有声美文｜Four Seasons of Life 人生四季

Four Seasons of Life

人生四季

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no--it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed. He said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, and it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree's life. He told them that they cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are--and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life--can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

这位父亲说他们答得都对，因为他们都只看到了梨树生命中的一个季节。他告诉他们：不应仅凭一个季节来判断一棵树，一段时间来看一个人的本质：最后，到所有的季节都已终结时，才能衡量一个人的本质——以及他生命中的快乐、喜悦和爱。

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge a life by one difficult season.

如果你在寒冬时放弃，你将失去春之希望，夏之灿烂，秋之收获。所以，不要让一时的痛苦毁弃所有其他的快乐。不要用一段艰难的时光来判定人生。

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