Once there was a relative who offered a man and his three sons two baskets of peaches. One basket of peaches were just ripe while the other were already overripe and would go bad at once.
The father asked, “Which way of eating can avoid wasting a peach?”
The eldest son said, “Of course, we should eat those overripe, for they can't be kept for three days.”
“But after you eat up those, the peaches in the other basket will go bad!” Obviously, the father was not satisfied with the eldest son's advice.
The second son thought for a while and said, “We should eat the peaches just ripe. Choose the good ones!”
“If so, won't the overripe peaches be wasted in vain ? Don't you think it pity?”
The father turned to the youngest son, “What good idea do you have?”
“I feel,” thinking for a while, the youngest son said, “we'd better mix them together, give some of them to the neighbors, and let them help us eat, so that we won't waste a peach.”
Hearing this, the father nodded and said with a smile, “OK. It is really a good way. Then let's do it by your way.”
有个亲戚送给父子四人两篮桃子。一篮是刚熟的，一篮已经熟透，很快会坏掉。
父亲问儿子：“怎么吃才不会浪费一个桃子？”
大儿子说：“当然要先吃熟透了的，因为这些桃子放不过三天啊。”
“可是等吃光了这些，刚熟的那篮也该坏掉了！”显然，父亲并不满意这个提议。
二儿子想了一会儿说：“我们应该先吃刚熟的。拣好的先吃！”
“那样的话，熟透的桃子不就白白浪费了吗？你不觉得可惜吗？”
父亲转身朝向小儿子：“你有什么好办法？”
“我觉得，”小儿子想了一下，说，“我们不妨把两篮桃子掺起来，送一些给邻居们，让他们帮着我们吃，这样就不会浪费一个桃子了。”
父亲听到这儿，点头笑着说：“好，真是个好办法。就按你说的办吧。”
-overripe [ˌəʊvərˈraɪp] adj. (尤指水果等)过分成熟的
in vain 白费地
法国作家罗曼·罗兰(Romain Rolland)曾经说过：“幸福是一种灵魂的香味。”(Happiness is the scent of soul.)当我们选择给予，我们的灵魂收获的是舒适和温暖。