双语短文 · 不完整的圆圈

An Incomplete Circle　不完整的圆圈

◎ Barbara Walker


Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers and talk to the worms. When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.

The lesson of the story, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what if feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. There is wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so.


从前有个圆圈缺了一块楔子。为了保持完整，它开始四处寻找失去的那块楔子。因为不完整，所以它只能非常缓慢地滚动。它欣赏沿途的鲜花，和虫子们聊天，在阳光下沐浴。它找到了好多好多不同的楔子，但是都对应不上它的缺口。所以圆圈把它们统统放在路边，继续不停地寻觅。终于有一天，它找到了完全契合的楔子。圆圈太高兴了。现在它可以说是完美无缺了。它装好楔子，然后滚动起来。既然它已成了一个完整的圆圈，所以它滚动得非常快，快得以至于无暇欣赏鲜花，无暇与虫子们倾诉心声。圆圈快奔疾驰，却发现眼中的世界变得如此不同，于是，它不禁停了下来，把这块好不容易找到的楔子也放在路旁，又开始慢慢地滚动着。

这个故事告诉我们，从某种特殊的意义上讲，当我们有所缺陷时反而感到自己更完整。一个拥有一切的人在某些方面也是个穷人。他永远也体会不到什么是渴望、期待，他不知道灵魂受到梦想的滋润是什么感觉。人生的完整性在于一个人知道如何面对他的缺陷，如何勇敢地摒弃不现实的幻想而又不以此为憾。

阅读小课堂
故事来自于美国著名诗人、画家、剧作家谢尔·希尔弗斯坦的绘本The Missing Piece，译为《失落的一角》。作为20世纪最伟大的绘本作家之一，他以儿童绘本《爱心树》轰动文坛，其他作品《人行道的尽头》《阁楼上的光》也广受好评。他的作品温馨幽默，简单朴实，又充满了睿智的生活哲学。