3.1 Nature's beauty 自然之美

A monk¹ was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers and trees. Next to the temple there was another smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master.

One day, when the monk was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs², and spent a long time meticulously³ raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.

When he had finished, the monk stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful," he called out to the old master. "Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you."

The monk lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by its trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. "You can put me back now.", said the old man.

1 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

2 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

3 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句