The Most Beautiful Heart
最美的心
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered, and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a flaw in it.
一天，一位年轻人站在城镇的中央，宣布他的心是整个山谷中最美丽的心。围观的人很多，他们都称赞年轻人的心的确是完美无缺，并没有一点伤痕瑕疵。
Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, 8220;Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine. 8221;
突然，一位老人出现在人群中，说：“你的心不如我的美丽。”
The crowd and the young man looked at the old man 8217;s heart. It was full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn 8217;t fit quite right, and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
围观者和年轻人都朝老人的心看去：它布满了伤疤，有的地方被挖去又重新填补上，但修补得不甚完整，留下一些参差不齐的疤痕。实际上，有的地方缺失了整块，甚至露出很深的豁口。
The young man laughed. 8220;Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars. 8221;
年轻人笑了起来：“我们两人的心相比，我的是那么完美，而你的却是一堆伤疤。”
8220;Yes, 8221; said the old man, 8220;Yours looks perfect 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 that fits into the empty place in my heart.
“是的，”老人说，“你的心从表面来看很完美，但我绝不会跟你交换。你看，每个伤疤都代表我为别人献出的一份爱——我掏出一块心给他们，他们常常会掏出自己的一块回赠给我，以填补我的空缺。
But because the pieces aren 8217;t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.
但由于这两块不完全一样，伤口的边缘就留下了疤痕，不过我十分珍惜这些疤痕，因为它们使我想起我们共同拥有的爱心。”
8220;Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn 8217;t returned a piece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gouges 8212; giving love is taking a chance.
“有时我送出了一瓣心，其他人并没有回赠给我，因此就出现了这些豁口——献出爱也是需要冒风险的。
Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for those people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is? 8221;
尽管这些豁口很疼，我还是让它们敞开着，因为它们能使我想起我付出的爱。我希望有一天，得到爱的人们能够回来填补上我心里的空间。你现在明白什么是真正的美丽了吧?”
The young man walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man.
年轻人默默走近老人，把手伸进自己完美的心中，撕下一块来，把它献给这位老人。
The old man placed it in his heart, then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man 8217;s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
老人接过馈赠，把它放进自己的心里。然后他从自己疤痕累累的心里掏出一块，放在年轻人心里的那个伤口上。正好放进去，但不是特别吻合，也出现了一些疤痕。
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man 8217;s heart flowed into his.
年轻人看着自己的心，看起来不再完美但比以前更美丽了，因为老人心中的爱也流淌到了他的心里。
They embraced and walked away side by side.
他们拥抱着，肩并肩离开了。