朋友的祈祷

李沐

Avoyagingshipwas wrecked duringastormatseaandonly twoof the menaboardwere able to swim to a small， desert-like island.Not knowing what else to do， the two survivorsagreedthattheyhadnoother recourse thantopray to God.

However， tofind out whose prayers weremore powerful， they agreed to divide the territo-ry between them and stay on opposite sides ofthe island.

Thefirst thing they prayedfor wasfood.The next morning， the first man saw a fruit-bear-ing tree on hisside of the island，and he wasable to eat its fruit. But the other man s parcelof land remained barren.

After a week， the first man became lonelyand decided to pray for a wife. The next day， an-othership was wreckedand theonlysurvivorwas a woman who swam to his side of the is-land. But on the other side of the island， therewas nothing.

Soon thereafter the first man prayed for a

一艘客轮在海上遇到暴风雨而翻覆，只有两个人游泳到了一个荒凉的小岛上。在无计可施的情况下，这两个人都认为只有向上帝祷告是唯一的办法。

但是为了看谁的祷告比较有效，他们协议把小岛分成两半，每人各居一处。

他们祈祷的第一件事就是食物，第二天早上，第一个人看到一棵果实累累的果树长在他这一边的土地上，现在他就有果子可以吃了。而另外一个人的土地上依旧一片荒芜。

一个星期以后，第一个人感到很孤单寂寞，所以他决定祈求能有一个妻子。第二天，又有一艘船失事了，唯一幸存的女人游泳到他这一边的岛上来。而另一边的岛上则什么也没有。

不久，第一个人又祈求得到一间房子、

house，clothesandmorefood. Thenextday， likemagic，allof thesethingsweregivento him. However， the second man still had nothing.

Finally， the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island， and in the morning hefound aship docked at his side of the island.

Thefirstmanboardedtheshipwithhis wifeanddecided toleave thesecond manon the island， considering the other man unworthy toreceiveGod sblessingssincenoneof his prayers had been answered.

As theshipwasabouttoleave，thefirst manheardavoicefromHeavenbooming， “Whyareyouleavingyour companion onthe island？”

“My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them， ”the first man an- swered.“His prayers were all unanswered and so he doesn t deserve anything.”

“Youaremistaken！” thevoice re- buked him.“He hadonlyone prayer， which I answered. If not for that， you would not have re- ceived any of my blessings.”

“Tell me， ”the first man asked the voice， “whatdid he prayfor thatIshouldowehim anything？”

“He prayed that all your prayers would be answered.”

衣服和更多的食物。隔天，他所祈求的東西就像变魔术一样全都出现了，而另一个人还是什么都没有。

最后，第一个人祈求能有一艘船，让他跟他的妻子可以离开小岛。早上醒来，他看到一艘船就停泊在他这里的岸边。

第一个人和他太太上了船，他决定把第二个人留在那个小岛上。他认为另一个人不值得得到上帝的恩赐，因为他的祈祷一个也没应验。

正当船要离开的时候，第一个人听到天上传来轰隆的声音说：“为什么你把你的同伴留在岛上？”

第一个人回答说：“上帝的赐予都归我独享，因为是我祈求而来的。他的祈祷全都没应验，所以他不配得到任何东西。”

“你错了！”那个声音责备他说：“我应允了他唯一的一个祈求，若非如此，你根本得不到我任何的赐予。”

“告诉我.”第一个人问那个声音说：“他到底祈求什么，使我对他有所亏欠？”

“他祈祷让你的祈求都能应验。”