One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered, and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a flaw in it. 

    一天，一位年輕人站在城鎮的中央，宣布他的心是整個山谷中最美麗的心。圍觀的人很多，他們都稱贊年輕人的心的確是完美無缺，并沒有一點傷痕瑕疵。 

    Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, "Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." 

    突然，一位老人出現在人群中，說：“你的心不如我的美麗。” 

    The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right, and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. 

    圍觀者和年輕人都朝老人的心看去：它布滿了傷疤，有的地方被挖去又重新填補上，但修補得不甚完整，留下一些參差不齊的疤痕。實際上，有的地方缺失了整塊，甚至露出很深的豁口。 

    The young man laughed. "Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars." 

    年輕人笑了起來：“我們兩人的心相比，我的是那么完美，而你的卻是一堆傷疤。” 

    "Yes," said the old man, "Yours looks perfect but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart that fits into the empty place in my heart. 

    “是的，”老人說，“你的心從表面來看很完美，但我絕不會跟你交換。你看，每個傷疤都代表我為別人獻出的一份愛——我掏出一塊心給他們，他們常常會掏出自己的一塊回贈給我，以填補我的空缺。

    But because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. 

    但由于這兩塊不完全一樣，傷口的邊緣就留下了疤痕，不過我十分珍惜這些疤痕，因為它們使我想起我們共同擁有的愛心。” 

    "Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. 

    “有時我送出了一瓣心，其他人并沒有回贈給我，因此就出現了這些豁口——獻出愛也是需要冒風險的。

    Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for those people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?" 

    盡管這些豁口很疼，我還是讓它們敞開著，因為它們能使我想起我付出的愛。我希望有一天，得到愛的人們能夠回來填補上我心里的空間。你現在明白什么是真正的美麗了吧？” 

    The young man walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man. 

    年輕人默默走近老人，把手伸進自己完美的心中，撕下一塊來，把它獻給這位老人。 

    The old man placed it in his heart, then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. 

    老人接過饋贈，把它放進自己的心里。然后他從自己疤痕累累的心里掏出一塊，放在年輕人心里的那個傷口上。正好放進去，但不是特別吻合，也出現了一些疤痕。 

    The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. 

    年輕人看著自己的心，看起來不再完美但比以前更美麗了，因為老人心中的愛也流淌到了他的心里。 

    They embraced and walked away side by side. 

    他們擁抱著，肩并肩離開了。