According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. 据传说,一个年轻的男子在漫游沙漠途中看到一泉如水晶般清澈而可口的水。水的味道非常甜美,于是他灌满了他的皮水壶,这样就可以带一些回去,送给曾经是他老师的部落长老。
After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart. 经过四天的旅程,他把水呈献给老人。老人深饮一口,和蔼地笑了笑,并深切感激学生赠予他甜美的水。年轻人怀着愉快的心情回到了村庄。
Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container.后来,老师让他的另一个学生品尝水。学生吐了出来,说水太难喝了。它显然已经因为陈旧的皮革容器而变得不再新鲜。
The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"学生质疑他的老师:“师父,水是臭的,你为什么要假装喜欢它?”
The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."老师回答说,“你只品尝了水的味道,我却是在品尝礼物的味道。水仅仅是装载善与爱之行为的容器,而没有什么东西比善与爱更甜美了。”
I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.我认为当我们从天真的孩子们那里收到爱的礼物时,能够最透彻地明白这个道理。无论它是一个陶瓷托盘或通心粉手镯,我们自然而恰当的反应是欣赏,并表示感激,因为我们喜欢礼物所包含的心意。
Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.感恩并不总是自然而来的。不幸的是,大多数儿童和成人只看重被赠予的东西本身,而不是它体现的情谊。我们应该提醒自己,并教导我们的孩子,感情和对感激之情的表达是美丽而纯洁的。毕竟,发自内心给与的礼物才是真正的礼物。
Youth
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.
译文:
青春
青春不是年华,而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志,恢宏的想象,炙热的恋情;青春是生命的深泉在涌流。
青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安。如此锐气,二十后生而有之,六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加,并非垂老,理想丢弃,方堕暮年。
岁月悠悠,衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却,颓废必致灵魂。忧烦,惶恐,丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。
无论年届花甲,拟或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线,只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号,你就青春永驻,风华常存。 、
一旦天线下降,锐气便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即使年方二十,实已垂垂老矣;然则只要树起天线,捕捉乐观信号,你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。