The Flute Player
《自戀的長笛演奏家》

Once upon a time, there was a famous flute player in Rome. His name was Prince. At one of the shows, while Prince was playing the flute, he slipped and tumbled down the stage. People came running to carry him away, for he had broken his leg. His listeners missed him, as he took many months to recover.
從前，羅馬有一位著名的長笛演奏家，名叫王子。在一次表演中，王子吹著長笛時腳下不慎一滑，從舞臺上跌落下來。人們急忙趕過來把他抬走，因為弄斷了自己的一條腿。他的觀眾們都十分想念他，因為他得花好幾個月康復(fù)。
One day, an important man from Rome was organizing a show. He invited Prince to make an appearance. On the day of the show, when the curtains parted, a chorus was being played. Prince had not heard this before, as he had been away from the theatre for a long time.
一日，羅馬的一位重要人士組織了一場表演。他邀請了王子前來出席。表演那天，大幕拉開，現(xiàn)場演奏起了一段合唱。王子沒有聽過這段，因為他已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)離劇院好幾個月了。
The words of the chorus were "Rejoice, O Rome: you are safe now that the Prince is well!" All the people stood up and clapped loudly. The flute player blew kisses to them, thinking that his listeners were happy to have him back.
合唱唱到：“多么欣喜呀，羅馬，你已經(jīng)安全了，王子也安然無恙?！比w觀眾起立鼓掌。這位長笛演奏家向觀眾送著飛吻，心里想著聽眾們看到他回來竟然如此高興。
The chorus was, in fact, being played as an honor to the Prince of Rome. The audience knew that Prince was making a mistake. Then, he bowed before the people. Suddenly, he lost control and fell off the stage.
這段合唱，事實上，是在敬頌羅馬王子。觀眾們都知道這位王子搞錯了。接下來，就在他彎腰鞠躬答謝人們時，突然間，他整個人失控了，從舞臺上跌落了下來。

A Perfect Person
完美的人

A man and his girlfriend were getting married. It was a large celebration. The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing in his black suit. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
一個男人和他的女友結(jié)婚了?；槎Y慶典十分隆重。新娘穿著白色婚紗看上去美極了，新郎穿著黑色禮服也是一表人材帥氣逼人。在場的每個人都能看出來他們就都是彼此的真愛。
A few months later, the wife came to her husband with a proposal: "I have an idea about how we can strengthen our marriage," she offered. "Each of us will write a list of everything we find a bit annoying about the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can change these annoying things and make our life together happier."
幾個月后，妻子對丈夫提議說：“我有一個如何鞏固我們婚姻的想法。”她說道?！拔覀z各自列一張單子，寫上我們覺得對方有哪那些讓自己不舒服的缺點。然后，我們一起來討論我們怎樣一起來改掉這些招人煩的毛病，以讓我們的生活變得更快樂?！?br />The husband agreed, so each of them went to a separate room in the house and thought of the things that annoyed them about the other. They thought about these things all day long and wrote down what they came up with.
丈夫同意了。于是兩個各自去了屋子里單獨的房間，仔細(xì)思考著那些對方讓自己不舒服的毛病。他們想了整整一天，然后寫下了自己的想法。
The next morning, they went over their lists. "I'll start," offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it. In fact, enough to fill 3 pages. As she started reading the list to her husband, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband's eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked.
第二天一早，他們開始來談?wù)劯髯詥巫永锒紝懥耸裁??！拔蚁乳_始吧，”妻子說。拿出她的單子，條數(shù)不少真有不少項呢。事實上，足足差不多寫了3頁紙。然后，她開始讀給丈夫聽。她發(fā)現(xiàn)丈夫眼里漸漸盈滿淚水?！澳阍趺戳耍俊彼龁?。
"Nothing, keep reading your list." He replied. The wife continued reading until she had read all three pages. She neatly placed her list on the table and folded her hands on top of it. "Now, you read your list and then we can talk about everything on our lists." She said happily.
“哦，沒事，你繼續(xù)讀吧?！彼卮鸬?。妻子繼續(xù)讀起來直到讀完了滿滿三頁紙。她把單子整整齊齊地放在桌子上，雙手交叉著放在上面。“現(xiàn)在，該你讀你的單子了，然后我們來談?wù)剢巫由纤械囊磺小！彼_心地說。
Quietly the husband stated: "I don't have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the way that you are. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn't want to change anything about you." The wife, touched by his honesty, the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
丈夫此時平靜地說：“我的單子上什么也沒寫。我覺得你現(xiàn)在這樣就很完美。你可愛又迷人，我不想你為我改變哪怕一點。”妻子被他的誠實、他對她的愛與接納寬容深深所感動了，轉(zhuǎn)頭哭泣了起來。