在佐治亚州，我正沿着一条小路准备穿过树林时，我看见前方的路上有一个水坑。我掉转方向，绕到另一边没有水和泥的地方。正当我接近水坑时，突然遭到了袭击！然而我没有还击，因为袭击来得太突然了，袭击者也太出乎意料了。尽管已经被袭击了四五次，我却没有受到伤害，我感到十分吃惊。我向后退了一步，攻击者页停止了袭击，展开优雅的翅膀，在我面前盘旋着，不再进攻了。如果我受到了伤害，我就不会觉得此事可笑了，但我没有。真有趣，我笑了。毕竟，袭击我的是一只蝴蝶！

　　Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He rammed me in the chest with his head and body, striking me over and over again with all his might, still to no avail. For a second time, I retreated a step while my attacker relented in his attack. Yet again, I tried moving forward. My attacker charged me again. I was rammed in the chest over and over again. I wasn't sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time. After all, it's just not every day that one is attacked by a butterfly. This time, though, I stepped back several paces to look the situation over. My attacker moved back as well to land on the ground. That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier.He had a mate and she was dying. She was beside the puddle where he landed.

　　笑过后，我往前迈了一步，攻击者又向我冲过来。他用头和身体撞击我的胸腔，一次又一次竭尽全力地向我发起进攻，但是毫无成果。我又退后了一步，他的攻击也减弱了一些。然而当我又试着往前移动时，攻击者再次向我发起进攻。我的胸腔又反复受到撞击。我不知如何是好，只能第三次退了回来。毕竟，不是什么人都能遭到蝴蝶袭击的。这次，我往后退了几步，环视了一下周围的环境。我的攻击者也向后退，落在了地上。就在这一刻，我突然明白了他刚才为什么袭击我。他有一个伴侣，快要死了，就在他落下来的水坑旁边。

　　Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it upon himself to attack me for his mate's sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should I have been careless enough to step on her. Now I knew why and what he was fighting for.

　　他紧紧依偎在她身旁，翅膀一张一翕，好像在为她扇风。我很钦佩那只蝴蝶在照顾她时所表现出来的爱和勇气。尽管她已经濒临死亡，而我又如此强大，但为了同伴的安全，他大胆向我进攻。他这样做只是为了让她度过生命中最后的片刻美好时光。我真不该太粗心以至于差点踩到她！现在我知道他为什么而战了。

　　There was really only one option left for me. I carefully made my way around the puddle to the other side of the path, though it was only inches wide and extremely muddy. His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate's safety justified it. I couldn't do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the puddle. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.

　　现在我只能有一种选择。小心地绕过水坑，走路的另一边，尽管那边只有几英寸宽，而且很泥泞。他敢于攻击比自己强大得多的对手，仅仅为了保证他同伴的安全，其勇气实在可嘉。我只能走水坑另一端难走的路以示钦佩。他的确获得了与她相伴、无人干扰的安宁时光。

　　I left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from my boots when I later reached my car.

　　我留给他们最后的安宁时刻，来到车旁，擦掉了靴子上的泥巴。

　　Let's remember the courage of that butterfly whenever we see huge obstacles facing us. Use that butterfly's courage as an inspiration to remind ourselves that good things are worth fighting for.

　　生命中总有一些事值得你义无反顾地去完成，总有一些人值得你不计回报地去付出。正因如此决绝，蝴蝶用它的生命换来了爱人最后时刻的安宁。