提 要
源於印度的《瞎子摸象》故事，相傳取自《涅槃經》、《長阿含經》。敘述一群盲人觸摸大象，每個人都只摸一部分，由於觸摸的大象不同的部位，得到完全不同的結論，因而產生爭執。事實往往由於各人角度不同而有不同的解釋。「The Seasons of Life」則是因時節不同產生迥然不同的判讀，也告誡我們，不要以偏蓋全。
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not 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 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, 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 you 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.
If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your fall.
Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
解 說
有一個男人有四個兒子，他希望自己的兒子學會不要太快地下結論。因此，他依序派他們各自去尋找一棵梨樹，並且遠遠地觀察。
第一個兒子在冬天出發，第二個在春天，第三個啟程時是夏天，最小的兒子在秋天。
當他們全部離開然後再回來時，他把兒子們叫到一起，叫他們描述他們所看到的。
第一個兒子說：「樹很醜，彎彎曲曲，扭纏糾結。」
第二個兒子說：「沒這回事，它被綠芽覆蓋，充滿希望。」
第三個兒子不同意，他說：「它滿是花朵，聞起來如此甜美，看起來如此美麗。」這是他見過的最優雅的東西。
最後一個兒子不同意他三個哥哥的說法，他說：「它已經成熟，下垂的果實，生機蓬勃、充斥滿足感。」
然後那個男人向他的兒子們解釋，他們每個人說的都對，因為他們各自看到了樹上的不同季節。
他告訴兒子們，不能只用一個季節來評判一棵樹或一個人，他們的本質，以及來自那個生命的快樂，喜悅和愛，只有在四季都完整度過、接近尾聲時才能衡量。
如果你在冬天就遽下結論、草草了事，你會錯過春天的希望，夏天的美麗，還有秋天的滿足。
不要僅以一個艱難的季節判斷整個人生，不要讓一個季節的痛苦片段，毀了所有其他季節的快樂時光。