Many years ago, two friends, Mike and Jim, were walking through the desert. Somehow they began to quarrel (争吵 ) about small matters. Suddenly, Mike hit Jim in the face. Jim was hurt, but he said nothing. He just wrote in the sand: Today my best friend hit me in the face.
They kept on walking, and at last, they found a river. So they decided to take a bath.
Suddenly, Jim got stuck in the mire (陷在泥里 ). At that moment, Mike saved him. After Jim felt better, he wrote on a stone: Today my best friend saved my life.
Mike saw this, and asked, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand. After I saved you, you wrote on a stone. Why?”
Jim answered, “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand. Thus winds of forgiveness (宽恕 ) can blow it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave (铭刻) it in stone, then no wind can ever blow it away.”