Love and Time  
author  unknown from indianchild.com

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings 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 out 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 Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "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."

　　爱与时间

　　从前，一个小岛上驻扎着林林总总各种感情，有幸福、悲伤、知识等等，还有爱。有一天，感情们接到通知说，小岛马上就要下沉，于是纷纷造船逃离。惟有爱无动于衷。

　　爱是唯一准备留下来的。

　　小岛快要沉没时，爱禁不住求救起来。

　　富有驾驶一艘豪轮经过，爱肯请道：

　　“富有，带上我吧。”

　　“不成，不成，”富有说，“我船上载满了金银财宝，哪容得下你。”

　　虚荣乘着漂亮的小船经过，爱前往求助，“虚荣，帮帮我吧！”

　　“我没法帮你呀，爱，你看你，全身透湿，会把我的船弄坏的。”虚荣说。

　　悲伤打爱身边经过，爱赶紧叫住他，“我跟你一快走吧。”
　　
　“哎呀，爱，真对不起，我好悲伤，我想一个人待着！”

　　幸福从爱身边经过，正沉浸于自己的快乐呢，根本没听见爱的呼唤。

　　突然，一个声音响起来，“来吧，爱，我带你一起走。”原来是一个长者。爱高兴极了，竟然忘了问她他们这是去哪。到达一片干燥的陆地后，长者自顾走了。爱意识到自己实在需要对她感恩戴德，于是去问另一位长者知识，“是谁帮了我？”

　　“是时间。”知识回答说。

　　“时间？可时间为什么要帮我呢？”

　　 知识意味深长地笑着说，“因为只有时间能理解爱的价值。”