When he just went to hold the post in the new parish , a pastor encountered a hot potato; there was a garden in front of the pastor gate and a number of children would cross the garden to school, so the flowers were picked from time to time.
That spring, the flowers of the garden were in full bloom. One early morning, the pastor stood in the garden waiting for the children going to school. Soon, some of them came along; a little boy asked the pastor, “Can I snap a flower?”
“Which one do you want?” the pastor asked genially .
The boy chose a tulip.
The pastor said, “Very good. It belongs to you now. However, if you leave the flower here, it can still bloom for several days; if you pick it now, you can only play for a little while. You are a smart kid, so you choose by yourself.”
The little boy thought for a while and said, “Then I leave it here. I will come back to see it until class is over.”
On that day, more than 20 children agreed to leave the flowers in the garden until they wilt.
That spring, the pastor left the whole garden to the people, but he had never lost one.
一位牧师到新教区走马上任，他碰到了一个棘手的问题：教区门前有个花园，很多孩子上学的时候会从花园里穿过，所以，花总是被摘得七零八落。
那年春天，花园里鲜花怒放。一天大清早，牧师就站在花园里等上学的孩子们。不一会儿就来了几个。一个小男孩问他：“我能摘一枝花吗？”
“你想要哪一枝啊？”牧师亲切地问他。
小男孩看中了一枝郁金香。
牧师说：“很好。这花现在是你的了。可是，你要是把它留在这儿，它还能再开几天；如果你现在就摘走，它就只够你玩儿一会儿。你是个聪明的孩子，你自己决定吧。”
小男孩想了一会儿，说：“那我把它留在这儿吧。等下课了，我再回来看它。”
那天早上，有二十多个孩子都同意把花留在园中绽放，让它们自行凋谢。
那年春天，牧师虽然开放整个花园供人们随意观赏，可园子里一朵花都没有丢。
-parish [ˈpærɪʃ] n. 教区以下的地方行政区
-pastor [ˈpɑːstə(r)] n. 牧师
-snap [snæp] v. 折断
-genially [ˈdʒiːnɪəlɪ] adv. 亲切地
忍住摘花的蠢蠢欲动就能挣得满园的倾情绽放。