Once a circle missed a wedge(楔). The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated(組合)the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers of talking to the worms. When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what if feels like to yearn(渴望), to hope, to nourish(滋養)his soul with the dream of something better. There is wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so.
人生在于完整從前有一只圓圈缺了一塊楔子。圓圈想保持完整,便四處尋找失去的那塊楔子。由于它不完整,所以只能滾動很慢。一路上,它對花兒露出羨慕之色。它與蠕蟲談天說地。它還欣賞到了陽光之美。圓圈找到了許許多多不同的配件,但是沒有一件能完美地與它相配。所以,它將它們統統棄置路旁,繼續尋覓。終于有一天,它找到了一個完美的配件。圓圈是那樣地高興,現在它可以說是完美無缺了。它裝好配件,然后滾動起來。既然它已成了一個完整的圓圈,所以滾動得非?欤斓靡灾劣跓o暇觀賞花兒,也無暇與蠕蟲傾訴心聲。圓圈快奔急騁,發現眼中的世界變得如此不同,于是,它不禁停了下來,將找到的那個配件留在路旁,又開始了慢慢地滾動。
我覺得這個故事告訴我們,從某種奇妙意義上講,當我們失去了一些東西時反而感到更加完整。一個擁有一切的人其實在某些方面是個窮人。他永遠也體會不到什么是渴望、期待以及對美好夢想的感悟。人生的完整性在于一個人知道如何面對他的缺陷,如何勇敢地摒棄那些不現實的幻想而又不以此為缺憾。