找誰倚靠—我們都是有故事的人(慢速) 真正的美麗

Real beauty

When a first-time father cuddled① his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby’s ears conspicuously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might taunt② his child, calling him names like “Dumbo③”. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy — the ears presented only a minor cosmetic④ problem.
But the nervous father persisted. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery⑤.
The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.
The father finally felt more optimistic⑥ about his child, but now he worried about his wife’s reaction to those large, protruding ears. She had delivered by cesarean⑦ section, and had not yet seen the child.
“She doesn’t take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.
By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby’s large ears.
The infant was swaddled⑧ in a receiving blanket with his head covered for the short trip through the chilly air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother’s arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could gaze upon her child for the first time.
She took one look at her baby’s face and looked to her husband and gasped⑨, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
No problem with Mom. She married those ears... and she loves the man to whom they are attached.
The poet Khalil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It’s hard to see the ears when you’re looking into the light.

① cuddle v. & n. 摟抱，擁抱
② taunt v. 嘲笑
③ Dumbo 呆堡（動畫片《小飛象》中的主人公，耳朵很大）
④ cosmetic a. 美容的，裝飾性的
⑤ plastic surgery 整形手術(shù)
⑥ optimistic a. 樂觀的
⑦ cesarean a. 剖腹產(chǎn)的 n. 剖腹產(chǎn)
⑧ swaddle v. 用襁褓包裹，束縛
⑨ gasp v.（吃驚地）吸一口氣