There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest， in turn， to go and look at an apple tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in winter， the second in spring， the third in summer， and the youngest son in fall. When they had all gone and come back， he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly， bent， and twisted. The second son said no—it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed， he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful， and it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit， full of life and fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right， because they had each seen but one season in the trees life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree， or a person， by only one season， and that the essence of who they are—and the pleasure， joy， and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end， when all the seasons are up. If you give up when its winter， you will miss the promise of your spring， the beauty of your summer， fulfilment of your fall. Dont judge a life by one difficult season. Dont let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

有一個(gè)男人，他有四個(gè)兒子。他想要教兒子們一件事，即，對(duì)事物不要太快下結(jié)論。于是，他給每個(gè)兒子都分配了一項(xiàng)任務(wù)，讓他們輪流去照看一棵蘋果樹。這棵樹長(zhǎng)在很遠(yuǎn)的地方。

第一個(gè)兒子是冬天去的，第二個(gè)兒子是春天去的，第三個(gè)兒子是夏天去的，最小的兒子是秋天去的。當(dāng)他們四人都去過(guò)回來(lái)后，他將他們叫到一起，讓他們描述一下自己見(jiàn)到的東西。

第一個(gè)兒子說(shuō)，那棵樹丑陋、佝僂、扭曲。第二個(gè)兒子說(shuō)，不，那棵樹長(zhǎng)滿了綠芽，生機(jī)盎然。第三個(gè)兒子不同意他們的說(shuō)法，他說(shuō)，樹上開(kāi)滿了花朵，那些花聞起來(lái)十分香甜，看上去也非常美麗，這是他見(jiàn)過(guò)的最美好的事物。第四個(gè)兒子也不同意他們說(shuō)的，他說(shuō)這棵樹豐收了，果實(shí)累累，充滿了生命力，十分充盈。

男人這時(shí)對(duì)兒子們解釋道，他們說(shuō)的都對(duì)，因?yàn)樗麄兠咳硕贾豢吹搅藰涞囊簧幸粋€(gè)季節(jié)的模樣。他告訴他們，你們不要以一棵樹或一個(gè)人在一個(gè)季節(jié)里的模樣評(píng)價(jià)他，他們內(nèi)在的本質(zhì)，他們內(nèi)心的歡樂(lè)、欣喜和愛(ài)都是源自完整的生活，只能到最后才能丈量出來(lái)。當(dāng)你歷經(jīng)四季的時(shí)候，如果你在冬天就放棄了，你就會(huì)錯(cuò)過(guò)春天給予你的希望，夏天將見(jiàn)證的美麗，以及秋天的收獲。不要僅憑一個(gè)困難時(shí)節(jié)里的處境去評(píng)價(jià)一個(gè)生命。不要讓一個(gè)季節(jié)里的苦痛毀了其他季節(jié)里的歡樂(lè)。

Vocabulary

judge v. 判斷;斷定

blossom n. 花朵，花簇

ripe adj. 成熟的

destroy v. 毀滅;破壞