Grandpa and grandson walked in a park and came to a pond. There were many children who drove their remote-controlled boats. Grandson looked at the shiny boats and how the children were racing them， making waves， chasing each other’s boats. It looked like so much fun. He could hear the laughter and shouts of the other children and his heart felt heavy. The two stood there for a good while， not speaking. The little boy knew there was no way his parents could afford to buy him such a boat. And Grandfather for sure had no chance of giving such a gift. His pension was so small that the boy’s mother had invited him to live with them. Grandpa looked at his grandson， saw the somber look on his face and felt the little boy’s envy. He looked around until his eyes fell on a bench right next to a big pine tree.

“Why don’t we sit here，” Grandpa said and started walking towards the bench. They walked together to the bench and sat down. The little boy sighed deeply， his eyes following the boats. “Grandpa， I would so like to have a boat like that，” he said quietly. “I know，” Grandfather patted the boy on the shoulders， “Sometimes life feels so unfair， I know.”

He bent over and picked up something from the ground. A big piece of pine bark had fallen from the huge tree by their bench. For a while both grandpa and grandson looked up into the deep green of the pine tree. Then Grandfather took a little pocketknife and started to carve the bark delicately. Grandson looked curiously at what he was doing. He carved the sides of the bark into the shape of a leaf; one end was pointed， the other was flat. Then， with the tip of the knife， he carefully carved a tiny hole in the middle of the bark. It was a perfectly round little hole， the boy noticed.

Grandpa raised his eyes from his work and looked around. “There—go and get me that twig on the ground， would you?” The boy hopped down from the bench and went to fetch the twig.

“Perfect，” the old man said， “straight and strong and not so dry that it would snap. Good! Now scoop some resin from the pine tree on the other end of the stick. Be careful not to get your clothes dirty!”

Grandpa had to make the tiny hole a bit larger， but soon he managed to put the stick into the hole. Some of the resin squeezed out from the hole， but Grandpa seemed pleased. Then he looked around again. “There! Bring me that twig! And some of that grass.” The little boy ran to the next twig， scooped up a handful of grass and brought it all to Grandpa. This was getting interesting. He edged in even closer and soon they were sitting there， both heads bent over what Grandpa was doing. First Grandpa cut the long twig into two. Then he made a small rope out of grass and used it to tie the first twig horizontally to the twig that was standing vertically from the bark. It formed a broad cross. Then he did the same with the other twig， this time he tied it to the base of the standing twig.

“I need you to promise you won’t tell your mother what I shall do now，” Grandpa winked at the boy.

“I promise!” The little boy said eagerly.

“Good!” Grandpa reached into his pocket and out came a handkerchief with some lace around it. The boy sniggered.

“Oh， I know，” Grandpa sighed， “as dear as your mother is to me， she doesn’t quite understand we men are not too keen on lace. But this time it comes in handy. Just look!”

Grandfather threaded the handkerchief to the mast using grass that fit nicely through the lace， first along the upperbeam， then the lower one. And suddenly they had a big bark ship with a beautiful white square sail.

“Now， let’s see how this floats!” Grandpa gave the ship to the boy. Together they walked to the water’s edge. The boy carefully lowered the boat into the water. A remote-controlled boat curved by， raising waves that splashed their boat wet. “Oh， no!” the boy cried.

“Wait!”Out of nowhere came a cool breeze and the sail caught the wind. First slowly， then faster the boat braved the open waters. It looked so different from all the battery operated boats that people started pointing at it from the shore. Some boats came near but not one collided with the bark boat. It floated like a feather on the waves. They stood there， for a long， long time， watching how the breezes carried the boat around the pond. And then， like a miracle， the winds drove the boat right back to them. The boy took the boat from the water and looked at Grandpa with eyes full of joy.

“Those expensive boats are great， aren’t they，” Grandpa said to the boy， “But I hope you remember one thing from all of this. When you looked at those other boats， they were steered by people like you and me. They collided with each other， they ran ashore. You saw how the batteries ran out on two of them， didn’t you?” The boy nodded.

“Our boat， on the other hand， was remote-controlled by another source entirely. One that never runs out.”

Grandpa smiled and ruffled his hair. “Our boat was remote-controlled by Nature. We humans make errors， we collide， we run ashore， our energies run out when we try to control everything. But when we give up our need to control and let Nature steer our boat， it’s a journey and a wonder to look at. Will you promise to remember this story all your life?”

“I promise!” the little boy said.

“And now I believe it is time to move on. I do believe someone is selling ice cream somewhere in this park， and I am sure you could use one.” “Yes! Yes!” The little boy jumped up and down， all previous sadness and envy gone. And so they walked away from the pond， the little boy holding the bark ship carefully in his arms.

爷爷和孙子在公园里散步，他们来到了一口池塘边。许多孩子在那里玩他们的遥控小船。孙子看着那些亮闪闪的小船，看着那些孩子如何用它们比赛，激起浪花，小船彼此追逐着。场面看起来可真是乐趣十足。他可以听到其他孩子的笑声和叫声，而他却觉得心情沉重。

爷孙俩在那里站了好一会儿，却一句话都没说。小男孩知道他的父母绝对买不起这样一艘小船给他。而爷爷无疑也没有可能会送这样一份礼物给他。他的养老金少得可怜，所以小男孩的母亲请他来和他们一起住。爷爷看着他的孙子，看到他一脸的闷闷不乐，感觉到了小男孩内心的艳羡之情。爷爷四下打量，目光最终落在了一棵大松树旁边的长椅上。

“我们不如在这里坐一会儿吧，”爷爷边说边向那张长椅走去。他们一起走到长椅前坐下。小男孩深深地叹了口气，眼睛还紧盯着那些小船。“爷爷，我真想要一艘那样的小船啊，”他轻声说道。“我知道，”爷爷拍了拍小男孩的肩膀，说道，“有时候你会觉得人生很不公平，我知道。”

他弯下腰，从地上捡起某样东西，是一大块从他们那长椅旁的大松树上掉下来的松树皮。爷爷和孙子两人都抬起头盯着松树那深绿色的树冠看了一会儿。然后，爷爷掏出一把小折刀，开始精细地雕刻那块树皮。孙子好奇地看着他在做什么。他将树皮的边缘裁刻成一片树叶的形状，一端是尖的，另一端是平的。接着，他小心翼翼地用小刀的尖端在树皮的中间穿了一个小孔。……