“ 来自哈佛大学的所罗门教授，为如何找东西写了一本书。书名就叫 How to Find Lost Objects，中文可译为《如何找丢失的东西》。本文为个人翻译，仅做学习交流之用。”
寻物十二法则 概览
- Don’t Look for It
先别急着找
- It's Not Lost—You Are
东西真的丢了吗？还是你迷糊了呢？
- Remember the Three C's
牢记3C原理
- It's Where It's Supposed to Be
东西就在它该在的地方
- Domestic Drift
想想用完放在哪里了？
- You're Looking Right at It
可能它就在你面前
- The Camouflage Effect
拿走遮挡视线的东西
- Think Back
回想一下放东西的瞬间
- Look Once, Look Well
一个地方只找一次，仔细点
- The Eureka Zone
不在原地，就在附近
- Tail Thyself
场景再现
- It Wasn't You
是不是别人拿走了？
寻物十二法则
By Professor Solomon
01
PRINCIPLE ONE Don't Look for It
Something's lost, and your first thought—your basic instinct—is to look for it. You're ready to start rummaging about. To hunt for it in a random, and increasingly frenetic, fashion. To ransack your own house.
This is the most common mistake people make.
And it can doom their search from the start.
I know you're eager to find that lost item. But not yet. Don't look for it yet.
Wait until you have some idea where to look.
原则一 先别急着找
东西丢了的时候，你的第一反应是立马去找，然后非常着急地把家里翻个底朝天。
这是人们最常犯的错误，这样做注定很难找到丢的东西。
我能理解你的心情，但我还是要说：先别急着找。
先等一等，想一想要怎么找，去哪里找，有了思路再行动。
02
PRINCIPLE TWO It's Not Lost—You Are
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe it's you that are lost—not those keys or that umbrella?
Because a fundamental truth is this:
There are no missing objects. Only unsystematic searchers.
Accept that—copy it down and tape it to your mirror—and you'll soon be finding things with ease.
原则二 东西真的丢了吗？还是你迷糊了呢？
你是否想过这样一个问题：东西其实没有丢，可能就在原处，只是因为你现在脑子有点混乱，想不起来在哪。
有一个很基本的道理是这样的：
没有丢失的东西，只有不会找东西的人。
理解一下这句话，把它抄下来，贴在镜子上。这样能帮你轻松地找到东西。
03
PRINCIPLE THREE Remember the Three C's
To find a lost object, you must be in the proper frame of mind. And that means paying attention to the Three C's.
They are:
COMFORT
Start by making yourself comfortable in an armchair or sofa. Have a cup of tea, perhaps, or a stick of gum.
CALMNESS
Next, empty your mind of any unsettling thoughts.
Pretend that the sea is lapping at your feet. Or that you're sitting in a garden full of birds and flowers.
CONFIDENCE
Finally, tell yourself you will locate that missing object. (To enhance your confidence, you might want to don a thinking cap. See instructions on how to make one.)
Now you're ready. To begin a systematic search.
原则三 牢记3C原理
要找到丢失的东西，你必须有正确的心态，来了解一下3C原理吧。
3C分别是Comfort(放松), Calmness(冷静), Confidence(自信)
Comfort(放松)：
先坐在沙发上喝杯茶放松一下，舒缓紧张的神经。
Calmness(冷静)：
想一些让你感到愉快的事情，清空你的头脑中任何不安的想法。
Confidence(自信)：
自我暗示，告诉你自己你会找到那个丢失的东西。
当你按照3C原理准备好时，请按照下面的步骤开始找吧！
04
PRINCIPLE FOUR It's Where It's Supposed to Be
Believe it or not, things are often right where they're supposed to be.
Is there a place where your missing object is normally kept? A particular rack, or shelf, or drawer?
If so, look there first. You may actually have hung up your coat last night. Or put the dictionary back on the shelf. Or returned the tape measure to the tool drawer.
Even if you didn't, someone may have done it for you.
