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.”

这个故事是这样的：一个国王清晨走进花园，发现所有的草木已经枯萎，奄奄一息了。

于是，他问门边的橡树究竟发生了什么事。

国王发现原来橡树因为自己不如松树高大和秀丽，所以它们消极厌世，一心求死。

而松树为自己不如葡萄藤那般结满丰硕的果实而沮丧。

葡萄藤则为自己无法直立，并且无法像桃树那样结出上好的果实而想結束生命。

天竺葵也焦躁不安，因为它觉得自己不如紫丁香那样修长、芳香……于是，整个花园都了无生机。

国王走到一株安心草面前，发现它仍然神采奕奕，如从前般欢乐。

“你好，安心草，我感到非常高兴，所有的草木都对自己失去了信心，只有你能勇敢地生活，没有丝毫气馁。”

“虽然我并没有什么值得骄傲的东西，但我想，如果你想要一棵橡树、一棵松树、一根葡萄藤、一棵桃树、一株天竺葵或一株丁香，你就会去种它们。而我知道你想要一株安心草，所以我决心尽我所能做一株最好的安心草。”

【Notes】

①withered [?w???d] adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的

②oak [??k] n. 橡树，橡木

③determine [d??t??m?n] v. 决心，决定

④pine [pa?n] n. 松树，松木

⑤vine [va?n] n. 藤，蔓，攀爬植物

⑥erect [??rekt] vt. 使竖立，建立

⑦peach [pi?t?] n. 桃子

⑧geranium [d???re?ni?m] n. [植]天竺葵

⑨fretting [fret??] adj. 烦躁的，焦虑的

⑩fragrant [?fre?ɡr?nt] adj. 芳香的

?lilac [?la?l?k] n. 丁香

?amidst [??m?dst] prep. 在……当中，在……期间