提 要
英文寓言故事的結尾，常會出現：「There's a moral to this story.」（這故事有寓意）或「Moral of the story is.....」（這故事告訴你的是……）。
「愛與時間」算是典型的寓言故事，最後一句對白也可以算是故事的「moral」，但是仔細推敲故事中其他的「人物」，其實所有情感的特質皆刻畫入微，耐人尋味。
Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all 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 disappeared at sea level, 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 soaking wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.
Sadness also passed 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 his own way. Realizing how much she owed to 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 insightful wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."
解 說
曾經，有一個島嶼住著所有的情感，包括了：「快樂」、「悲傷」、「知識」，以及所有其他的情感，包括「愛」。某一天，島上所有的情感被告知：島將會下沉，於是大夥建造船隻離開，但是愛留下了。
愛是唯一留下來的，因為愛想盡可能堅持到最後一刻。當海島幾乎消失在海平面時，愛決定求助。
「富有」乘坐一艘豪華的船，經過愛的面前，愛說：「富有，你能帶我一起走嗎？」
富有回答說：「不，我不能，船上有很多金銀，這裡沒有多的地方搭載你。」
愛決定問同樣從旁邊經過、乘坐美麗船隻的「虛榮」：「虛榮，請幫助我！」
「我不能幫你，愛，你渾身溼透了，可能會弄壞我的船。」虛榮回答。
悲傷也靠近，於是愛問他：「悲傷，讓我和你一起走吧。」
「哦……愛，我很傷心難受，我需要獨自一人的空間！」
快樂也經過了愛的附近，但是她太高興了，甚至高興得愛叫她的聲音都聽不到。
突然間，有一個聲音說：「來吧，愛，我會帶你走。」這是一位長者。
覺得如此幸運又喜出望外，愛甚至忘了問長者他們要去哪裡。當他們到達陸地時，長者自顧自地走了。自覺對老人多所虧欠，愛問另一位長者「知識」說：「是誰幫助了我？」
「是時間。」知識回答。
「時間？」愛問道，「但為什麼時間會幫助我？」
知識帶著深刻智慧的笑容回答說：「因為只有時間才能夠理解，愛是多麼寶貴。」