英语散文:Love and Time 爱和时间

Love and Time

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said,

"Richness, can you take me with you?"

Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"

"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."

"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,

Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"

"It was Time," Knowledge answered.

"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."

爱和时间

从前有一个岛，所有的情感都住在那里：幸福、悲伤、知识和所有其它的，爱也不例外。一天，所有的情感听说小岛即将沉没，因此建造小船，纷纷离开，除了爱。
 
爱是唯一留下来的，因为它希望能坚持到最后一刻。

小岛即将沉没了，爱决定请求帮助。

富有驾着一艘大船从爱身边经过，爱说，

“富有，你能带上我么？”

富有回答说：“不行，我的船上载满金银财宝，没有你的地方。”

虚荣坐在漂亮的小船中从爱身边驶过，爱问：“虚荣，你能帮助我么？”

虚荣说：“不行，你全身湿透，会弄脏我的船。”

悲伤的船靠近了，爱问：“悲伤，请带我走吧。”

“哦。。。爱，我太难过了，想一个人呆着。”

幸福经过爱的身边，它太开心了，根本没听见爱在呼唤。

突然，一个声音喊道：“来，爱，我带你走。” 声音来自“年老”。爱太高兴了，甚至忘了问他们即将去何方。当他们来到岸上，年老自己离开了。爱突然意识到“年老”给了它多大的帮助。

于是，爱问另一位老者--知识：“谁帮助了我？”

知识说：“是时间。”

“时间？”爱问：“但是时间为什么帮助我？”

知识睿智地微笑道：“因为只有时间了解爱的价值。”