The Cracked Pot- 破裂罐子

Taken from an email making the rounds (you might call it chain mail):

Here's some good old Chinese advice!

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her shoulders.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw...

But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

To all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day, and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path.



My own translation 我的翻譯:

以下是一些很好的來自中國的智慧!

一位老婆婆有兩個大罐子,掛在棍子的端,她用來挑水。

其中一個罐子有裂縫;另外一個是完美的,每一次裝滿一罐水。從小河走到家的時候,破裂的罐子只有半滿。過了兩年,每天都一樣,老婆婆只帶一罐半的水回家。

當然完美的罐子為它的成就感到驕傲。但是可憐的破裂罐子對它的缺點差愧,它很失望只能做一半它應該做的事。

過了兩年它認為是苦苦失敗的時間;有一天在小河邊,破裂罐子跟老婆婆說:「我對我自己差愧。我身上這個裂縫造成水一直漏出來,一路滴到家。」

老婆婆微笑,「你有沒有注意到,在道路上,你這邊有很多花但是完美罐子的那邊一朵都沒有? 那是因為我一直都知道你的缺點,所以我種了花種子在你這邊。每一天我們走回家的時候,你澆灌它們。這兩年我都能摘美麗的花來裝飾餐桌。如果你沒有裂縫,我的家就沒有這種美麗。」

我們每個人有自己的擉特的缺點...

但是這些裂縫和缺點,使我們生活很有趣和有意義。你就應該要接受每個人,並尋找他們的善良。

所有我的缺點朋友,記得去聞一聞道路的花。

MSPCA

兩個星期前,我去參加MSPCA的志願者說明會。我要做的志工人員是小動物的朋友和清潔籠工人。

五月十六日,星期那一天,我開車到地鐵站,然後坐地鐵進波士頓。在城市裡我有需要換一班車。那一輛地鐵車只有開一兩站,就出現問題,停下來了一下子。最後, 我需要下車去坐後面一班。

到了MSPCA以後,那裡的項目協調員介紹MSPCA和志願者的職責。然後, 她給了我們動物庇護所的遊覽。「小動物」包括兔子,豚鼠, 白鼬,老鼠,倉鼠等。這個動物庇護所也有貓,狗,和鳥。MSPCA的動物庇護所比我原來想像的小; 這是因為他們一次沒太多動物,但是周轉率很高。

我原來要來當志願者的原因是因為我很喜歡動物;而且我臨時還沒找到工作,所以想要找個事情做。服裡的職員有幾位應該是跟我差不多年齡的、而且其他的志願者也大部分是大學以上的,所我會有很多機會跟人家講話。

我現在在等項目協調員的電子郵件;要安排我的首班。志願者有很多, 小動物有差不多二十個,而且聽說貓的有一百多,而且前幾天是假日;所以等一下子也是預期的。