【NAILS IN THE FENCE】

[Guest]

NAILS IN THE FENCE

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a
bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must
hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few
weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered
daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his
temper than to drive those nails into the fence.. Finally the day came when
the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull
out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all
the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You
have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will
never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just
like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't
matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there.
A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Remember that friends are very
rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open
their hearts to us.'

【籬笆上的釘子】

從前有個小男孩，他有個壞脾氣。他父親給他一包釘子，叫他每發一次脾氣，就去後籬
笆釘上一根釘子。

第一天，這個小男孩在籬笆上釘有37根釘子。過了幾個禮拜，他學習到控制自己的憤
怒，釘子越釘越少了。他發現，控制脾氣比釘釘子容易多了。這一天終於來臨，他不再
發脾氣了。

他告訴他父親這個情況，父親教他從今每天拔掉一根釘子在他能控制脾氣時。

光陰逝去，這年輕的男孩終於告訴他的父親，所有的釘子都拔掉了。這父親牽手將孩子
帶到籬笆前，告訴孩子：『你做得很好，但是你看這籬笆上的釘孔。這籬笆不再是過去
的籬笆了。當你生氣時所說的話，就留下傷痕像這一個籬笆。你把刀子在人上刻畫，無
論你說多少次對不起，那刀傷都在那裡。言語的傷害和肉體的傷害是一樣壞的。記住，
朋友真的像稀有的珠寶。他們讓你歡笑，鼓勵你成功。他們傾聽、不吝讚美；他們總是
為我們敞開心胸。』