英语美文——一棵树的四季

Four Seasons of a Tree

一棵树的四季

by

Author Unknown, Source Unknown

Don't judge a life by one difficult season.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons t

o learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent the

m each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tr

ee that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spr

ing, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the f

all.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them to

gether to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and tw

isted. The second son said no - it was covered with gre

en buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blos

soms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, 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 fulfill

ment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all r

ight, because they had each seen but one season in the

tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person,

by only one season, and that the essence of who they a

re - and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from tha