One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered， and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a flaw①in it.
Suddenly， an old man appeared and said， “Why， your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine！”
The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in， but they didn-t fit quite right， and there were several jagged②edges. In fact， in some places there were deep gouges③where whole pieces were missing.
The young man laughed. “Comparing your heart with mine， mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars.”
“Yes，” said the old man， “Yours looks perfect but I would never trade with you. You see， every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them， and often they give me a piece of their heart that fits into the empty place in my heart.
“But because the pieces aren’t exact， I have some rough④edges， which I cherish， because they remind me of the love we shared. “ Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away， and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gouges—giving love is taking a chance.
“Although these gouges are painful， they stay open， reminding me of the love I have for those people too， and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I’ve been waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is？”
The young man walked up to the old man， reached into his perfect heart， and ripped⑤a piece out. He offered it to the old man.
The old man placed it in his heart， then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit， but not perfectly， as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart， not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever， since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.
They embraced and walked away side by side.
How sad it must be to go through life with a whole untouched⑥heart！
① flawn. 裂隙，裂缝缺点，瑕疵
② jaggedadj. 有尖突的，有缺口的，锯齿状的
③ gougen. 半圆凿，凿，挖
④ roughadj. 粗糙的，表面不平的
⑤ ripv. 撕，扯，剥
⑥ untouchedadj. 未触动过的，原样的，未受影响的，未受损伤的
完美的心
一天，一个年轻人站在镇子的中央，宣称他拥有整个山谷最美丽的心。一大群人围了过来，都交口称赞年轻人的心，因为这颗心完美无瑕。
一位老者突然出现了，说道：“嗨，你的心可不如我的心美丽啊！”
这群人和年轻人都看了看老者的心，只见上面布满伤痕。心上的一些部分被取走了，另外补上了其他人的，但并不十分吻合，还有几处边缘参差不齐。事实上，他的心上有些地方留下了深深的凹痕，整瓣整瓣的心都不见了。
年轻人笑道：“跟你的心相比，我的心才是完美的，你的心满是疤痕。”
“没错，” 老者说：“你的心看上去很完美，但是我永远不会和你交换。你瞧，每处伤痕都代表一个我曾爱过的人。我撕下自己的一片心给他们，他们往往也会给我一片他们的心，填补我心中缺失的那部分。
“但是由于每片心大小并不完全相同，我的心有些粗糙的边缘，不过我很珍惜，因为它们让我想起我们之间分享过的爱。
“有时我把自己的几片心送出去，其他人却没有向我回馈他们的心。这些便成了空着的深痕——付出爱本来就是一种冒险。
“尽管这些凹痕让我感到痛苦，但它们敞开着，让我想起我对他们付出的爱，并希望有朝一日能得到回馈，填满这等待已久的空间。所以，现在你明白什么才是真正的美了吗？”
年轻人走到老者面前，把手伸进自己完美的心中，撕下了一片，赠给了老者。
老者把这片心放进自己的心里，然后从自己那颗苍老而又伤痕累累的心上撕下一片，放入年轻人心上的伤口。虽然能够放进去，但不十分吻合，因为有的边缘凹凸不平。
年轻人看了看自己的心，它虽然不再完美，却更加美丽，因为老者心中的爱流入了他的心田。
他们互相拥抱，然后并肩前行。
人这一生如果一直保持着一颗完整未动的心是多么可悲啊！
