正文

A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered （枯萎的）and dying.

曾经有一个这样的故事。一天早晨，一位国王走进花园，发现里面所有的植物都枯萎凋零了。

He asked the oak（橡树） that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine.

他就问在大门边的橡树出了什么事。 橡树对国王说，它已经厌倦了生活并决心去死，因为它不像松树那么高大美丽。

The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear（结果） grapes, like the vine（葡萄树）. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect（直立） and have as fine fruit as the peach tree.

而那棵松树呢，也伤心不已，因为它不能像葡萄藤那样长出葡萄。 而葡萄藤呢，它也不想活下去了，因为它既不能直立，也不能像桃树那样结出漂亮的果子。

The geranium（天竺葵） was fretting（烦躁） because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac（丁香） …and so on all through the garden.

天竺葵也烦躁不安，因为它不像丁香那样高大芳香……整座花园里所有的植物都觉得自己不如别人。

Coming to a heart’s-ease（新安草）, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever.Well, heart’s-ease, I’m glad, amidst （在...气氛下）all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened.”

国王来到一株心安草旁，发现它正仰着明亮的脸，如往常一般愉快。 “噢，心安草！真高兴在这灰心丧气的花园里，我还能找到一朵勇敢的小花。你似乎一点也不灰心呀。”

“No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak（橡树）, or a pine, or a vine（葡萄树）, or a peach tree, or a geranium（天竺葵）, or a lilac（丁香）, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heart’s-ease, I am determined to be the best little heart’s-ease that I can.”

“是的，我不灰心。虽然我普普通通，但我知道如果你想要橡树、松树、葡萄藤、桃树、天竺葵或者丁香，你早就会种下一株；但我明白你想要的是一株心安草，所以我就下定决心，要长成最好的心安草。”

与其羡慕别人的长处，不如做回自己。

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