三棵樹的夢想(Three Trees)-譯者:林豪
有一次在一座山上的叢林中有三棵樹，它們正在討論著自己的願望和理想，其中第一棵樹說：「我希望有一天我能成為一個珠寶盒，裡面裝滿了金、銀和珍貴的玉，我要有精細的雕刻而且使每一個人都能注意到我的美麗。」
Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."
然後，第二棵樹接著說：「有一天我將成為一艘大船，我將滿載國王和皇后們渡過大海航行到世界的另一個角落，每一個人在我的船上都會感覺到很安全因為我的船身非常強壯。」
Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."
最後第三棵樹說了：「我要在森林長成最高又最直的樹，人們將會看見我屹立在山頂上和仰瞻我的枝條就會想到天堂和天主，而且尋思著我與天堂和天主是多麼的接近，我將成為長久以來最偉大的樹而人們將會永遠記得我。」
Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."
經過幾年為實現它們的夢想而祈禱，一群伐木工來到它們面前，當其中一個人看到了第一棵樹遂說：「看起來這是棵強壯的樹，我想我可以將這些木材賣給一個木匠」…然後他就開始砍下它來，這棵樹十分高興，因為它知道這個木匠會將它作成珠寶盒。
After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
另一個伐木工對第二棵樹說：「看起來這是棵強壯的樹，我可以將它賣給造船廠。」第二棵樹十分高興因為它知道它將會成為一艘大船。
At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
當伐木工來到第三棵樹面前，這棵樹有些害怕因為它知道如果他們砍下它來，它的夢想將無法實現，其中一個伐木工說：「我不需要任何特別的樹，所以我選擇這棵樹。」然後他就砍下樹來。
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.
當第一棵樹被送到木匠那裡，他將樹木做成了餵食動物的食槽，放置在馬棚中並且鋪上了稻草，這並不是第一棵樹所祈求的。
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.
第二顆樹木被做成了一艘小船，它原本想要成為一艘大船，而且可以滿載國王和皇后們的夢想成了泡影。
The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.
第三棵樹被鋸成了大片的木頭而且被移至暗處，年歲日漸過去，這三棵樹已經忘記了它們原有的夢想。
The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
直到有一天一個男人和一個女人來到了馬棚，那女人生下了一個嬰孩，他們將嬰孩放在由第一棵樹所做成的馬槽中，在裡面裝滿稻草，這個男人希望能為嬰孩作一個小木屋，然而卻用這個馬槽來代替了，這棵樹因為這件事而感受到自己的重要而且在日後它竟成了最珍貴的寶物。
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.
幾年以後，有一群人坐上了由第二棵樹所做成的漁船，他們其中的一人累了而且睡著了，當他們行駛在海上時起了大風浪，而這棵樹認為它不夠強壯來保護這群人的安全，船上的那群人就叫醒了正在睡覺的那個人，他站起來說了：「平息吧！」風浪就停止了，此時這棵樹才明白了在它的船上所載的是萬王之王。
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
最後，有一個人拿起了第三棵樹，交給了一個人背負著經過了街道，人們都譏笑著祂，當他們終於停下來了，此時那個人被釘這顆樹上，高懸在天空矗立在山頂上，當星期天來到時，這棵樹才明瞭自己夠強壯能矗立在山頂上盡可能的與天主親近，因為耶穌已經被釘死在它的身上。
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
這個故事給我們的教訓是：當事情沒有按照你的想法實現時，總要明白這是天主所為你作的計畫，如果你能信賴祂，祂會給你最好的禮物，這三棵樹都得到了它們所要的，只是並非依照它們所想像的方式來達成，我們通常也不瞭解天主為我們所做的計畫是什麼，我們只知道祂的方式不是我們所要的方式，但是祂的方式總是最好的。
The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.
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