A wealthy man and his son loved to collect works of art. They had everything from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

       一位富翁和他兒子愛(ài)好收藏畫(huà)，他們收藏了從畢加索到拉費(fèi)奧等很多藝術(shù)品。常常他倆坐在一起欣賞著大師的作品。

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood there with a large package in his hands. He said "Sir, you don't

know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life.  He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the

heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you and your love for art.’’  The young man held out his package. "I know this isn't much. I'm really not a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this." The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man.

He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes swelled up

with  tears. He thanks the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh no, sir, I could never repay what you son did for me. It's a gift.

      約一個(gè)月之后，正好是圣誕節(jié)前，門(mén)上傳來(lái)敲門(mén)聲。一位年輕人站在那里，手里拿著一個(gè)很大的包裹。他說(shuō)道：“先生，你不認(rèn)識(shí)我，我就是你兒子為了救我而犧牲的那個(gè)戰(zhàn)士。那天他救了很多人，當(dāng)他背著我走向安全地帶的時(shí)候，一顆子彈擊中了他的心臟，他頓時(shí)就犧牲了。他常常說(shuō)起你和你對(duì)藝術(shù)的愛(ài)好，”年輕人舉起他的包裹，“我知道這不算什么，我是真的不怎樣的藝術(shù)家，但我想你兒子會(huì)要你保留這幅畫(huà)的。”父親打開(kāi)了包裹，是他兒子的一幅肖像畫(huà)，是這年輕人畫(huà)的。他驚奇地注視著畫(huà)中那士兵是如何捕捉到他兒子的個(gè)性的。父親如此地被畫(huà)里的眼睛吸引，他自己的眼睛也充滿了淚水。他謝了那年輕人并提議買(mǎi)下這幅畫(huà)。“噢，不要錢(qián)，先生，我永遠(yuǎn)不能償還你兒子給我做的一切。這是禮物。”

      父親把這肖像畫(huà)掛在壁爐架上，每次有客人來(lái)他家拜訪，他總是在給他們看他收藏的許多名作之前，先帶他們看兒子的肖像。

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his great works of art. Many people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and

having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the portrait of his son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel, "we will start with this portrait of the son. Who will bid for this picture？

      富翁在幾個(gè)月之后死了。他的偉大收藏也將要被拍賣(mài)掉。許多人聚集著，為能一睹這些偉大的收藏以及能從他的收藏里買(mǎi)一個(gè)加入自己的收藏品這一機(jī)會(huì)而激動(dòng)不已。在講臺(tái)上安置著那兒子的肖像畫(huà)，拍賣(mài)經(jīng)紀(jì)人用他的槌子敲打著臺(tái)面：“我們從這幅兒子的肖像畫(huà)開(kāi)始。誰(shuí)投這幅畫(huà)的標(biāo)？”

There was silence. Then a ! voice in the  back of the room shouted "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."

　

But the auctioneer persisted, "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding?  $100, $200?"

Another voice shouted angrily, "We didn't come here to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gohs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids".

　

         But still the auctioneer continued, "The son! The son! Who will take The son?"  Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime

gardener of the man and his son. "I'll give you $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

"We have $10, who will bid $20??"

　

 "Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters".

”

 "$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"

　

“十塊給他吧，讓我們看名作。

“標(biāo)價(jià)十塊，沒(méi)有人標(biāo)二十的嗎？”

The crowd was becoming angry.  They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

　

 The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!"

　

A man sitting in the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!

　

The auctioneer laid down his gavel   "I'm sorry, the auction is over".

”

"What about the paintings?"

          拍賣(mài)經(jīng)紀(jì)人敲打著槌子：“一次競(jìng)標(biāo)，兩次競(jìng)標(biāo)，十塊得標(biāo)！”

一位坐在第二排的人喊道：“現(xiàn)在讓我們開(kāi)始進(jìn)入收藏品的競(jìng)標(biāo)。”

           那拍賣(mài)經(jīng)紀(jì)人放下他的槌子說(shuō)：“很抱歉，競(jìng)標(biāo)已經(jīng)結(jié)束了。”

“那些收藏品怎么辦？”

"I'm sorry, when I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this

time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned.  Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son, gets everything!"

　

God gave his son 2000 years ago to die on the cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is "The son, the son, who'll take the son?"  Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.