英语智慧背囊08-完美之心

[00:00.00]The Perfect Heart 完美之心
[00:04.32]One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming
[00:11.21]that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.
[00:14.82]There was not a mark or a flaw in it.
[00:18.34]A large gathering crowd all agreed that it truly
[00:22.81]was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.
[00:26.08]The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly
[00:30.45]about his beautiful heart.
[00:32.21]Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,
[00:37.36]“Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”
[00:42.94]The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart.
[00:47.96]It was beating strongly, but full of scars.
[00:51.90]In fact, in some places there were deep gouges
[00:56.71]where whole pieces were missing.
[00:59.13]The young man laughed, saying,
[01:01.41]“You must be joking.
[01:03.63]Compare your heart with mine,
[01:05.38]mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears”.
[01:11.51]“Yes”, said the old man,
[01:14.37]“Yours is perfect looking
[01:16.65]but I would never trade with you.
[01:19.50]You see, every scar represents a person
[01:24.95]to whom I have given my love—
[01:27.59]I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them,
[01:32.18]and often they give me a piece of their heart
[01:35.45]which fits into the empty place in my heart,
[01:39.08]but because the pieces aren’t exact,
[01:42.25]I have some rough edges,
[01:44.44]which I cherish,
[01:46.06]because they remind me of the love we shared.
[01:49.91]Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away,
[01:54.61]and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me.
[01:59.64]These are the empty gouges—
[02:03.02]giving love is taking a chance.
[02:06.18]Although these gouges are painful,
[02:09.82]they stay open,
[02:11.33]reminding me of the love I have for these people too.
[02:16.35]So now do you see what true beauty is?”
[02:21.82]The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks.
[02:26.86]He ripped a piece of his perfect young and beautiful heart
[02:31.56]and offered it to the old man with trembling hands.
[02:34.96]The old man took his offering,
[02:37.80]and then took a piece of his old scarred heart
[02:41.51]and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart.
[02:44.92]It fit, but not perfectly,
[02:47.75]as there were some jagged edges.
[02:50.16]The young man looked at his heart,
[02:52.56]not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever,
[02:56.52]since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.
[03:00.23]They embraced and walked away side by side.