A young painter just completed his course from his teacher. The painter decided¹ to check his own skills, so he put his best painting at a busy crossroad. And just down below a board read. “Gentlemen, I've painted this piece. Since I'm new to painting, please put a cross wherever you see a disadvantage in my painting.”

When he came back in the evening to collect it, he was shocked. The whole painting was filled with crosses. The young painter ran to his teacher's place and burst² into tears. He sadly told his teacher about what had happened and showed him the painting. This young painter cried. “I'm useless and I could not become a painter at all. I feel like dying³.”

His teacher smiled and suggested, “I'll prove that you are a great painter.” The young painter couldn't believe it and said, “I've lost confidence⁴ and I don't think I'm good enough. Don't comfort me.”

“Do as I say without asking questions. Just paint the same painting once again and give it to me. It will work,” his teacher persuaded him. The young painter finally agreed and two days later, he painted the same painting once again and showed it to his teacher.

“Come with me,” his teacher said. They reached the same street-crossing and put the same painting there. His teacher took out another board which read. “Gentlemen, I've painted this piece. Since I'm new to painting, there might be some disadvantages in my painting. I've put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do me a favor⁵. If you see a disadvantage, kindly⁶ pick up the brush and correct it.” They both visited the place in the evening. The young painter was surprised to see there was not a single correction done!

It is easy to criticize⁷, but difficult to help others improve .

文章大意：一位年轻的画家刚从老师那里完成所学的课程，他决定测试一下自己的技能，所以就把自己觉得最好的一幅绘画放在了繁忙的十字路口，并在一张牌子上写道：“先生们，这幅画是我画的。我是一个绘画新人，请你在这幅画不好的地方，打上叉号。”

当他晚上回来拿绘画时，他震惊了，因为整幅画都是叉号。年轻画家跑到老师家，满眼泪水。他很伤心地把所发生的事情告诉老师，并把那副打满叉号的绘画拿给老师看。接着他就哭了起来：“我真是没用，我根本成不了一个画家。我感觉快死了。”

他的老师笑着说：“我将会证明你其实是一个伟大的画家。”年轻人不敢相信，他说：“我已经失去信心了，我知道是我不够好，你不用安慰我。”

“照我说的去做，不用问为什么。你再画一幅同样的画给我。”他的老师尝试着说服他。最后他同意了，两天后，他画了同样的一幅画并交给了老师。

“跟我一起来。”他的老师说。接着他们就来到了上次那个繁忙的十字路口，把同样的一幅画放在了那里。他的老师拿出另外一块牌子，上面写着：“先生们，这幅画是我画的，因为我是一个绘画新人，所以这幅画里可能会有不好的地方，我把一盒染料和蜡笔放在底下，请帮我个忙，如果你看到这幅画里有什么地方不好，请拿起画笔将它改了。”晚上他们又回到这个地方，年轻人感到很惊讶，因为画上没有一个改过的地方。

批评别人很容易，但是帮助别人提高很难。