There is a wonderful fable1 about a young orphan girl who had no family and no one to love her. One day, feeling exceptionally2 sad and lonely, she was walking through a meadow3 when she noticed a small butterfly caught unmercifully4 in a thornbush. The more the butterfly struggled to free itself, the deeper the thorns cut into its fragile5 body. The young orphan girl carefully released6 the butterfly from its captivity7. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy8. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“For your wonderful kindness,” the good fairy said to the girl, “I will grant you any wish you would like to have.”
The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy!”The fairy said, “Very well,” and leaned9 toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the good fairy vanished10.
As the little girl grew up, there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her the secret of her happiness. She would only smile and answer, “The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”
When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all rallied11 around her, afraid that her fabulous secret of happiness would die with her. “Tell us, please,” they begged. “Tell us what the good fairy said.”
The lovely old woman simply smiled and said, “She told me that everyone, no matter how secure12 they seemed, no matter how old or young, how rich or poor, had need of me.”
有一个神奇的故事，讲到了一个无人疼爱和无家可归的小女孩。一天，她感到异常难过和孤独，便从草地走过。突然，她看到一只小蝴蝶被荆棘无情地挂住。蝴蝶越是拼命挣脱，树上的刺就越深地插入蝴蝶那脆弱的身子里。小女孩将小蝴蝶从刺中小心地拉出来，蝴蝶却没有飞走，而是变成了一个美丽的仙女。小女孩直擦着眼睛，简直难以相信眼前发生的事。蝴蝶仙子说：“你心真好，我将满足你任何心愿。”
小女孩想了片刻，说道：“我想幸福。”
蝴蝶仙子说：“非常好！”然后靠近小女孩，在她耳边小声说了些什么。说完，蝴蝶仙子就不见了。
当小女孩长大之后，这块土地上没有任何人像她那样幸福。每一个人都问她幸福的秘密，她只是笑着回答说：“幸福的秘密是我小时候听了一个蝴蝶仙子的话。”
当她年老，躺在床上即将去世时，邻居围着她，害怕宝贵的幸福秘密与她一起死去。他们乞求道：“请告诉我们，蝴蝶仙子都说了些什么？”
这个可爱的老妇人笑着说：“她告诉我，每一个人无论多有安全感，无论是老还是幼，无论是穷还是富，要让他们觉得都需要我。”
1. fable n． 寓言
2． exceptionally adv． 异常地
3． meadow n． 草地
4． unmercifully adv． 残忍地
5． fragile adj． 虚弱的
6． release v． 释放
7． captivity ] n． 囚禁
8． fairy n． 漂亮姑娘；仙女
9． lean v． 靠
10．vanish v． 消失
11．rally v． 聚集
12．secure adj． 安全的