提要

「It's better to have loved and lost,than never to have loved at all.」（好好地愛過又失去，比從未愛過要更好。）有些人害怕受傷，不願意嘗試愛別人，「不做不錯」的結果，可能錯過人生中許多美好的經驗，這些愛與被愛的感覺，或許伴隨一些疼痛，但應該都是值得的，也許可以說，這是「不完美的美」。

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared -- how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”

“Yes,” said the old man, “yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given piece of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.

It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.


解說

有一天，一個年輕人站在鎮中央宣布，他擁有整個山谷中最美麗的心。圍觀的一大群人都稱讚他的心的確完美。那顆心上沒有任何痕跡或瑕疵。是的，他們都一致認為這實在是他們所見過的最美麗的心。這個年輕人非常自豪，更加起勁地大聲吹噓他的美麗的心。

突然，一位老人出現在眾人的面前，並說，「你的心根本不能跟我的心比美。」

圍觀者和年輕人看著老頭的心。雖然有力地跳動著，但上面滿是傷痕，有的地方被挖去又補上，而且並不十分吻合，有一些參差不齊的邊緣；有的地方還露出很深的缺口，彷彿整塊被挖走。

人們睜大了眼睛，心想，「他怎麼能說自己的心更美麗？」年輕人看著老頭的心，笑了起來。「你一定是在開玩笑，」他說。「比起我完美的的心臟，你的心布滿傷痕和淚水簡直一團糟。」

「是的，」老人說，「你的心很完美，但我絕不會跟你交換，你看，我的心每個傷疤都代表了一個我愛的人， 我掏出我的心臟，並付出一塊給對方，他們往往也會給我一片他們的心，融入我心裡空出的地方，但由於並不完全吻合，總會造成一些參差不齊的邊緣疤痕，但我很珍惜我付出的愛，疤痕也提醒我們曾彼此分享。」

「有時我送出一塊我的心，其他人並沒有回給我他的一塊心，就形成這些深深缺口，但付出愛本來就有風險，儘管這些缺口造成痛苦，但我還是讓它們空在那裡，這使我想起我付出的愛，希望有一天，他們能夠回報，填補我留在心裡的空間。現在，你了解什麼才是真正的美麗了嗎？」

年輕男子靜靜地站著，淚水順著他的臉頰流下。他走到老的人面前，把手伸進自己年輕完美的心，撕下一塊來，用顫抖的手捧給老人；老人把它放進自己的心臟，然後也從他的傷痕累累的心拿了一塊，把它放在年輕人的心的缺口。

正好放得進去，但不完美，邊緣也出現了一些鋸齒狀。年輕人看著自己的心，不再是完美的了，但因為愛，比以前更美麗。老人的心中的愛，也在他心中流動。他們擁抱，並肩離開。

WOW!原來如此

flaw

「flaw」是「缺點；瑕疵」 例如：There's a flaw in your study project. （你的研究計畫有個缺點）。

也是「裂隙（敗筆）」 例如：The story is flawed by a weak ending.（這個故事因結尾寫得馬虎，而使得整本書顯得遜色）。

若說某樣東西「flawless」就是「完美無瑕」。

jagged edges

「jagged」是「有缺口的；鋸齒狀的」，例如：「jagged rocks」（怪石嶙峋）。

若一顆心上面滿是傷痕，有參差不齊的邊緣、缺口，彷彿「怪石嶙峋」，實在不能說它美麗，但發現它的傷痕、破洞來自愛與被愛，就不算缺陷。

tear & ripped out a piece

「rip」是「撕、扯、剝」，例如：She ripped the book cover. （她撕開書的封套）。

通常直覺「tear」是眼淚，但當動詞也是「撕、扯」。文中的老人與年輕人，都用手撕扯心的一小塊，所以會造成參差不齊的邊緣，也因為這是以比喻的方式形容愛與被愛的「交心」，以手術刀等器材整齊的切割，反而不適用。