“And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”
“No,” his friend replied, “this is good!”
“What do you mean, ‘this is good!’ How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”
“If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you, and I would have been eaten!”
很久以前，非洲国王有一个从小一起长大的好朋友。这个朋友有一个口头禅，无论发生什么事情，他都会说：“这很好！”
一天，国王和朋友外出打猎。朋友为国王准备的猎枪出了事故，国王的拇指被炸飞了。
但朋友还像平常一样说：“这很好！”国王非常愤怒，吼道：“不，这不好！”随后将他关进了监狱。
一年后，国王又去打猎，去了一个很僻远的地方。那里食人肉的野蛮人抓住了他，把他带到住处。他们捆住国王的双手，在他身边堆了木头，准备把他烧了吃。他们走近国王，准备点火的时候，发现国王缺了一只拇指。于是野蛮人给国王松了绑，放了他——由于迷信，他们从来不吃不完整的东西。
国王回到家，想起了关在监狱里的朋友，觉得很懊悔。于是，他马上到监狱，对朋友说：“你救了我！我缺了一个拇指才捡回了一条命。”随后，国王将发生的事告诉了朋友。
“很抱歉，让你在监狱关了这么久。我错了。”
“不，”朋友回答说：“这很好！”
“这很好？这是什么意思？我把你送进监狱难道是好事？”国王不理解地说。
“对！如果你不把我关进监狱，我肯定一直和你呆在一起，那么，我已被野蛮人吃掉了。”
Give Love a Pair of Flying Wings给爱一双飞翔的翅膀
There girl who longed so much for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving songbirds. She took them home and put them in a small cage. She cared them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song. The girl felt great love for the birds.
One day the girl left the door to the cage open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. As he flew close, she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. Suddenly she felt the bird go limp. She opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate love had killed him.
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. He needed to soar into the clear, blue sky. She lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times.
The girl watched delightedly at the bird’s enjoyment. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss. She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest melody that she had ever heard.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight, the best way to keep love is to give it wings!
从前，有个寂寞的女孩非常渴望爱。一天，她走在丛林中，发现两只快要饿死的小鸟。她把它们带回家，放入一个小笼子。经她悉心照料，鸟儿一天天强壮起来。每天早晨，鸟儿都要用美妙的歌声向她表示问候。女孩不由得爱上了这两只小鸟。
一天女孩敞开了鸟笼的小门。那只较大较壮的鸟儿飞出了鸟笼。女孩非常害怕鸟儿会飞走。鸟儿飞近时，她死命将它抓住。她十分高兴，终于又把它捉了回来。突然间，她感觉到鸟儿四肢无力。她张开手，惊恐地盯着手中的死鸟。她不顾一切的爱害死了鸟儿。
她注意到另一只鸟儿在笼边扑闪着翅膀。她可以感觉到它对自由的无限向往。它渴望冲向明净的蓝天。她将它举起，轻轻抛向空中。鸟儿盘旋了一圈，两圈，三圈。
看到鸟儿快乐的样子，女孩很高兴。她的内心不再计较自己的得失。她希望鸟儿幸福。突然，鸟儿飞近了，轻轻落在她的肩上，唱起了她从未听过的最动人的歌。
失去爱的方法，最快莫过于将其牢牢地抓在手心；令爱长驻的方法，最好莫过于赋予它一双翅膀——将爱放飞！
Butterfly Kisses蝴蝶之吻
My newlywed husband said the same thing every morning. “You’re beautiful today.”
One glance in the mirror revealed that it was far from the truth.
A skinny girl with mashed hair on one side of her head and no makeup smiled back at me. I could feel my sticky morning breath.
“Liar,” I shot back with a grin.
It was my usual response. My mother’s first husband was not a kind man and his verbal and physical abuse forced her and her two children to find a safe place. He showed up on her doorstep one day with roses. She let him in and he beat her with those roses and took advantage of her. Nine months later she gave birth to a 9 b. 12 oz. baby girl — me.
The harsh words we heard growing up took root. I had trouble seeing myself as someone of value. I had been married two years when I surprised myself. My husband wrapped his arms around me and told me I was beautiful.
“Thank you” I said.
The same thin girl with the mousy brown hair still stared back at me in the mirror, but somehow the words had finally blossomed in my heart.
A lot of years have passed. My husband has grey in his hair. I’m no longer skinny. Last week I woke up and my husband’s face was inches from mine.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
I covered my mouth, trying to hide my morning breath. He reached down and kissed my face.
“What I do every morning.” he said.
He leaves in the early hours of the morning while I sleep. I miss our morning conversations, but I had not realized that he continued to tell me that he loved me even while I slept. When he left, I rolled over and hugged my pillow. I envisioned the picture of me lightly snoring with my mouth open and giggled.
What a man! My husband understands my past. He’s been beside me as I’ve grown from an unsure young girl to a confident woman, mother, speaker and author.
But I’m not sure that he understands the part he played in that transition. The words I heard growing up pierced my soul, yet his words pierced even deeper.
This Anniversary Day I plan to wake early. I want to tell Richard how much I love him. He may look in the mirror and see an extra pound or two, or wish for the day when his hair was dark and curly, but all I’ll see is the man who saw something in me when I couldn’t see it myself, and who leaves butterfly kisses, even after twenty-three years of marriage.
我的新婚丈夫每天早晨都对我说出同样的话。“你今天真美。”
只需往镜子里一瞥就能揭示他说的根本不是事实。
镜中的女孩瘦瘦的，乱乱的头发倒向头的一侧，没有任何化妆，她微笑地望着我。我还能感到早晨起来嘴里不大好闻的气味。
“说谎。”我咧着嘴笑，回敬了他一句。
我总是这样回敬我的丈夫。我母亲的第一个丈夫可不是个善良的男人，他粗暴的语言攻击和身体虐待迫使我母亲带着两个孩子去寻找一个安全的地方。有一天他出现在母亲的门前，手里拿着玫瑰花。她让他进了门，但他却用玫瑰花打她，并强行占了她的便宜。9个月后她生了一个9磅12盎司重的女孩——就是我。
长大过程中我们听到的刺耳的话语也扎根在我心底。我难以把自己看作一个有价值的人。结婚两年后我感到惊讶了。我的丈夫双臂拥着我告诉我，我是美丽的。
“谢谢你”我说。
同样瘦弱，一头灰棕色头发的女孩在镜中盯着我，但是温柔的话语终于在我的心中开花了。