Once upon a time， there was an island where Happiness， Sadness， Knowledge， and all of the others， lived including Love. One day it was announced to them that the island would sink， so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk， Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said，

“Richness， can you take me with you？”

Richness answered， “No， I cant. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you.”

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. “Vanity， please help me！”

“I cant help you， Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat，” Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked， “Sadness， let me go with you.”

“Oh ... Love， I am so sad that I need to be by myself！"

Happiness passed by Love， too， but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly， there was a voice， “Come， Love， I will take you.” It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed， Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land， the elder went his own way.

Realizing how much was owed to the elder， Love asked Knowledge， another elder， “Who helped me？”

“It was Time，” Knowledge answered.

“Time？” asked Love. “But why did Time help me？”

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered， “Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is.”

從前有一個島，島上住著幸福、悲傷、知識和所有其他人，以及愛。一天，他們聽說小島即將沉沒，因此都建造小船，紛紛離開，除了愛。

只有愛留了下來，因?yàn)樗Ｍ軋猿值阶詈笠豢獭?/p>

小島即將沉沒了，愛決定請求幫助。

富有駕著一艘大船從愛身邊經(jīng)過，愛說：“富有，你能帶上我嗎？”

富有回答說：“不行，我的船上載滿了金銀財寶，沒有你待的地方?！?/p>

虛榮坐在漂亮的小船上從愛身邊駛過，愛問：“虛榮，請幫幫我吧！”

虛榮說：“不行，你全身濕透了，會毀了我的船?！?/p>

悲傷的船靠近了，愛問：“悲傷，請帶我走吧?！?/p>

“哦……愛，我太難過了，想一個人待著?！?/p>

幸福也經(jīng)過了愛的身邊，但它太開心了，根本沒聽見愛在呼喚。

突然，一個聲音喊道：“來，愛，我?guī)阕??！?原來是一位長者。愛太高興了，竟然忘了問他們即將去何方。當(dāng)他們來到岸上，長者自己離開了。

愛突然意識到自己需要感謝他。于是，愛問另一位老者——知識：“誰幫助了我？”

知識說：“是時間?！?/p>

“時間？”愛問，“但是時間為什么幫助我？”

知識意味深長地笑著說：“因?yàn)橹挥袝r間了解愛的價值?！?/p>

Vocabulary

construct? v. 建造，修建

vessel? n. 船，艦;

capable? adj. 有能力的;有才干的;