Once there was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of serenity. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked， and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for serene 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 serenity.

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 serene 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 rushing water， sat the mother bird on her nest—in perfect serenity.

Which picture do you think won the prize？The king chose the second picture. Do you know why？

“Because，” explained the king， “serenity does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise and trouble. Serenity means to be in the midst of all those things but still keep calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of serenity.”

從前有一個(gè)國(guó)王，他要懸賞一位能畫出表現(xiàn)寧?kù)o這一主題的最好的畫的畫家。很多畫家都一試身手，國(guó)王看了所有的畫，但是只有兩幅畫他真的很喜歡，國(guó)王必須兩者選其一。

其中一幅畫的是一個(gè)平靜的湖面，波平如鏡，倒映著四周環(huán)繞的群山，頭頂是一片飄著絨毛似的白云的藍(lán)天。所有看過(guò)這幅畫的人都認(rèn)為它是一個(gè)表現(xiàn)平靜的好作品。

另外一幅畫也有高山。但是這些山崎嶇不平，一片荒蕪，上方是狂躁的天空，電閃雨潑，山腳下是一掛飛濺的瀑布，這看上去一點(diǎn)也不寧?kù)o。

但是當(dāng)國(guó)王仔細(xì)一看時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)了瀑布后面有一小從灌木，長(zhǎng)在巖石縫里。灌木叢中，鳥(niǎo)媽媽筑好了鳥(niǎo)窩——急流之間，鳥(niǎo)媽媽安祥地蹲在窩里。

你認(rèn)為哪幅畫會(huì)勝出呢？國(guó)王選擇了第二幅，你知道為什么嗎？

“因?yàn)?，”?guó)王解釋道，“寧?kù)o并不意味一個(gè)沒(méi)有喧囂和繁瑣的地方。寧?kù)o意味著即使你身處塵囂仍然能心靜如水，那才是寧?kù)o的真諦?！?/p>