柵欄上的釘子

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper， he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks， as he learned to control his anger， the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and his father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day when he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said， “You have done well， my son， but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger， they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say， ‘I’m sorry，’ the wound is still there.”

從前，有個小男孩脾氣很壞。他父親給了他一袋釘子，并讓他每發一次火，就在柵欄的背面釘上一顆釘子。

第一天，男孩在柵欄上釘了37顆釘子。又過了幾周，隨著他學會控制自己的怒火，釘的釘子逐日減少。他發現控制自己的脾氣要比往柵欄上釘那些釘子容易。

終于有一天，男孩一點脾氣也沒發。他告訴了他父親這事，他父親建議：如果他現在每天能控制住自己的脾氣，就拔掉一顆釘子。日子一天天過去，小男孩終于能夠告訴他父親所有的釘子都拔完了。

父親牽著兒子的手，帶著他來到柵欄前并對他說：“你做得很好，兒子，但是看看柵欄上的窟窿吧，這個柵欄再也不是從前的樣子了。你發火時說的話就會留下跟這差不多的傷痕。你在別人身上捅一刀又拔出來，無論你道多少回歉都不管用，創傷仍舊在那里。”