老人与蝴蝶(The Old Man and the Butterfly)

wendy

There was a wonderful old man who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects ...



One day while walking through the woods, the nice old man found a cocoon. He decided to take the cocoon home to watch its beautiful transformation from a little cocoon to a beautiful butterfly.

He gently placed the cocoon on his kitchen table and watched over it for days.

One day the cocoon started to move. It moved frantically! The old man felt sorry for the little butterfly inside. He watched it struggle and struggle!

Finally the old man rushed to its aid with a scalpel and gently slit the cocoon so the butterfly could emerge.

Just one slice was all it took, and the butterfly broke free from its cocoon only to wilt over in a completely motionless state.

The old man did not know what to think. Had he accidentally killed the little butterfly? No, it was still moving a little bit. Maybe it was sick.

He was quite perplexed. He decided the best thing he could do for the butterfly was to place it gently back into its cocoon.

He did so, and placed a drop of honey on it to seal the cocoon, leaving the butterfly to nestle in its natural state.

The next day he noticed that the cocoon was moving again. It struggled and struggled. Finally the butterfly broke free from its cocoon and stretched its wings out. Its beautiful wings were filled with wonderful colors! It took off! It was flying!

And that wonderful butterfly flew and flew till it was almost out of the old man's sight. What a joy, he exclaimed! But then he started to think. What did I do wrong by trying to help that beautiful little butterfly out at first? The old man went to the library and read every book he could find on butterflies and cocoons.

Finally the answer appeared. The butterfly has to struggle and struggle while inside the cocoon. That's how it gets its strength. That's just what they are designed to overcome in order to be strong and beautiful.

如上面这个故事所述，蝴蝶脱蛹的过程是它成长的必须过程。虽然这个过程非常痛苦，充满挫折和磨难，但如果没有经历过这个过程，就无法变成美丽的蝴蝶，无法自由的飘飞。

我们的人生也不可能总是一帆风顺，处处春风得意。而人生逆境中的磨炼，则正是我们的“蝴蝶脱蛹”的过程，在这个过程中，我们也许会有很多的失落、痛苦和挫折，但它也是你奋进的动力。

Dean

Quite right. There are ups and turns in our life, too. We have to work hard and struggle and get a happy life after overcoming the hardship and dificulties.