原则四 东西就在它该在的地方
你的书应该就在书架上，衣服就在衣柜里。
你的东西应该放在什么地方，你就去那个地方找。
可能你昨天随手就放在那里了，或者你的家人帮你放在那儿了。
05
PRINCIPLE FIVE Domestic Drift
Many objects do have a designated or customary place where they are kept. But the reality is that they aren't always returned there. Instead, they are left wherever last used.
Such objects have undergone Domestic Drift. They could be anywhere in the house, or out in the yard.
Relax. Get comfortable. Pour yourself a cup of coffee.
Now try to remember. Where were you last using that pliers, or tape measure, or fountain pen? Where did you last have it?
Because that's precisely where it still may be.
原则五 想想用完放在哪里了？
如果还是找不到，想一想你什么时候用过它？最后一次使用的时候放在了哪里呢？
他们可能在家里的任何地方。
不要着急，放松一点。
尝试回忆一下，你最后一次拿着它的时候是在什么地方？
那正是它可能还在的地方。
06
PRINCIPLE SIX You're Looking Right at It
All right. You checked where it's supposed to be, where it was last used, or where it might have been casually tossed. And it wasn’t there.
Or…was it?
It is possible to look directly at a missing object and not see it. This is due to the agitated state of mind that often accompanies a misplacement. Go back and look again. It may be staring you in the face.
Occasionally, our distress is such that not only do we overlook an object—we forget what we’re looking for! To avoid this, repeatedly murmur the name of the object. (“Potholder, potholder, potholder.”)
But why the agitation? Have we forgotten the second C? Return to your armchair and get calm.
原则六 可能它就在你面前
你检查了刚刚提到的所有地方，但还是找不到。
这时别忘了有个词叫做“灯下黑”，可能要找的东西就在你面前，但你心情太紧张所以没注意到。
为了避免这种情况，我建议你一边找，一边小声念出你要找的东西，不断提醒自己在找什么。
切记，一定要放松，牢记3C原理：放松、冷静、自信。
07
PRINCIPLE SEVEN The Camouflage Effect
Don't be fooled. Your object may be right where you thought it was—but it has become hidden from view. Be sure to check under anything that could be covering your object, having inadvertently been placed on top of it.
I call this the Camouflage Effect. Among the most common offenders are newspapers and sombreros.
原则七 拿走遮挡视线的东西
你要找的东西是不是被挡住了呢？比如钥匙可能压在手套下面，手机可能夹在书里了。
仔细检查一下，把遮挡视线的东西拿开。
08
PRINCIPLE EIGHT Think Back
You were there at the scene of the misplacement.
You were there when the object was put down—was left in an obscure location—was consigned to oblivion.
You were there—because you did it!
So you must have a memory—however faint—of where this happened.
Are you prepared to think back, and retrieve that memory?
If so, you may soon be crying out “Of course!” and making a beeline to that forgotten place.
原则八 回想一下放东西的瞬间
你是否还能想起你放下东西那一刻？
这件事是你做的，所以你肯定有印象。
放松下来，
回想一下，找回记忆了吗？
如果想起来了，马上去那个被遗忘的地方找找看吧。
09
PRINCIPLE NINE Look Once, Look Well
Don't go around in circles. Once you've checked a site, don't go back and check again. No matter how promising a site—if the object wasn't there the first time, it won't be there the second.
Assuming, of course, that your first check was thorough.
原则九 一个地方只找一次，仔细点
一旦你检查了一个地方，不要再回去检查。
不管你觉得在那个地方找到的可能性有多大，如果第一次找不到，第二次也不会有。
当然，你第一次找的时候必须很仔细、很彻底。
10
PRINCIPLE TEN The Eureka Zone
The majority of lost objects are right where you figure—once you take a moment to stop and figure.
Others, however, are in the immediate vicinity of that place. They have undergone a displacement—a shift in location that, although minor, has served to render them invisible.
Some examples:
A pencil has rolled beneath a typewriter.
A tool has been shoved to the rear of a drawer.
