One year, a newspaper of the United States published an announcement the horticultural institute offered a reward at a high price for the pure white marigold. The high reward attracted so many people, but in the kaleidoscopic nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, so it is not easy to cultivate the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.
20 years flew away. One normal day after 20 years, the horticultural institute that had published the announcement accidentally received a zealous letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. On that day the news spread like wildfire.
It turned out to be an old woman of over 70 years old. The institute had always been hesitating over the fact that the letter asserted with certainty that the seeds could bloom pure white marigold. Whether they would make an experimental verification became the focus of controversy at one time.
Some said you would never live up to the old man's wish. Those seeds finally took root in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year: large patches of pure white marigold swayed in the breeze. Accordingly, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.
Originally, the old woman was an out-and-out flower-lover. When she occasionally read the announcement 20 years ago, her heart kept thumping. But her eight children unanimously opposed her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics couldn't complete what the experts could never accomplish, so her thought was only a lunatic raving.
Still, the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working without hesitation. She scattered some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold bloomed, she chose one faintest from those golden and brown flowers and made it wither naturally in order to get the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose the faintest from these flowers to plant...Day after day, year after year, through many cycles of spring sowing and autumn harvest, the old woman's husband died, her children flew far and high, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the desire to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.
Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was not nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.
A problem even experts couldn't cope with was readily solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Wasn't it a miracle?
有一年，美国的报纸上刊登了一则通知，通知说园艺学会出高价奖励种得出纯白色金盏花的人。奖金吸引了很多人，但是大千世界里金盏花不是金色的，就是棕色的，培育纯白色的可不是件容易事。于是，很多人也就兴奋了那么一阵儿，过后就把这则通知忘了。
二十年的光阴转瞬即逝。这一天，当年发出通知的园艺学会偶然收到了一封热情洋溢的来信，信里还有100粒纯白色金盏花的花种。当天，这条消息就如野火般地蔓延开来。
寄信的人原来是一位年过七旬的老太太。学会始终对她在信里说的这些种子绝对能长出纯白色金盏花的说法将信将疑。一时间，要不要通过实验验证一下这个说法成了争论的焦点。
有的人说不能辜负了老人的心意。这些种子终于在土壤里扎下根来。一年以后奇迹出现了：大片大片的纯白色金盏花在微风里摇曳着身姿。于是，这位一直默默无闻的老太太成了新的讨论焦点。
原本，老太太是一位不折不扣的爱花之人。二十年前偶然读到这则通知的时候，她就跃跃欲试。可她的八个孩子却一致反对。毕竟，连专家都做不到的事，一个不懂种子遗传学的妇道人家又怎么可能完成呢，她的想法不过是痴人说梦罢了。
可是老太太并没有改变主意，还是毫不犹豫地开始忙活。她先是撒了一些最最普通的种子，精心照料。一年以后，开花的时候，她就从金色和棕色的金盏花里把颜色最浅的选出来，让它们自然枯萎，这样就能拿到最棒的花种。第二年，她开始把这些花种种下，再从结出的花里选出颜色最浅的，再种下去……过了一天又一天，一年又一天，经过了无数个春种秋收的循环往复，老太太的丈夫去世了，孩子们都长大成人另立门户，她生活里也发生了很多变化，唯独那个想要种出纯白色金盏花的愿望深深扎根在她的心里，从没变过。
终于，二十年后的某一天，她在花园里看到了一株金盏花，色泽远非接近白色，而是白如银，白如雪。
一道专家们都解决不了的难题却被一个不懂遗传学的老太太轻而易举地解决了。这不就是奇迹吗？
-horticultural [ˌhɔːtɪˈkʌltʃərəl] adj. 园艺的
-kaleidoscopic [kəˌlaɪdəsˈkɒpɪk] adj. 万花筒似的
-out-and-out [ˈaʊtəndˈaʊt] adj. 彻底的
播下勇气、耐心和坚忍的种子，就会长出希望、信念和奇迹的果实。