There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked， and he had to choose between them.

    One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

    The other picture had mountains， too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky， from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

    But when the king looked closely， he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There， in the midst of the rush of angry water， sat the mother bird on her nest—in perfect peace.

    Which picture do you think won the prize？ The king chose the second picture. Do you know why？

    “Because，”explained the king， “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise， trouble， or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

    很久以前，曾有一個國王向畫家們懸賞征集一幅最能表現(xiàn)安寧主題的畫。畫家們紛紛嘗試。然而國王看完所有的畫后，只挑中了兩幅，他得在二者中擇其一。

    第一幅畫畫的是一個寧靜的湖泊。水波不興的湖面就像一面完美的鏡子，為靜靜挺立的群山所環(huán)抱。湖的上方則是白絲絨般的云朵，飄浮于蔚藍(lán)的蒼穹。所有看到此畫的人無不稱贊其對寧靜主題的完美體現(xiàn)。

    另一幅畫畫的也是群山。但這些山卻崎嶇不平，寸草不生。群山上空是狂怒的天空，電閃雷鳴，暴雨傾盆。在山的一側(cè)還有瀑布翻騰而下，撞擊出白色的水沫。這幅畫看來毫無安寧可言。

    但是國王凝神細(xì)看的時候，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)瀑布后面巖石的縫隙中有一小叢灌木，一只鳥媽媽已在灌木叢中筑好了自己的巢。在如此狂奔四泄的瀑布旁，鳥媽媽卻安詳?shù)囟俗�巢中，完全沒受到打擾。

    你認(rèn)為哪一幅贏得了賞金？國王選中了第二幅。知道是什么緣故嗎？

    “那是因為，”國王解釋道：“寧靜并非意味著身處沒有噪音、沒有煩擾、毫無艱辛的環(huán)境之中。寧靜是一種處亂不驚的內(nèi)心祥和。這才是寧靜的真諦。”