Once upon a time, a rich man and a poor man talked about what happiness was.
The poor man said, “All that at present is happiness.”
Observing the poor man's shabby cottage and clothes, the rich man sneered , “How can this be called happiness? My happiness is a luxurious house with a hundred rooms and a thousand servants!”
On the very night, a big fire burnt down the rich man's hundred-room house into pieces. And his servants each went his own way. The rich man became a beggar overnight.
One day, it was extremely hot. He, a beggar now, came to ask for some water to drink when he passed by the poor man's cottage. The poor man brought him a big bowl of cool and fresh water, asking, “What do you think happiness is now?”
The beggar said anxiously, “Happiness is the bowl of water in your hands now.”
从前，一个富人和一个穷人探讨什么是幸福。
穷人说：“眼下拥有的就是幸福。”
富人看到穷人穿着破衣烂衫，住的小屋破旧不堪，就嘲笑道：“你这怎么能称得上幸福呢？幸福就是像我这样住在华丽的大房子里，里面有一百个房间，有一千个仆人侍奉左右。”
就在说话当晚，一场大火把富人那栋拥有一百个房间的大房子烧成了灰烬，仆人们纷纷四散而去。富人一夜之间沦为乞丐。
有一天，天气非常炎热。如今只是个乞丐的他来讨水喝，恰好路过穷人住的小屋。穷人给他端来一大碗清凉甘甜的水，再次问道：“现在你觉得幸福是什么呢？”
乞丐焦急地回答：“幸福就是此刻你手里的这碗水啊。”
-shabby [ˈʃæbɪ] adj. 破旧的
-sneer [snɪə(r)] v. 讥笑
-luxurious [lʌɡˈʒʊərɪəs] adj. 奢侈豪华的
良言一句：“Happiness is essentially all that at present. One can enjoy happiness in all his lifetime only by stringing all these present moments together.”(幸福其实就是眼前的分分秒秒，把这些分分秒秒串联起来就是一生幸福的秘诀。)