正文

A boy who lived in an orphanage（孤兒院） often asked the dean pessimistically（悲觀的） and sentimentally（多愁善感地）, “No one wants me. What's the point of living on earth?”

一個孤兒院的小男孩總是感到悲觀、多愁善感，他問院長：“沒人要我，那我活著還有什么意義呢？”

The dean always smiled but didn't reply. One day the dean handed a stone to the boy and said, “Tomorrow morning take this stone to the market for sale, but not for ‘true sale'. Remember, no matter how much money other people offer, you absolutely cannot sell it.”

院長一直笑而不答。 有一天，院長遞給男孩一塊石頭，對他說：“明早把這石頭拿去集市上賣，可不是讓你真賣。記住，不管別人開價多少，你絕對不要賣?！?/p>

The next day the boy squatted（蹲下） in one corner of the market. Unexpectedly, many people wanted to buy the stone, and the price they offered was higher and higher.

第二天，小男孩蹲在集市的角落里。沒想到有很多人都想買這塊石頭，開的價一個比一個高。

Back to the orphanage（孤兒院）, the boy excitedly reported to the dean. The dean smile and ordered him to hawk（叫賣） in the gold market tomorrow.

第二天，小男孩蹲在集市的角落里。沒想到有很多人都想買這塊石頭，開的價一個比一個高。

In the gold market, some people even offered the price ten times higher than that of yesterday to buy the stone. Finally, the dean ordered the boy to display the stone in the gem market. As a result, the price of the stone rose ten times than that of yesterday.

在金市上，甚至有人開出了高出昨天十倍的價格要買他的石頭。 最后，院長讓他拿著石頭去珠寶市場展示一番。結果，石頭的價格比前一天又長了十倍。

Because the stone wasn't sold at any cost, it was spread as a “rare gem”. Excitedly, the boy went back to the orphanage holding the stone in both hands and reported all this to the dean.

因為出再高的價他也死活不賣，人們就開始傳說那石頭是一塊“絕世珍寶”。 小男孩興奮極了，雙手捧著石頭就回到了孤兒院，把這一切都講給院長聽。

Looking at the boy, the dean said slowly, “The value of life, like this stone, will have a different significance in a different environment.”

院長看了看小男孩，慢條斯理地說：“生命的價值就像這石頭，環(huán)境不同，價值便不盡相同。”

“As long as you think highly of yourself, self-value and self-love, your life will be meaningful and valuable.”(只要你看重自己，自珍自愛，生命就有意義和價值。)