Oneday a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the wholevalley. A large crowd gathered, and they all admired his heart for it wasperfect. There was not a flaw in it.
Suddenly,an old man appeared and said, "Hey, your heart is not nearly as beautifulas mine!"
突然一位老者出现了,说道:“嗨,你的心可不如我的心美丽啊!”
Thecrowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was full of scars. Ithad places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but theydidn’t fit quite right, and there were several jaggededges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces weremissing.
Theyoung man laughed. "Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect andyours is a mess of scars."
年轻人笑道:“跟你的心相比,我的心完美无比,而你的心却满是疤痕。”
"Yes,"said the old man, "Yours looks perfect but I would never trade with you.You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and oftenthey give me a piece of their heart that fits into the empty place in my heart."
"SometimesI have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned apiece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gouges--giving love istaking a chance. "
"Althoughthese gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have forthose people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I’vebeen waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"
Theyoung man walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect heart, and rippeda piece out. He offered it to the old man.
年轻人走到老者面前,把手伸进自己完美的心中,撕下了一片,赠给了老者。
Theold man placed it in his heart, then took a piece from his old scarred heartand placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly,as there were some jagged edges.