精美英文欣赏:神奇的芥籽

The magical mustard seed

神奇的芥籽

A woman's only son died. In her grief, she went to the holy man and asked,

一个女人的独生子死了。她非常伤心地找到神父问:

What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?

有什么样的祷告或者魔咒可以让我的儿子死而复生呢?

Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her,

神父没有把她赶走也没有和她讲道理，而是说:

Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow.

你去一个从来没有过痛苦的家庭给我找一枚神奇的芥籽来，

We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.

我要用它来赶走你的悲伤。

The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.

女人立刻踏上寻找神奇芥籽的道路。

She came first to a splendid mansion¹, knocked at the door, and said,

她先来到一座壮丽的公馆前，敲门问道:

I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow.

我在寻找一个从来没有痛苦的家庭，

Is this such a place? It is very important to me.

这是我要找的地方吗?这对我非常地重要。

They told her, you've certainly come to the wrong place,

公馆里的人告诉她:毫无疑问，你找错地方了。

and began to describe all the tragic² things that recently had befallen them. The woman said to herself,

然后他们开始讲述起最近发生在他们身上的悲剧。女人自己想:

who is better able to help these poor, unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortune of my own?

谁还能比我这个经历过这样悲痛的人更好地帮助这些可怜悲惨的人呢?

She stayed to comfort them, and then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow.

她留下来安慰他们，然后又继续寻找从来没有过痛苦的家庭了。

But wherever she turned, in hotels and in other places, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune.

但是不论她去哪里，她找到的却只是一个又一个悲惨伤心的故事。

The woman became so involved in helping³ others cope with their sorrows that she eventually let go of her own.

女人尽心地帮助别人解决他们的伤心事，最终忘记了自己的悲痛。

She would later come to understand that it was the quest to find the magical mustard seed that drove away her suffering.

她渐渐明白了，真是她寻找神奇芥籽的过程，让她摆脱了自己的悲痛。

1 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

2 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。