Two Fables

Author Unknown

Sand and Stone

1 Two friends were walking through the desert. At some point in the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

2 They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from nearly drowning, he wrote on a stone: “Today my best friend saved my life.”

3 The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, but now you write on a stone. Why?”

4 The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us, we should write it in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it from view. But, when someone does something good for us, we should engrave it in stone, where no wind can ever remove it.”

The Ship of Friendship

5 A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island.

6 The two survivors, who were good friends, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God.2 However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

7 The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man’s parcel of land remained barren.

8 After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.

9 Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.

10 Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island.

11 He considered the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

12 As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming, “Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”

13 “My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything.”

14 “You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him. “He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”

15 “Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “What did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”

16 “He prayed that all your prayers be answered.”

寓言两则

佚名

沙与石

1两个朋友一起穿越荒漠，旅途中二人突然争吵了起来，其中一个朋友掴了另一位一记耳光。被打的朋友受到了伤害，但什么也没有说，只是在沙地上写下了这样一句话：“今天，我最好的朋友掴了我一记耳光。”

2他们继续前行，直到发现一处绿洲才停下来，他们决定在那里洗个澡。之前被打的朋友不小心陷入了泥潭，并开始沉没，但他的朋友救了他。被打的朋友差一点淹死，当他恢复了元气之后，在石头上刻下：“今天，我最好的朋友救了我的命。”

3打了他也救了他的那位朋友问道：“我伤害了你之后，你将其写在沙上；现在我救了你，你则将其刻在石头上。这是为什么？”

4这位朋友的回答是：“当有人伤害了我们，我们应该把它写进沙子里，宽恕的风会把它抹去。而当有人为我 们做了好事，我们应当把它刻在石头上，无论怎样的风都无法把它吹掉。”

友谊之船

5一艘航海船舶在一次海上风暴中失事了，船上仅有两人游上了一个荒无人烟的小岛。

6这两位幸存者是好朋友，此时他们束手无策，一致认为他们别无所靠，只能向上帝祈祷。然而，为了知道谁的祈祷更有力，他俩同意将小岛一分为二，分别呆在岛屿的两边。

7他们首先祈求的是食物。第二天早上，第一人在他所在的那片地上看见了一棵长着果实的树，于是他吃上了它的果实。另一人分得的那片地上仍然是一片荒芜。

8一周后，第一人感到寂寞，决定祈求一位妻子。第二天，又有一艘船失事，船上唯一的幸存者是一个女人，她游向了他那边的陆地。而在岛的另一边则什么都没有。

9不久，第一人祈求房子、衣服、更多的食物。第二天，所有这些东西都神奇地赐给了他。而另一人仍然一无所获。

10最终，第一人祈求一艘船，以便他和他的妻子能离开该岛。次日上午，他发现一艘船停靠在岛上他所在的一边，他和他的妻子登上船，并决定把另一人留在岛上。

11他认为另一人不配获得上帝的保佑，因为他的每一次祈求都没有得到回应。

12当船正要离开时，第一人听到一个来自天上低沉而洪亮的声音：“你为什么把你的同伴留在岛上？”

13第一人回答：“给予我的恩赐应归我一人所有，因为是我祈求的。他的祈求都没有得到回应，所以他不该得到任何东西。”

14来自天上的声音斥责道：“你错了！他只有一个祈求，而这唯一的祈求我答应了。若不是因为他的这个祈求，你将不会收到我的任何恩赐！”

15第一人问道：“告诉我，他祈求了什么使我要感恩于他？”

16“他祈求的是让你的所有祈求都得到回应。”