四根燃燒的蠟燭

張祖平

In a room there were four candles burning. The ambiance1 was so soft that you could hear them talking.

在一個房間，有四根燃燒著的蠟燭，四周氣氛非常柔和，你都可以聽到它們之間的談話。

The first one said， “I am Peace. However， nobody can keep me lit. I believe I will go out.”

第一根蠟燭說：“我的名字叫‘和平，然而沒有人能一直讓我亮著，我想我要熄滅了?！?/p>

Its flame rapidly diminished2 and went out completely.

它的光芒很快變弱，最終完全熄滅了。

The second one said， “I am Faith. Most of all I am no longer indispensable3， so it does not

make any sense that I stay lit any longer.”

第二根蠟燭說：“我的名字叫‘信念。最糟糕的是，我已經不再是必不可少的，因為我沒有再亮下去的必要了。”

When it finished talking， a breeze4 softly blew on it putting it out.

當它講完以后，一陣柔和的微風吹滅了它。

Sadly， the third candle spoke in its turn. “I am Love. I have not gotten the strength to stay

lit. People put me aside and dont understand my importance. They even forget to love those who are closest to them.”

輪到第三根蠟燭了，它悲傷地說：“我的名字叫‘愛，我沒有力量再亮下去。人們把我放在一邊，不明白我的重要性，他們甚至忘記去愛身邊最親近的人?！?/p>

And waiting no longer， it went out.

很快，第三根蠟燭熄滅了。

Suddenly a child entered the room and saw three candles not burning. “Why are you not

burning， you are supposed to stay lit till the end.”

突然，一個孩子走進房間，看見三根蠟燭不再燃燒。“你們為什么不燃燒了，你們應該亮到最后。”

Saying this， the child began to cry. Then the fourth candle said， “Dont be afraid， while I am

still burning we can relight the other candles， I am Hope.”

說到這里，小孩子開始哭了。然后第四根蠟燭說：“不要害怕，當我還在燃燒的時候，我能重新點燃其他的蠟燭，我的名字叫‘希望。

With shining eyes， the child took the candle of Hope and lit the other candles.

小孩子閃動著眼睛，用這根叫“希望”的蠟燭點燃了其他的蠟燭。

The flame of hope should never go out from our life and each of us can maintain5 hope， faith， peace and love.

在我們的生活中，希望的光芒永遠不應該熄滅，我們每個人都應該保持希望、信仰、和平和愛。