Learn to Be Grateful

◎供稿：邓 明

One day, two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend1)slappedthe other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand, “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking until they found an2)oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the3)mireand started4)drowning,but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone, “Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you,you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?”

The other friend replied, “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in the sand where winds of forgiveness can5)eraseit away. But when someone does something good for us, we must6)engraveit in a stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in the stone.

1) slap [slæp] v.扇耳光

2) oasis [əʊ'eɪsɪs] n. 绿洲

3) mire ['maɪə(r)] n. 泥潭

4) drown [draʊn] n. 淹死

5) erase [ɪ'reɪz] vt. 抹去

6) engrave [ɪn'greɪv] vt. 雕刻，铭记

参考译文

一天，两个好朋友正在穿越一个沙漠。途中他们忽然争吵了起来，其中一个一巴掌扇在另外一个人的脸上。被扇的那个人受了伤害，但他一句话也没有说，只是在沙子上写道：“今天我最要好的朋友打了我一记耳光。”他们继续走下去，后来发现了一片绿洲，他们于是决定洗个澡。先前被打的那个人这时不小心陷入了一个泥潭里面，差点被淹死了，幸运的是他的朋友把他给救了出来。他苏醒过来后，立刻在一块石头上写道：“今天我最要好的朋友救了我一命。”扇过他耳光又救过他性命的朋友于是问他说：“我打了你之后你在沙子上写字，而现在你却在石头上写，为什么呢？”写字的那个人回答说：“当我们被别人伤害了之后，我们应该把它写在沙子上，那样，宽容的风就很快就会将其抹去，但当我们受到别人的帮助之后，我们必须将它刻在石头上，那样，风就不会轻易把它磨灭。”

学会将你所受到的伤害写在沙子上，把别人给你的帮助记在石头上。