A book on a shelf has gotten lodged behind other books.
A folder has been misfiled, several folders away from where it belongs.
Objects are apt to wander. I have found, though, that they tend to travel no more than eighteen inches from their original location. To the circle described by this eighteen-inch radius I have given a name. I call it the Eureka Zone.
With the aid of a ruler (or a Eureka-Stik—see later), determine the Eureka Zone of your lost object. Then explore it. Meticulously.
原则十 不在原地，就在附近
大多数丢失的东西如果不在原地，就在那个地方附近。
它们可能移动了一点位置，比如说：
铅笔滚动到了桌子下面，打火机被挤到了抽屉角落。
这些轻微的移动很容易发生。不过，我发现它们的移动距离往往不超过半米。
你可以在丢东西的地方画一个半径为0.5米的圆，然后仔细地找。
11
PRINCIPLE ELEVEN Tail Thyself
If you still haven't found your object, it may be time to Recreate the Crime.
Remove your thinking cap and don your detective's cap. For you are about to follow your own trail.
Let's create a typical scenario. You come home from work and find a letter in the mail. Some time later you're ready to read it…but it's missing. You're perturbed and perplexed. Where's that letter?
Okay, start at the door and retrace your steps since returning home. Where in the house did you go?
To what specific locations? Stop at each of them and look for the letter.
Hmm, a coat thrown across a chair. You were here.
(Check under the coat and in its pockets.)
A depression in the sofa. You were here.
On the kitchen counter, a glass. You were here.
On the table by the armchair, candy wrappers and a novel. You were here.
And marking your place in the novel—aha! That missing letter.
Good work, gumshoe.
原则十一 场景再现
如果还没有找到你的物品，那就试试场景再现吧。
想一想昨天你丢东西的时候都做了什么事情，一步一步再去做一遍，按照自己的思维习惯推理自己可能做出的行为。
12
PRINCIPLE TWELVE It Wasn't You
When all else has failed, explore the possibility that your object hasn’t been misplaced. Rather, it's been misappropriated.
Perhaps someone you know has borrowed your umbrella. Or eaten your doughnut. Or taken your magazine into another room.
Approach that person and inquire if such might not be the case. (“Have you by any chance seen my…?” is a tactful way to phrase this.)
原则十二 是不是别人拿走了？
当你按照上面的十一个原则找了一遍，却还是没找到。
这时需要想想你的东西是不是被别人拿走了。
也许是你的家人或者朋友拿去用了，或者放在了别处。
找身边人礼貌地问一下。
One More
One More Principle The following principle is a special one.
I call it the THIRTEENTH PRINCIPLE. And I have kept it apart from the others to underscore its use in a certain dire situation only.
The situation is this: You've applied each of the Twelve Principles, and still haven't found your object.
That should rarely happen. But when it does, you have a recourse—the THIRTEENTH PRINCIPLE.
Have you been applying the Principles? If so, you should have found your object by now.
But occasionally, Fate chooses to separate us from one of our possessions. When that seems to be the case, it’s time to call off the search.
Your missing object may eventually turn up. Until then, accept that you are being offered a lesson: in patience…or humility…or nonattachment to the things of this world.
And if not, so what? Lost keys, books, eyeglasses— even elephants!—can be replaced. Such losses areinconvenient and vexing. Yet surely they have their place in the inscrutable economy of the Universe.
You’ve done what you can. So relax, and—with a shrug of resignation—accept the fate of your object.
Qué será, será. What will be, will be.
特殊原则 第十三原则
我把它与其他原则分开，是因为这条原则只在一种情况下使用：
你已经应用了12条原则中的每一条，但是仍然没有找到你的东西。
这种情况应该很少发生，但当它发生时，你就可以求助于第十三条原则：
有时，命运会让我们放下一些东西。如果是这样的话，是时候停止你的寻找了。
你丢失的东西可能还会出现。但在那之前，请保持耐心，接受现实。
你已经努力去寻找过了，所以放松下来，接受现在，拥抱未来。
