It was many years ago.
I was a young dad sitting on the couch
reading a fairy tale to my little girl.

很多年前我還是個年輕的爸爸，
坐在沙發上給小女兒講童話故事。

She sat next to me with her head on my arm
as I told the tale.

她坐在我身邊，
頭枕在我胳膊上聽我講故事。

When it came to the end I finished
with those famous words:
'And they lived happily ever after.'

故事的最后我用那句經典的話作結束語：
“從此他們過上了幸福的生活。”

As I looked over to her with her wavy, brown hair
and big, innocent eyes,
I could see the smile on her face
and I never wanted it to end.

我看著她，
她有著卷曲的棕色頭發
和大大的、天真的眼睛，

我能從她的臉上看到微笑，
我希望能永遠這樣看著她。

It dawned on me then that the ending of the book
was what I wanted for her.
I wanted her to 'live happily ever after.'

那時我明白了故事的結尾也是我對她的期望，
我希望她“從此過上幸福的生活。”

Still, deep in my heart
I knew that this couldn't always be so.
I knew that there would be times
when her heart was broken.

然而內心深處我知道現實并非總能如我所愿，
我知道有時她會傷心。

I knew there would be times
when she cried in grief and I couldn't comfort her.

我知道有時她會傷心地哭泣，
而我卻不能給她安慰。

I knew there would be times
when all she felt
was fear, sadness, sorrow, and despair.

我知道，
有時她只會感到，
恐懼、傷心、懊悔和絕望。

As I stroked her hair and smiled at her
I hoped that those times would be brief
and that she would have joy in her life more often than not.
Living happily ever after,
though
seemed out of the question.

我撫摸著她的頭發，對她微笑，
我希望那些時刻都能很快過去，
希望她的生活中更多的是快樂，
然而，
從此過上幸福生活似乎是不可能的。

It took me a lot of years to realize
that it IS possible to live happily ever after.

很多年以后我才意識到，
從此過上幸福生活是可以實現的。

You just have to do it 'one day at a time.'
Happiness you see isn't some reward
hat you get at the end of your journey.

你只需要“認真過好每一天”。
你看到的幸福
并非你人生旅程最終的獎勵。

Happiness isn't something dependent
on what life hands you.
Happiness is something you create in your life
choice by choice
and day by day.

幸福不是取決于生活賜予你什么，
而是你日復一日通過一個個選擇
在生活中創造出來的。

The truth is happiness comes when you love.
Love is a gift from God.

事實是幸福就是付出愛時的體驗，
愛是上帝恩賜的禮物。

It is love that mends broken hearts.
It is love that heals grief.
It is love that gives us joy.

只有愛才能修復受傷的心靈，
只有愛才能撫平傷痛，
只有愛才能給我們帶來快樂。

Choose to 'live happily ever after,
one day at a time.'

選擇“從此過上幸福的生活，
過好每一天。”

微信公眾號：英語美文朗讀 孟叔的微博：孟飛Phoenix 孟叔的抖音：184302945