The Patch Of Life

孟姣

Not long ago， my daughters shoes were scratched by someones knife. She burst into tears. I took the shoes to get them repaired.

不久前，女儿的鞋子被刀子划破了，她放声大哭。我把鞋子拿去修理。

The young apprentice looked at the opening and said， “There is noting I can do but to replace the upper.” His master looked at them and said to me， “If you trust me， I will add more scratches on both of the shoes.”

年轻的学徒看了一眼那个口子，说道：“我没有别的办法，只能把鞋面换了。”他的师父瞧了瞧那双鞋子，说道：“如果你信得过我，我就在两双鞋子上都多划几道口子。”

I was confused and asked why.

我很困惑，就问他为何要这样。

He explained， “As if the opening were made on purpose for the sake of special style and reuse.”

他解释说：“这样一来，划痕看起来像是故意为之，从而打造一种特别的时尚。”

I didnt fully understand him， but I decided to leave the shoes. Two days later I dropped by from work to fetch the shoes. At the first sight I found they were indeed five or six more scratches on each shoe， but all the openings were patched by soft leather in rust red with edges sewed by thick hemp thread； the appearance and style of the leather were more unique and interesting than ever.

我没有完全明白他的意思，但我还是决定把鞋子留在那儿。两天后我下班回来顺便去拿鞋子。一眼看去，我就发现每双鞋子上都多了五六道新划痕，但所有划痕的口子都是用锈红色的软皮革作为补丁，边缘用密实的麻线缝起来了。鞋子的外观和样式上看上去比之前更独特、更有意思。

I couldnt help making compliments on the masters craftsmanship. My wife was inspired by that craftsman and said， “Patches are supposed to be a regret， but a skillful craftsman can make it take on a kind of perfection.”

我忍不住赞叹起师傅的高超手艺。我的妻子则很受启发地说：“补丁本应该是一个缺憾，但一个能工巧匠却能造就它的另一种完美。”

Her words inspired me even more： perfection is impossible to achieve in everything； patches are unavoidable， so is humans life， which will appear in the form of injury， disability or disease. Since you cant change the existence of wound， all you can do and have to do is to sew the wound by patches and try your best to bloom a most beautiful flower on the wound， and that is the significance of life.

她的话让我得到更多启发：生活中要做到事事完美是不可能的；在我们的生活中，补丁也同样不可避免，它就像我们生活中所受的伤害、遭遇的残疾或疾病。既然不能改变伤痕的存在，你能做的就是用补丁缝合伤口，并尽最大努力让伤口开出最美丽的花朵，这就是生活的意义。

（Now do you know what the author is trying to say in the article ？）

孟 姣 翻译endprint