雙語短文 · 不完整的圓圈

An Incomplete Circle　不完整的圓圈

◎ Barbara Walker


Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers and talk to the worms. When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.

The lesson of the story, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what if feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. There is wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so.


從前有個圓圈缺了一塊楔子。為了保持完整，它開始四處尋找失去的那塊楔子。因為不完整，所以它只能非常緩慢地滾動。它欣賞沿途的鮮花，和蟲子們聊天，在陽光下沐浴。它找到了好多好多不同的楔子，但是都對應不上它的缺口。所以圓圈把它們統(tǒng)統(tǒng)放在路邊，繼續(xù)不停地尋覓。終于有一天，它找到了完全契合的楔子。圓圈太高興了?，F(xiàn)在它可以說是完美無缺了。它裝好楔子，然后滾動起來。既然它已成了一個完整的圓圈，所以它滾動得非?？?，快得以至于無暇欣賞鮮花，無暇與蟲子們傾訴心聲。圓圈快奔疾馳，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)眼中的世界變得如此不同，于是，它不禁停了下來，把這塊好不容易找到的楔子也放在路旁，又開始慢慢地滾動著。

這個故事告訴我們，從某種特殊的意義上講，當我們有所缺陷時反而感到自己更完整。一個擁有一切的人在某些方面也是個窮人。他永遠也體會不到什么是渴望、期待，他不知道靈魂受到夢想的滋潤是什么感覺。人生的完整性在于一個人知道如何面對他的缺陷，如何勇敢地摒棄不現(xiàn)實的幻想而又不以此為憾。

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故事來自于美國著名詩人、畫家、劇作家謝爾·希爾弗斯坦的繪本The Missing Piece，譯為《失落的一角》。作為20世紀最偉大的繪本作家之一，他以兒童繪本《愛心樹》轟動文壇，其他作品《人行道的盡頭》《閣樓上的光》也廣受好評。他的作品溫馨幽默，簡單樸實，又充滿了睿智的生活哲學。