佚名/Anonymous
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole word. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,“Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
The people stared—how can he say his heart is more beautiful? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed.“You must be joking,”he said.“Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”
“Yes,”said the old man,“Yours is perfect looking 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 often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges—giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space in my heart. So now do you see what true beauty is?”
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.
一天，一个年轻人站在小镇中心，声称他的心是世界上最美丽的。一大群人围了过来，人人都称赞他的心确实完美无缺，没有一丝伤痕或瑕疵。他们一致认为这是最美丽的心。年轻人深感自豪，更大肆鼓吹起来。
突然，一个老人出现在人群前，说道：“我的心比你的更美丽。”大家都看着老人的心。这颗心有力地跳动着，布满了伤痕，有些地方被挖走了，虽然重新补上，但并不完全吻合，依然有很深的锯齿状印迹，有的地方甚至还有很深的沟壑，那里的整个部分完全没有了。
人们凝视着，心想——他怎么能说自己的心更美呢？年轻人看着老人的心，大笑起来。“您在开玩笑吧，”他说，“与我的心相比，您的心布满了伤疤和裂痕，而我的是那么完美。”
“是的，”老人说，“你的心看起来是很完美，但我绝不与你交换。你看，每一个伤疤都代表着我对别人的爱——我付出一份真心，他们常会回赠一份，填在我的空白处，由于不是完全吻合，伤口的边缘就会留下疤痕。我非常珍惜这些伤疤，它们常使我想起我们共有的爱心。有时，我付出了真心，却没得到回报，因此就出现了这些沟壑——献出爱心其实也是一种冒险。这些沟壑整日敞着，虽然很疼痛，却让我想起曾给予别人的爱。我希望有一天，他们能回来填补我心上的空白。现在，你明白什么是真正的美丽了吧？”
年轻人默默地站着，眼泪顺着脸颊流下来。他走到老人身旁，把手伸进自己完美年轻的心，撕下一片，颤抖着双手献给了这位老人。
老人接受了他的馈赠，把它放在心上，然后，又掏出自己的一片年老而又伤痕累累的心，放进年轻人的心里。很合适，但不完全吻合，因此有一些疤痕。年轻人看着自己的心，虽不再那么完整，却比以前更美丽了，因为老人心中流淌出来的爱流进了他的心里。他们互相拥抱，然后并肩离开了。
心灵小语
世间最美的心不是不曾受伤、不曾被污染的心，而是曾经被伤害，又经历了千锤百炼，仍然对世界充满希望的心。
gouge n.圆凿；沟；以圆凿刨；断层泥
例 He then fine-tuned the shape with gouges while leaving the texture of the gouge marks on them like feathers on the wings.
他刻意把刀痕留在木片上，好像是翅膀上的片片羽毛，独特而富有趣味。
exact adj.精确的；准确的；确切的
例 Please give me your exact stature.
请告诉我你的确切身高。
cherish v.珍爱；抚育；珍藏
例 She will forever cherish you.
她将永远地珍爱你。
trembling adj.发抖的；哆嗦的
例 The children waited outside the school, trembling with cold.
孩子们在学校外面等着，冻得发抖。
我非常珍惜这些伤疤，它们常使我想起我们共有的爱心。
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有时，我付出了真心，却没得到回报，因此就出现了这些沟壑——献出爱心其实也是一种冒险。
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因为老人心中流淌出来的爱流进了他的心里。
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……reminding me of the love I have for these people too.
remind of：提醒；使想起；令……回忆
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They embraced and walked away side by side.
side by side：肩并肩；一起；一个挨一个；并排
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