皮匠和银行家The Cobbler and the banker
A cobbler passed his time in singing from morning till night；it was wonderful to see，wonderful to hear him；he was more contented in shoes，than was any of the seven sages.
His neighbor，on the contrary，who was rolling in wealth，sung but little and slept less.He was a banker；when by chance he fell into a doze at day-break，he cobbler awoke him with his song.The banker complained sadly that Providence had not made sleep a saleable commodity，like edibles or drinkables.Having at length sent for the songster，he said to him，“How much a year do you earn，Master Gregory？”
“How much a year，sir？”said the merry cobbler laughing，“I have reckon in that way，living as I do from one day to another；somehow I manage to reach the end of the year；each day brings its meal.”
“Well then！How much a day do you earn，my friend？”
“Sometimes more，sometimes less；but the worst of it is，and，without that our earnings would be very tolerable，a number of days occur in the year on which we are forbidden to work；and the curate，moreover，is constantly adding some new saint to the list.”
The banker，laughing at his simplicity，said，“In the future I shall place you above want.Take this hundred crowns，preserve them carefully，and make use of them in time of need.”
The cobbler fancied he beheld all the wealth which the earth had produced in the past century for the use of mankind.Returning home，he buried his money and his happiness at the same time，No more singing；he lost his voice，the moment he acquired that which is the source of so much grief.Sleep quitted his dwelling；and cares，suspicions，and false alarms took its place，All day，his eye wandered in the direction of his treasure；and at night，if some stray cat made a noise，the cat was robbing him.At length the poor man ran to the house of his rich neighbor；“Give me back.”said he，“sleep and my voice，and take your hundred crowns.”
一个皮匠从早到晚在唱歌中度过。无论见到他本人或听见他的歌声都使人觉得很愉快。他对于制鞋工作比当上了希腊七对还要满足。
与此相反，他的邻居是个银行家，拥有万贯家财，却很少唱歌，晚上也睡得不好。他偶尔在黎明时分迷迷糊糊刚入睡，皮匠的歌声便于工作把他吵醒了。银行家郁郁寡欢地抱怨上帝没有把睡眠也制成一种像食品或饮料那样可以买卖的商品。后来，银行家就叫人把这位歌手请来，问道：“格列戈里师傅，你一年赚多少钱？”
“先生，你问我一年赚多少钱吗？”快乐的皮匠笑道：“我从来不算这笔帐，我是一天一天地过日子，总而言之坚持到年底，每天挣足三餐。”
“啊，朋友，那么你一天赚多少钱呢？”
“有时多一点，有时少一点；不过最糟糕的是一年中总有些日子不准我们做买卖，牧师又常常在圣徒名单上添新名字，否则我们的收入也还算不错的。”
银行家被皮匠的直率逗笑了，他说：“我要你从今以后不愁没钱用。这一百枚钱你拿去，小心放好，需要时拿来用吧。”
皮匠觉自己好像看到了过去几百年来大地为人类所需而制造出来的全部财富。他回到家中，埋藏好硬币，同时也埋葬了他的快乐。他不再唱歌了；从他得到这种痛苦的根源那一刻起，他的嗓子就哑了。睡眠与他分手；取而代之的却是担心、怀疑、虚惊。白天，他的目光尽朝埋藏硬币的方向望；夜间，如果有只迷途的猫弄出一点声响，他就以为是有人来抢他的钱。最后，这个可怜的皮匠跑到他那富有的邻居家里说：“把你的一百枚钱拿回去，还我的睡眠和歌声来。”
村姑和牛奶罐The country Maid and Her Milk Can
A country maid was walking along with a can of milk upon her head，when she fell into the following train of reflections.“The money for which I shall sell this milk will enable me to increase my stock of eggs to three hundred，These eggs，allowing for what may prove addle，and what may be destroyed by vermin，will produce at least two hundred and fifty chickens.The chickens will be fit to carry to market just at the time when poultry is always dear；so that by the new year I cannot fail of having money enough to purchase a new gown.Green-let me consider-yes，green becomes my complexion best .and green it shall be，In this dress I will go to the fair，where all young fellows will strive to have me for a parter；but no-I shall refuse every one of them，and with a disdainful toss turn from them.”
Transported with this idea，she could not forbear acting with her head the thought that passed in her mind，when down came the can of milk！And all her imaginary happiness vanished in a moment.
一个村姑头上顶着一罐牛奶在路上行走。走着走着，她的脑子里浮现出一连串的幻想：“我卖了这罐牛奶后，用这笔钱买鸡蛋，这样我有的鸡蛋可以增加到300个。用这300个鸡蛋孵小鸡，这就算有坏的、生虫的，至少也能孵出250只小鸡。等小鸡长大后，正好能赶上卖个好市价；那么到了新年，我就能有钱买一件新晚装。买一件绿色的——让我好好想想——对，绿色与我的肤色最相衬。我穿上这件衣服去赶集，所有的年轻小伙子都会抢着邀请我做舞伴；但是不行——我要轻蔑地把头一扬，转身过去不理他们，让他们人人都碰个钉子。”
她想得得意忘形，情不自禁地把头一扬，刹那间，牛奶罐跌了下来！她幻想的一切幸福间破灭了。
健全的人生The life of perfection
Once a circle missed a wedge.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 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 flowers or talk 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 it feels like to yearn，to hope，to nourish his soul with the dream of something better.He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.
There is a 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.There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive，she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.
Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for failing.Life is not a spelling game，where no matter how many words you‘ve gotten right，you’re disqualified if you make one mistake.Life is more like a baseball season，where even the best team loses one third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance.Our goal is to win more games than we lose.
