英语脱口秀文章

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirroring for towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - - in perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because, ” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, no trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”
从前有个国王，出重金奖励最能展现宁静的画家。很多画家都试过了。国王看了所有的照片。但他真正喜欢的只有两个，他不得不在他们之间做出选择。一幅画是一个平静的湖。该湖是一个完美的镜像周围群山环绕。蓝色的天空中白云飘飘。所有看过这幅画的人都认为这是一幅完美的宁静画。另一张图片也有山。但这些是崎岖不平，且光秃秃的。上面有乌云密布的天空，大雨倾盆而下，闪电交加。山的下面有一个瀑布。这看起来一点都不宁静。
然而当国王仔细地看了看，他看到瀑布后面有一小丛灌木生长在岩石的缝隙中。在那里，在怒涛中，鸟妈妈坐在她的巢穴——如此宁静。
你认为哪幅画能获奖？国王选择了第二幅图。你知道是为什么吗？
“因为，”国王解释道，“宁静并不是指在这个地方没有噪音，没有麻烦，没有辛苦的工作的地方。宁静意味着在所有这些因素包围中，仍能保持内心的平静。这是宁静的真谛。”