双语有声阅读：错过的祝福

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college.

 

一个年轻人即将大学毕业。

 

For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer¹’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

 

数月来，他爱上了某经销商的展室中那一辆漂亮的跑车，他知道自己的父亲有能力负担得起，就告诉父亲，这是他最想要的礼物。

 

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited² signs that his father had purchased the car.

 

在毕业典礼即将来临的日子里，年轻人等待着他的父亲把这辆车送给他，而种种迹象表明，他的父亲会把这礼物送给他。

 

Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study.

 

最后，在毕业典礼的那天上午，父亲把他叫到自己的书房。

 

His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him.

 

他父亲告诉他，他是多么自豪能有这样一个好儿子，并告诉他，他是多么爱他。

 

He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

 

他递给儿子一个包装精美的礼品盒。

 

Curious, but somewhat³ disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible⁴, with the young man’s name embossed in gold.

 

出于好奇，这位年轻人打开了盒子，但令他失望的是，里面装的是一个可爱的皮革装订的圣经，上面还用金印烫着年轻人的名字。

 

Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?”

 

一气之下，他提高了嗓门气愤地对他父亲说，“你的钱就只给我一本圣经吗？”

 

He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

 

然后，他夺门而出，撇下那本圣经静静地躺在书桌上。

 

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business.

 

很多年过去了，年轻人已事业有成。

 

He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him.

 

他有一座漂亮的房子，一个美满的家庭，但当他意识到父亲年事已高时，他想，或许他应该回去看看他。

 

He had not seen him since that graduation day.

 

自从毕业那天起，他就再也没有见到过父亲。

 

Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son.

 

还没等他做出有关安排，他就收到一封电报，告知他父亲已经去世了，并立下遗嘱将其所有财产转给儿子。

 

He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

 

他必须马上回家处理后事。

 

When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

 

当他来到了父亲的家，突然感到心里一阵悲伤与懊悔。

 

He began to search through his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.

 

他仔细清理父亲的重要文件，还看到了当年那本圣经，崭新就如他几年前离开时那样。

 

With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.

 

他噙着泪水打开圣经，当他翻到某一页时，一把钥匙从书的背面掉出来了。

 

As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible.

 

钥匙上面打着一个经销商的名字，是那辆跑车经销商的名字。

 

It had a tag⁵ with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired.

 

这是他曾渴望的标记。

 

On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... “Paid in full.”

 

而标签上还有他毕业的日期，还有充满爱的语言“款已付清……”。

 

How many times do we miss blessings⁶ because they are not packaged as we expected?

 

我们多少次与祝福擦肩而过，仅仅是因为它没有按照我们想象中的样子包装好？

 

I trust you enjoyed this.

 

我相信你理解（明白）这一点。

 

Do not spoil⁷ what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

 

不要用你渴望得到而没得到的，去破坏你所拥有的一切，但你要记住这一点：你现在所拥有的，恰恰也是你曾经一心期待得到的。

 

Sometimes we don’t realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect “the packaging” to be different.

 

有时，我们并没有意识到自己有多么幸运，或者只是因为幸运与我们想象的有所不同。

 

What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened.

 

那些表面上看起来像是坏的运气，实际上可能正是需要开启才知道的幸运。

1 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

2 awaited   

v.等候( await的过去式和过去分词 )；等待；期待；将发生在

参考例句：

• A stack of files awaited me on my desk. 我桌上有一堆文件正待我去处理。
• her long-awaited new novel 她的令人期待已久的一部新小说

3 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

4 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

5 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。

6 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 spoil   

n.战利品，赃物，奖品，掠夺，次品；vt.损坏，破坏，溺爱；vi.腐坏，掠夺

参考例句：

• Don't bunch the flowers up so tightly,you'll spoil them.别把花束得这么紧，会弄坏的。
• Overacting will only spoil the effect.表演过火，效果反而不好。