一棵樹的春夏秋冬

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest， in turn， to go and look at an apple tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in winter， the second in spring， the third in summer， and the youngest son in fall. When they had all gone and come back， he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly， bent， and twisted. The second son said no—it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed， he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful， and it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit， full of life and fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right， because they had each seen but one season in the trees life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree， or a person， by only one season， and that the essence of who they are—and the pleasure， joy， and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end， when all the seasons are up. If you give up when its winter， you will miss the promise of your spring， the beauty of your summer， fulfilment of your fall. Dont judge a life by one difficult season. Dont let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

有一個男人，他有四個兒子。他想要教兒子們一件事，即，對事物不要太快下結論。于是，他給每個兒子都分配了一項任務，讓他們輪流去照看一棵蘋果樹。這棵樹長在很遠的地方。

第一個兒子是冬天去的，第二個兒子是春天去的，第三個兒子是夏天去的，最小的兒子是秋天去的。當他們四人都去過回來后，他將他們叫到一起，讓他們描述一下自己見到的東西。

第一個兒子說，那棵樹丑陋、佝僂、扭曲。第二個兒子說，不，那棵樹長滿了綠芽，生機盎然。第三個兒子不同意他們的說法，他說，樹上開滿了花朵，那些花聞起來十分香甜，看上去也非常美麗，這是他見過的最美好的事物。第四個兒子也不同意他們說的，他說這棵樹豐收了，果實累累，充滿了生命力，十分充盈。

男人這時對兒子們解釋道，他們說的都對，因為他們每人都只看到了樹的一生中一個季節的模樣。他告訴他們，你們不要以一棵樹或一個人在一個季節里的模樣評價他，他們內在的本質，他們內心的歡樂、欣喜和愛都是源自完整的生活，只能到最后才能丈量出來。當你歷經四季的時候，如果你在冬天就放棄了，你就會錯過春天給予你的希望，夏天將見證的美麗，以及秋天的收獲。不要僅憑一個困難時節里的處境去評價一個生命。不要讓一個季節里的苦痛毀了其他季節里的歡樂。

Vocabulary

judge v. 判斷;斷定

blossom n. 花朵，花簇

ripe adj. 成熟的

destroy v. 毀滅;破壞