimeIvisitedthem,butwhenIlefttheirhouse,Itookitoff!Ofcourse,thismademefeelguilty.Itwasaverynicethought,butmygrandparentshavedifferenttastefromme!Ithinkit’shardtobuyclothesorotherpersonalthingsforpeople.”

　　韩灵（音译）同意这个观点.“我祖父母也是!前几年的时候,我祖父母在我生日的时候给了我一件橙色的毛衣.我每次去看他们的时候就会穿上它,但是当我一离开他们家,我就会脱掉.很显然,这毛衣让我感到羞愧.送我毛衣是一件好的事情,但是我祖父母和我的品味不同.我觉得给别人买衣服或者是一些私人物品是很难的.”

　　Tomakethingseasier,somepeoplewouldratherjustgivemoney.Insomecultures,however,receivingmoneycanmakepeopleuncomfortable.“Whensomeonegivesmemoney,itjustmakesmethinkthey’rebeinglazy,”saysJohnWilson.“InEngland,wehaveasaying:It’sthethoughtthatcounts.Whensomeonegivesmemoney,Ifeeltheydon’tthinkatall.Iprefertoreceiveagiftthathassomethoughtbehindit.Idon’tmindifit’ssomethingIdon’tneed.Ifsomeonehasthoughtaboutagiftforme,italwaysmakesmehappy.”Differentpeoplehaveverydifferentthoughtsonthissubject!Somaybetheartofreceivingisevenmoredifficultthantheartofgiving!Whatdoyouthink?

　　为了省事,有些人宁愿选择送钱.在有的文化当中,接受钱会让人很不舒服.JohnWilson说：“当别人给我钱时,这让我觉得他们很懒.在英国有句话叫做‘心意最重要’,当他们给我钱时,我会认为他们根本不放在心上.我更希望收到的礼物是有些意义在里面的,我并不介意这是不是我所需要的.如果有人花心思在我的礼物上,这会让我感到很开心.”在这个问题上,不同的人有不同的想法.所以可能接受的艺术比给予的艺术更加复杂.你认为呢?