Gifts from the heart

Ayoung man came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water while roaming the desert.The water was so sweet that he filled his leather canteen to bring some back to an elder who had been his teacher.

The old man took a deep drink,smiled warmly and thanked his student for the sweet water.The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later,the teacher let another student taste the water.He spat it out,saying it was awful.It apparently had become stale （adj.走味；不新鮮） because of the old leather container.

The student challenged his teacher,“Master,the water smelt.Why did you pretend to like it?”

The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water.I tasted the gift.The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter.”

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children.Whether it's a ceramic （adj.陶器的）tray or a macaroni （n.通心粉）bracelet,the natural and proper response is appreciation and expresses thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

Gratitude doesn't always come naturally.Unfortunately,most people value only the thing given rather than the feeling contained in it.We should remind ourselves about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude.After all,gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

一個年輕的男子在漫游沙漠途中看到一泉如水晶般清澈而可口的水。水的味道非常甘甜，于是他灌滿了他的皮水壺，這樣就可以帶一些回去，送給一位曾經是他老師的長者。

老人深飲一口，和藹地笑了笑，并感激學生贈予他甜美的水。年輕人懷著愉快的心情回到了村莊。

后來，老師讓他的另一個學生品嘗水。學生吐了出來，說水太難喝了。它顯然已經因為陳舊的皮革容器而變得不再新鮮了。

學生質疑他的老師：“師父，水是臭的，你為什么要假裝喜歡它呢？”

老師回答說，“你只品嘗了水的味道，我卻是在品嘗禮物的味道。水僅僅是裝載善與愛之行為的容器，而沒有什么東西比善與愛更甜美了。”

我認為當我們從天真的孩子們那里收到愛的禮物時，最能透徹地明白這個道理。無論它是一個陶瓷托盤還是通心粉手鐲，我們自然而恰當的反應是欣賞，并表示感激，因為我們喜歡禮物所包含的心意。

感恩并不總是自然而來的。不幸的是，大多數人只看重被贈予的東西本身，而不是它所體現的情誼。我們應該提醒自己，感情和對感激之情的表達是美麗而純潔的。畢竟，發自內心給予的禮物才是真正的禮物。