Once upon a time, there was an island inhabited1 by: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the rest of it, including Love. One day word got around that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out2 until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?”

Richness answered, “No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you.”

Love decided to ask Vanity3 who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel4. “Vanity, please help me!”

“I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat,” Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, “Sadness, let me go with you.”

“Oh... Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!”

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, “Come, Love, I will take you.” It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.

Realizing how much was owed the elder, Love asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who helped me?”

“It was Time,” Knowledge answered.

“Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?”

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, “Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is.”

注释：

1. inhabit [in5hAbit] vt. 居住于

2. hold out 抵抗，坚持，不退让

3. vanity [5vAniti]] n. 虚荣（心），虚夸

4. vessel [5vesl]] n. 船，舰

时间与爱