Not long ago, my daughter's frosting shoes were scratched by someone's knife. She burst into tears.I took the shoes to the shoemaker to get them repaired.
The young apprentice glanced at the opening and said，“There is nothing I can do but to replace the upper.”
His master looked at them and said to me，“If you trust me, I will add more scratches on both of the shoes.”
I was confused and asked why.
He explained，“As if the opening was made on purpose for the sake of special style and reuse.”
I didn't fully understand him, but I decided to leave the shoes.
Two days later I dropped by from work to fetch the shoes. At the first sight I found they were indeed five or six scratches on each shoe, but all the openings were patched by soft leather in rust red with edges sewed by thick hemp thread；the stitches were twisted with the appearance of roughness and plainness which was in accordance with the quality of frosting leather, more unique and interesting than ever.I couldn’t help making compliments on the master’s craftsmanship.
Another time, my wife's sister's white blouse was torn a large opening on the back. My wife took it over and checked carefully, and then said，“Let me take it home and mend it.”
Three days later, seeing the blouse again, I was shocked：all the cracks and openings were sewed up by thin and white thread and they took on a look of branches, like the ice crystal on winter's branches in the north. In order to intensify the effect, he attached a fatty snowman and a cabin made of flowery cotton rags on the shirt.I sighed with praise，“It’s just as beautiful as a piece of art.”
“I was inspired by the craftsman. Patches are supposed to be a regret, but a skillful craftsman can make it take on a look of perfection.”replied my wife.
Her words inspired me even more：perfection is impossible to achieve in everything；patches are unavoidable, so is human's life, which will appear in the form of injury, disability or disease. Since you can't change the existence of wound, you should not expect people's sympathy by the wound, which reveals nothing meaningful.All you can do and have to do is to suture the wound by patches and try your best to bloom a most beautiful flower on the wound, and that is the significance of life.
-glance [glɑːns]v.瞥一眼；看一下
典型例句
I glanced up to see who had come in.
我抬头瞥了一眼看是谁进来了。
最常用法
glance up 抬头一看
glance at 朝……看了一眼
联想记忆
skim v.撇去；略读
-confused [kənˈfjuːzd]adj.困惑的；烦恼的
典型例句
The question is so hard, and we’re getting confused.
这问题太难，我们感到困惑。
联想记忆
confuse v.使困惑；使混乱；混淆
-patch [pætʃ]n.小片；补丁 v.修补
典型例句
She sewed a patch onto the knee of the trousers.
她在裤子的膝盖处打了个补丁。
最常用法
patch sth.up 修理某物；（尤指）迅速或临时修补
-crack [kræk]n.裂缝；裂纹
典型例句
Don’t go skating today there are dangerous cracks in the ice.
今天别去滑冰了——冰上有裂缝很危险。
最常用法
the crack of doom 世界末日
-intensify [ɪnˈtensɪfaɪ]v.增强；强化；加剧
典型例句
Failure only intensified my desire to succeed.
失败反而使我增强了获得成功的欲望。
-inspire [ɪnˈspaɪə（r）]v.启示；启迪；鼓舞；激发
典型例句
His speech inspired the crowd.他的演说鼓舞了群众。
最常用法
be inspired by 受……的鼓舞（启发）
不久前，女儿的磨砂鞋被人用刀子划了几道，她失声痛哭。我把鞋子拿给鞋匠去修。
年轻的学徒看了一眼上面划的口子，说：“除了换鞋帮，我无能为力。”
他的师父看了看鞋子，对我说：“你要是相信我，我就在两只鞋上再划几道口子。”
我被搞糊涂了，问师傅为什么。
他解释说：“这样看起来这些口子就好像为了突出风格故意弄的，还能再穿。”
虽然我还是没有完全明白，但是我决定把鞋子留下。
两天后，我下班后直接去取鞋。我一眼就发现那双鞋上果然又划了五六道口子，只是所有的口子都用铁锈红的软皮缝补，四周用粗麻线缝合，针脚歪歪扭扭，显得朴素粗犷，和磨砂皮的质地一致，只是比原来更与众不同、更有趣了。我禁不住称赞师傅的独具匠心。
还有一次，妻子妹妹的白衬衣后背处被挂了一个大口子。妻子接过来，仔细地看了看，说：“我拿回去给你补补吧。”
三天后，再见到那件衬衣时，我大吃一惊，只见所有的裂痕和口子都用细白线缝合，看上去如同树枝，仿佛北方冬天树枝上的冰花。为了增强这种效果，她还用棉布拼了一个胖乎乎的雪人和一座小木屋。我赞叹道：“这就像艺术品一样漂亮。”
“我是受了那个补鞋匠的启发。尽管补丁原本是一种缺憾，但能工巧匠却能让他们呈现出一种完美。”妻子回答道。
她的话给了我更大的启发：事事不可能都完美。补丁无法避免，人的生命也一样有缺憾，生命中会出现伤害、残疾和疾病。既然你无法改变伤口的存在，就不要因为受伤期盼同情，那没有任何意义。你能做的和必须做的就是用补丁缝合伤口，尽力在伤口上开出最美丽的花朵，而这正是人生的意义。