思年

A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning， and found everything withered① and dying.

He asked the oak② that stood near the gate what the trouble was.

He found it was sick of life and determined③ to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine④.

The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes， like the vine⑤.

The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect⑥ and have as fine fruit as the peach⑦ tree.

The geranium⑧ was fretting⑨ because it was not tall and fragrant⑩ like the lilac?... and so on all through the garden.

Coming to a hearts-ease， he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever.

“Well， hearts-ease， Im glad， amidst? all this discouragement， to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened.”

“No， I am not of much account， but I thought that if you wanted an oak， or a pine， or a vine， or a peach tree， or a geranium， or a lilac， you would have planted one； but as I knew you wanted a hearts-ease， I am determined to be the best little hearts-ease that I can.”

這個故事是這樣的：一個國王清晨走進花園，發(fā)現(xiàn)所有的草木已經(jīng)枯萎，奄奄一息了。

于是，他問門邊的橡樹究竟發(fā)生了什么事。

國王發(fā)現(xiàn)原來橡樹因為自己不如松樹高大和秀麗，所以它們消極厭世，一心求死。

而松樹為自己不如葡萄藤那般結(jié)滿豐碩的果實而沮喪。

葡萄藤則為自己無法直立，并且無法像桃樹那樣結(jié)出上好的果實而想結(jié)束生命。

天竺葵也焦躁不安，因為它覺得自己不如紫丁香那樣修長、芳香……于是，整個花園都了無生機。

國王走到一株安心草面前，發(fā)現(xiàn)它仍然神采奕奕，如從前般歡樂。

“你好，安心草，我感到非常高興，所有的草木都對自己失去了信心，只有你能勇敢地生活，沒有絲毫氣餒。”

“雖然我并沒有什么值得驕傲的東西，但我想，如果你想要一棵橡樹、一棵松樹、一根葡萄藤、一棵桃樹、一株天竺葵或一株丁香，你就會去種它們。而我知道你想要一株安心草，所以我決心盡我所能做一株最好的安心草?！?/p>

【Notes】

①withered [?w???d] adj. 枯萎的，干癟的

②oak [??k] n. 橡樹，橡木

③determine [d??t??m?n] v. 決心，決定

④pine [pa?n] n. 松樹，松木

⑤vine [va?n] n. 藤，蔓，攀爬植物

⑥erect [??rekt] vt. 使豎立，建立

⑦peach [pi?t?] n. 桃子

⑧geranium [d???re?ni?m] n. [植]天竺葵

⑨fretting [fret??] adj. 煩躁的，焦慮的

⑩fragrant [?fre?ɡr?nt] adj. 芳香的

?lilac [?la?l?k] n. 丁香

?amidst [??m?dst] prep. 在……當中，在……期間