双语阅读｜Lesson Learned 年轻的孩子给老父亲上了一课

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the county with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

一天，一个家境殷实的父亲带着儿子去郊县旅行，为了让他看看穷人过着怎样的生活。在这个被认为是非常贫穷家庭的农场里，他们呆了几天几夜。

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

旅途归来后，父亲问儿子：“旅途感觉如何？”

“It was great, Dad.”

“太赞了，爸爸。”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

父亲问：“你看到穷人的生活了吗？”

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

儿子说：“哦，是的”

“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

父亲问：“那么你告诉我，从这次旅行中学到了什么？”

The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

儿子回答：“我们只有一只狗，而他们有四只。我们的小池塘直达花园中间，小溪潺潺无止境。花园里有进口的灯笼树立其中，晚上如繁星闪烁一般。我们的露台直达前院，视野宽广。

“We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

“可我们只有一小片地居住，而他们所拥有的田地甚至超出了我们目之所及。

“We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

“我们需要很多仆人，但他们服务于别人。我们的食物是买的，而他们会自己种。

“We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

“我们的房子周围有围墙来保护我们，他们有朋友来保护他们。”

The boy’s father was speechless.

男孩的父亲有些无语凝噎。

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

然后他的儿子又说：“谢谢爸爸，你向我展示了我们有多么的贫穷。”

Moral: Love, Unity, Care, Satisfaction is richer than any comfort money gives.

寓意：爱，团结、关怀和满足感远比金钱所给予的任何安逸来得更为丰富。

这位父亲用心良苦，本想让孩子体验一下穷人的生活，感恩自己现有的富足，没想到孩子所见所想竟是爱与关怀这些比金钱更宝贵的财富，孩子的眼里充满了真善美，不是世俗的成年人所想的那样。

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