編者注： 每個(gè)人都有自己存在的價(jià)值，關(guān)鍵是我們能不能找準(zhǔn)自己的位置，你的位置在哪里呢？

In the middle of his dream， an artist awoke. He reached for his pencil and started to draw. He started with a single dot. It took the artist hours to finish his picture， and afterwards (然后) he collapsed(倒) back into bed. Soon he was asleep again， still smiling for thinking of what he had drawn.

The dot， on the other hand， was not as happy as the artist. It looked around the page and saw lines all around. They were long and colorful， and the dot was neither. “I don’t belong here，” it thought， “I am just a small， meaningless dot and this picture does not need me.” So the dot jumped off the page.

It approached (走向) a newspaper that was lying nearby. There were dots all over the newspaper. “Surely this is where I am meant to be，” it said aloud. As soon as the dot hopped(跳上) onto the front page of the newspaper， all the other dots started to yell. “You cannot stay here!” they said. “Why not?” asked the dot. “We are not dots，” they said， “we are periods， and we belong to books， stories， and newspapers. You are just a dot.” The dot felt silly(愚笨) itself， so it left the newspaper.

Then the dot saw a white cube(立方體) with dots on every side. “This is where I belong，” it thought to itself. “Excuse me，” it said politely to four dots sitting on a side of the cube， “May I join you?” “No， you can not，” said the four dots. “We are dots on a pair of dice (骰子). An extra dot would ruin a pair of dice.” The dot felt silly again and hopped over to the artist who was asleep.

“I wonder why he drew me?” thought the dot. The artist woke up at that moment and went to look at his picture， but he was heartbroken by what he saw. He held up the drawing and sighed. “Where has my seed gone?” he cried. “This is supposed to be a picture of a seed in the soil before it grows into a mighty (巨大的) tree， but without the seed， it is useless， and I cannot draw another so perfect as I did the first time，” said the artist sadly.

The dot had not realized that all along it was not just a dot， but also a seed. A seed may start off small， but there’s no telling how large it will become， how many beautiful leaves it will grow， and how many people will find shelter (遮蔽) under it.

The dot jumped back onto the page it had left. Because it knew that， although it was just a small dot， it meant much more in the big picture.

一位藝術(shù)家從睡夢中醒來，拿起鉛筆，開始作畫。他從一個(gè)孤零零的點(diǎn)畫起，花了幾個(gè)小時(shí)才完成畫作，然后倒在床上。很快，他便再次進(jìn)入夢鄉(xiāng)，腦海里想著他剛剛完成的畫作，臉上仍然盈滿了笑意。

不過，那個(gè)點(diǎn)可沒這么開心。它環(huán)顧畫紙，發(fā)現(xiàn)周圍布滿了線條。那些線條又修長又亮麗，而點(diǎn)卻和這些一點(diǎn)都不沾邊?！拔也粚儆谶@里，”它想，“我只是一個(gè)渺小的點(diǎn)，無足輕重，這幅畫不需要我?！庇谑撬蛷漠嫾埳咸顺鰜?。

它走向旁邊放著的一張報(bào)紙，報(bào)紙上面布滿了圓點(diǎn)?！帮@然這才是我應(yīng)該待的地方?！彼舐曊f。但就在它一跳上頭版的位置時(shí)，其他點(diǎn)就立刻開始嚷嚷了起來?！澳悴荒艽谶@里！”它們說。“為什么不行？”點(diǎn)問?！拔覀儾皇屈c(diǎn)，”它們回答說，“我們是書、小說和報(bào)紙上的句點(diǎn)，而你只是一個(gè)點(diǎn)?！秉c(diǎn)自覺愚笨，就離開了報(bào)紙。

接著點(diǎn)又看到了一個(gè)白色的立方體，每一面都布滿了小圓點(diǎn)?！斑@才是屬于我的地方，”它暗自想著。“打擾一下，”它彬彬有禮地對其中一面的四個(gè)點(diǎn)說，“我能加入你們嗎？”“不，不行?！蹦撬膫€(gè)點(diǎn)答道，“我們是一副骰子上的點(diǎn)。多一個(gè)點(diǎn)這對骰子就沒用了?！秉c(diǎn)再次覺得自己愚蠢無比，就跳到了正在熟睡的藝術(shù)家那里。

“我想知道他為什么要畫我？”點(diǎn)思忖著。 就在這時(shí)，藝術(shù)家醒了。他起身去看他的畫作，但是眼前的一切令他傷心欲絕。他拿起畫，嘆息不已?！拔耶嫷姆N子怎么不見了？”他喊道?！斑@幅畫是種子長成參天大樹前在土壤里的情景。但現(xiàn)在種子不見了，這幅畫也就毫無意義了，而且我再也畫不出像第一幅畫這樣完美的作品了?！彼囆g(shù)家傷心地說。

點(diǎn)一直沒有意識到，原來自己一開始就不僅僅只是一個(gè)點(diǎn)，而且還是一粒種子。種子在初期也許是渺小的，但是誰也無法預(yù)言它會(huì)長多大，會(huì)生出多少美麗的葉子，又會(huì)有多少人在下面納涼。

點(diǎn)跳回畫紙上，回到了它當(dāng)初離開的地方。因?yàn)樗靼琢耍鹤约弘m然只是一個(gè)小小的點(diǎn)，但是在這幅巨作中卻意義重大。