A very rich wealthy man was standing thoughtfully on a bridge. Despite of all his riches, he could feel none of happiness but sorrow and emptiness in his heart. He intended to commit suicide by jumping into the raging water.
When he was about to do it, a filthy beggar approached him. “Sir, please give me some money to buy some food. I will pray for your health and long life.”
Hearing this, he took out the wallet from his pocket and gave all the money inside to the beggar. “Take all of this,” he said.
“All of this?” the beggar repeated. He could not believe his good luck.
“Yes, take it all. I am going to a place where I won't need it anymore,” said the man. He looked back at the river below.
The beggar became suspicious of the man's attitude. Looking at the money, and holding it for a while, he hurriedly returned it and said, “No, thank you. I won't take it. I may be a beggar but I'm not a coward and I'm not going to receive any money from a coward! Bring that money with you to the river, sir!”
Hearing his response, the man was very shocked. The satisfaction and happiness of him giving his money to the beggar vanished instantly. He was not even able to make the beggar receive his sincere soon-to-be-useless money.
At that moment, he suddenly realized that the feeling that he felt just now, that good feeling and satisfaction from giving others happiness, had indeed in turn became his own true happiness. By this he was enlightened, and had found what would make his life worth living.
Happiness is only real when shared.
一个有钱人站在桥上,若有所思。纵使家财万贯,他幸福感全无,心中只有痛苦和空虚。他打算纵身跳进湍急的河水,做个了断。
他正打算跳,一个脏兮兮的乞丐朝他走来。“先生,给点儿钱让我买吃的吧。我为你祈祷,祈祷你能健康长寿。”
有钱人听到这话,从口袋里掏出钱包,把里面所有的钱都递给了乞丐,说:“全都拿去吧。”
“全都给我?”乞丐重复道。他简直不能相信自己会这么走运。
“对,全都给你。我要去一个地方,那里用不着钱。”有钱人说。他回过头,继续看着桥下的河水。
乞丐见他这般态度,心生疑虑,看看手里的钱,握了一会儿,马上还了回去,说:“不了,谢谢你。这钱我不要。我是个乞丐,但我不是胆小鬼。我也不要胆小鬼给的钱。带着那钱跳你的河去吧,先生!”
这样的反应让有钱人非常吃惊。把钱施予乞丐所带来的满足感和幸福感瞬间消失得无影无踪,自己连让乞丐接受诚心给予的、对他来说马上就毫无用处的钱都做不到。
那一刻,他意识到了自己刚才的感受,那种因带给他人快乐而获得的愉悦感和满足感反而变成了属于自己的真正的幸福。这让他大受启发,重新找到了生活的意义。
只有分享幸福才是真的幸福。
-approach [əˈprəʊtʃ] v. 接近
-suspicious [səˈspɪʃəs] adj. 猜疑的
“拥有”不一定代表幸福,“分享”才是幸福的真谛。
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