错过的幸福

 　　The Missed BlessingsA young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer²'s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

　　从前，有位年轻人即将大学生毕业。数月来，他一直渴望得到某汽车商产品陈列室中的一辆跑车。他知道，他那富有的父亲肯定买得起这辆车，于是，他便跟父亲说他很想得到那辆漂亮的跑车。

　　As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited³ signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat⁴ disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible⁵, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

　　在毕业典礼即将来临的日子里，年轻人等待着父亲买下跑车的消息。终于，在毕业典礼那天上午，父亲将他叫到自己的书房，并告诉他，有他这么出色的儿子自己感到非常自豪而且非常爱他这个儿子。接着，父亲递给儿子一个包装精美的礼品盒。年轻人感到好奇，但带着些许失望地打开礼品盒，却发现里面是一本精美的精装本《圣经》，上面以金子凸印着年轻人的名字。看罢，年轻人怒气冲冲地向父亲大喊道：“你有那么多钱，却只给我一本《圣经》?”说完，便丢下《圣经》，愤怒地冲出房子。

　　Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. 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. He had not seen him since that graduation day. 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. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

　　多年以后，年轻人已事业有成。他拥有一所漂亮的房子，一个温馨的家庭。但当得知父亲年事已高，他想，或许应该去看看他。自从毕业那天起他就一直不见父亲。就在起程时，他收到一封电报--父亲已逝世，并已立下遗嘱将其所有财产转给儿子。他要立即回父亲家处理后事。

　　When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag⁶ with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... "PAID IN FULL".

　　在父亲的房子里，他突然内心感到一阵悲伤与懊悔。他开始仔细搜寻父亲的重要文件，突然发现了那本《圣经》--还跟几年前一样崭新。他噙着泪水打开《圣经》并一页一页地阅读着。忽然，从书的背面掉出一把钥匙。钥匙上挂着一个标签，上面写着一个汽车经销商的名字--正是他曾渴望的那辆跑车的经销商。标签上还有他的毕业日期及“款已付清”的字样。

　　How many times do we miss blessings¹ because they are not packaged as we expected? 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.

　　我们多少次地与祝福擦肩而过，仅仅因为他们没有按我们想象中的样子包装好?不要在渴望得到没有的东西时损坏你已经拥有的东西，但要记住一点：你现在所拥有的恰恰正是你曾经一心渴望得到的。

　　Sometimes we don't realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect "the packaging" to be different. What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened.

　　有时，我们并没有意识到我们已经拥有或本该拥有的好运，仅仅因为它的外表与我们想象中的有所不同。其实，表面上看起来像是坏运气的东西或许正是等待开启的幸运之门。

1 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》

2 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。

3 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

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

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。