“要创造健全的生活，就应该为他人服务，同时发挥自身的潜能。”他说，“必须记住，没有他人的支持，不论你的力量多么强大，也不可能持久。孤身挺进，势必栽跟头。”
“关系就像谷仓顶一样，需要精心维护。”他补充道，“不通信，不表示感谢，就会有损于彼此间的信任，使争执得不到解决。所有这些行为就像雨水渗进钉子眼里，削弱了横梁之间的连接力。”
朋友摇了摇头，说：“这是一座好谷仓，只要好好维护，不需要花多少精力就能保存下来。而现在，也许再也不能重建了。”
黄昏时分，我准备离开了。“你不想借用一下我的电话吗？”他说。
“是的，”我说，“我想，我非常希望。”
1. It was solidly_________， probably in the 1870s. But like so many of the_________ around here， it went down because people_________ for richer lands in the Midwest. No one_________care of the barn. Its_________ needed patching； rainwater got under the eaves and dripped down inside the posts and beams.
2. My friend said he had_________ the incident over and over in his_________， and finally came to recognize some parallels between building a barn and building a_________： no matter how strong you are， how notable your attainments， you have enduring significance_________ in your relationship to others.
3. My friend shook his head. “It was a good_________. And it would have taken very_________ to keep it in good repair. Now it will probably never be_________.”
1. 不论你多么强大，不论你的成就多么辉煌，只有在与他人交往的过程中，你才有长久的价值。
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2. 要创造健全的生活，就应该为他人服务，同时发挥自身的潜能。
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. 关系就像谷仓顶一样，需要精心维护。
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1. Then one day I dropped in on another old friend who had a long career as a minister and counselor.
drop in：顺便走访（某人）
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2. Suddenly it was a heap of scrap lumber.
a heap of：许多，大量；一大堆
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去伪存真
Peeling Away Artifice for the Pure Original
佚名 / Anonymous
Sarah came running in. “Look what I found.” Over the top of the paper I was reading came a crispy， crumbling long object that caused me to jump. It was a snake skin that had been shed by one of our many garden snakes.
“Isn’t it beautiful？” said my wide-eyed 7-year-old daughter.
I stared at the organic wrapper and thought to myself that it really wasn’t that beautiful， but I have learned never to appear nonchalant or jaded with children. Everything they see for the first time is elementary to their sense of beauty and creativity； they see only merit and excellence in the world until educated otherwise.
“Why does it do this？” Sarah asked.
Robert， ever the innocent comedian， said， “We have a naked snake in our garden！”
I also try to customize every opportunity to teach my children that there is almost always something beyond the obvious； that there is something else going on besides what they see in front of them.
“Snakes shed their skin because they need to renew themselves.” I explained. As is so often the case in my family， the original subject leads to another and another， until we are discussing something quite different.
“Why do they need to renew themselves？” Sarah asked.
Robert quipped， “Cos they don’t like who they are and they want to be someone else.”
Sarah and I politely ignored her brother. I suddenly remembered an article on this page many years ago where the writer was expressing her concept of renewal. She used layers of paper over a wall to describe how we hide our original selves， and said that by peeling away those layers one by one， we see the underlying original beneath.
“We often need to shed our skins， those coatings and facades that we cover ourselves with.” I said to my now absorbed daughter. “We outgrow some things and find other stuff unwanted or unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin. It is probably too stiff and crinkly for him and he probably doesn’t think he looks as smart in it as he once did. Like buying a new suit.”
Of course， I’m sure this explanation won’t sit well with bonafide naturalists. But Sarah was getting the point. As we talked， I knew that she began to comprehend， albeit slightly， that renewal is part of progress； that we need to take a good look at ourselves， our rooms， schoolwork， creativity and spirituality， and see what we need to keep and what we need to cast off. I was careful to point out that this is a natural process， not one to be forced.
“Snakes don’t peel off their skirl when they feel like it.” I explained. “It happens as a natural consequence of their growth.”
“I see. Dad.” said Sarah and jumped off my lap， grabbed the snakeskin， and ran off.
I hoped she would remember this. That often， in order to find our real selves underneath the layers of community and culture with which we cloak ourselves year after year， we need to start examining these layers. We need to gently peel some away， as we recognize them to be worthless， unnecessary， or flawed； or at best， store the discarded ones as mementoes of our promotion to a better vitality or spirit.
萨拉跑进屋来，喊道：“看，我发现了什么。”我正读着报纸，突然上方冒出一条长长的皱巴巴的看起来好像要碎了的东西。我立刻吓得跳了起来。那是一张蛇皮，是我们花园中的一条蛇蜕下来的。
“它不漂亮吗？”我7岁的眼睛大大的女儿问道。
我盯着那条蛇皮，心里想它真的称不上漂亮。但我明白，永远不能对孩子显露出自己的冷漠或厌烦。他们第一次看到的每件事物，对于培养他们的美感和创造性都很重要。在接受社会教育之前，他们的眼里只有美好和优秀。
萨拉问：“蛇为什么要蜕皮？”
生来就具有喜剧天分的罗伯特说：“我们花园里有一条光着身子的蛇。”
我也尝试利用每一个机会，教导孩子们知道：事物往往不是表象所能掩盖的，除了我们所见的，还有一些更深层次的东西。
我解释说：“蛇蜕皮是因为它们要更新自己。”正如往常一样，最初的话题会导致接二连三的新问题，直到我们所谈论的与起先的话题毫不相干。
萨拉问：“蛇为什么要更新自己呢？”
罗伯特诙谐地说：“因为它们不喜欢做自己，它们想要变成别人。”