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 there were only two be really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful 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 foaming 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. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the bush 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, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

從前有一個國王，懸賞能畫出最好的寧靜畫的畫家。很多畫家都進行了嘗試。國王看了所有的作品，但只有兩幅，他真正喜歡，他必須從中選擇。一幅畫中是一片寧靜的湖，四周群山環繞，湖泊就是一面完美的鏡子。藍天之上白云飄飄，每個看到這幅畫的人都認為這真是一幅完美的寧靜畫。

另一幅畫也有山脈。但這些山脈崎嶇不平，光禿禿的。上面是烏云滾滾的天空，大雨如注，閃電雷鳴，一條飛瀑從山的一側傾斜而下。這看起來一點都不寧靜。

但國王仔細看時，卻看到瀑布后面在巖石的裂縫中長著一個小小的灌木叢。灌木叢中，一只母鳥極其安靜的臥在巢上。
你認為哪幅畫能贏得懸賞？國王選擇了第二幅。你知道為什么嗎？

國王解釋說：“這是因為寧靜并不是指這個地方沒有噪音，煩惱和辛勞。寧靜就是置于所有那些東西之中，你心里仍然平靜。這才是寧靜的真諦。”