生命的价值

 　　不要让昨日的沮丧令明天的梦想黯然失色!

　　Don’t allow yesterday’s depression darken tomorrow’s dream!

　　在一次讨论会上，一位着名的演说家没讲一句开场白，手里却高举着一张20美元的钞票。面对会议室里的200个人，他问："谁要这20美元?"一只只手举了起来。他接着说："我打算把这20美元送给你们中的一位，但在这之前，请准许我做一件事。"他说着将钞票揉成一团，然后问："谁还要?"仍有人举起手来。

　　In a seminar, a renowned¹ speaker, before he started his opening remarks, raised a note of 20 dollars in his hand and asked the 200 people in the conference hall, “Who wants to get this 20 dollars?” Hands were raised up one by one. Then the speaker continued saying, “I would like to give this banknote to one of you. But before that, please allow me to do one more thing.” Then he crumpled² the note up and asked, “Who still wants it?” There were still many people raising up their hands.

　　他又说："那么，假如我这样做又会怎么样呢?"他把钞票扔到地上，又踏上一只脚，并且用脚碾它。尔后他拾起钞票，钞票已变得又脏又皱。

　　The speaker continued saying, “What about this?” After his voice, he put down the note, stamping and grinding on it. Then he picked up the note, which had been very dirty and wrinkled.

　　"现在谁还要?"还是有人举起手来。"朋友们，你们已经上了一堂很有意义的课。无论我如何对待那张钞票，你们还是想要它，因为它并没贬值，它依旧值20美元。人生路上，我们会无数次被自己的决定或碰到的逆境击倒、欺凌甚至碾得粉身碎骨。我们觉得自己似乎一文不值。但无论发生什么，或将要发生什么，在上帝的眼中，你们永远不会丧失价值。在他看来，肮脏或洁净，衣着齐整或不齐整，你们依然是无价之宝。"“Who still wants it?” There were still a host of people raising up their hands. The speaker said, “My dear friends, you have learnt a precious and meaningful lesson. No matter how I treated the note, you still want it because it has not been devaluated. It is still worth 20 dollars. In our life, we would also be stricken and bullied³ even ground to pieces by our decisions or adversities numerously. At that time, we may feel we are worth nothing. But no matter what happens, in God’s eyes, you will never lose your value. To his mind, whether you are dirty or clean, well dressed or not, you are still priceless.”

　　生命的价值不依赖我们的所作所为，也不仰仗我们结交的人物，而是取决于我们本身!我们是独特的--永远不要忘记这一点。

　　The value of life does not lie in what we have done or what friends we have made but lies in ourselves! Always keep in mind that we are the most unique in the world.

1 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

2 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

3 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》