A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post， he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.

    "Mister，" he said， "I want to buy one of your puppies."

    "Well，" said the farmer， as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck， "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

    The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket， he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look？"

    "Sure，" said the farmer.

    And with that he let out a whistle， "Here， Dolly！" he called.

    Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

    As the dogs made their way to the fence， the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared； this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others， doing its best to catch up……

    "I want that one，" the little boy said， pointing to the runt.

    The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said， "Son， you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

    With that the little boy stepped back from the fence， reached down， and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer， he said， "You see sir， I don't run too well myself， and he will need someone who understands."

    The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

    「中文譯文」：

    一位農(nóng)夫有幾只小狗要出售。他畫了一個廣告牌子，并把它釘在院子邊的一根柱子上。正當(dāng)他在敲最后一顆釘子的時候，他覺得有人在扯他的工裝褲。他低下頭，看見一個小男孩。

    “先生，”小男孩說，“我想買一只小狗。”

    “呃，”農(nóng)夫一邊擦拭著脖子后面的汗水一邊說，“這些小狗都是純種的，所以貴得很啊。”

    小男孩低下了頭。過了一會，他伸手摸進(jìn)口袋，掏出了一把零錢，高高地遞到了農(nóng)夫的眼前說：“我有39分。這樣可以讓我看一眼小狗嗎？”

    “當(dāng)然可以，”農(nóng)夫說。

    話音剛落，他吹了一聲口哨，喊道：“多利，過來！”

    只見多利從狗屋里跑了出來，奔下了斜坡，身后還跟著四個小家伙。小男孩把臉緊緊貼在了鐵絲網(wǎng)上，眼里跳動著喜悅的神采。

    這五只小狗跑過來的時候，小男孩發(fā)現(xiàn)狗屋里還有些動靜。慢慢地，又一只小狗出現(xiàn)了。這只小狗明顯弱小得多，他從斜坡上滑了下來，步履蹣跚，努力想趕上同伴們……

    “我想要那一只，”小男孩指著那只弱小的狗崽說。

    農(nóng)夫在小男孩的身旁蹲了下來說：“孩子，那只不好。他跑不了，不比其余幾只可以陪你玩。”

    聽完這番話，小男孩往后退了一步，坐下來，卷起一只褲腳。只見一只鋼制的支架護著他小腿的兩側(cè)，底部連接著一只特制的鞋子。小男孩轉(zhuǎn)過頭，抬頭看著農(nóng)夫說：“先生，你看，我自己也不太能跑，那只小狗需要一個理解他的人。”

    同樣，我們的世界也有許許多多需要理解的人。