Not long ago, my daughter’s frosting shoes were scratched by someone’s knife.
不久前，我女儿的磨砂鞋被人用刀子划了几道。
She burst into tears. I took the shoes to the shoemaker to get them repaired.
她哭得很伤心，我把鞋拿到鞋匠那里去修补。
The young apprentice glanced at the opening and said, “there is nothing I can do but to replace the upper.”
那个年轻的学徒瞥了一眼上面划的口子，说道：“我修不了，只能换鞋帮。”
His master looked at them and said to me, “If you trust me, I will add more scratches on both of the shoes.”
他的师父看了看鞋子，对我说：“你要是相信我，我就在两只鞋上再划几道口子。”
I was confused and asked why.
我百思不解，问为什么。
He explained, “As if the openings were made on purpose for the sake of special style and reuse.”
他解释说：“这样看起来那些口子仿佛是刻意而为，会显得别具一格，还能再穿穿。”
I didn’t fully understand him, but I decided to leave the shoes.
我没有完全理解他的意思，但还是决定把鞋留下来修。
Two days later I dropped by from work to fetch the shoes.
两天后，我下班途中顺便去取鞋子。
At the first sight l found they were indeed five or six more scratches on each shoe, but all the openings were patched by soft leather in rust red with edges sewed by thick hemp thread；
我一眼就发现每只鞋上确实多了五六道口子，但所有的口子都用锈红色软皮补了起来，四周用粗麻线缝好。
the stitches were twisted with the appearance of roughness and plainness which was in accordance with the quality of frosting leather, more unique and interesting than ever.
针脚歪歪扭扭，显得朴素粗犷，正好与鞋子的磨砂皮相称，比之前更别致，更好看。
I couldn’t help making compliments on the master’s craftsmanship.
我禁不住称赞师傅的手艺。
Another time, my wife’s sister’s white blouse was torn a large opening on the back.
还有一次，我妻子的姐姐有一件白衬衫后背划破了一个大口子。
My wife took it over and checked carefully, and then said. “Let me take it home and mend it.”
妻子拿在手里仔细看了看后说：“我带回去给你补补。”
Three days later, seeing the blouse again, I was shocked:
三天后再次看到那件衬衫时，我惊呆了！
all the cracks and openings were sewed up by thin and white thread and they took on a look of branches, like the ice crystal on winter’s branches in the north.
所有的细缝和破洞都用细白线缝好了，看起来如同树枝，像北方冬天树枝上坠着的冰晶。
In order to intensify the effect, she attached a fatty snowman and a cabin made of flowery cotton rags on the shirt.
为了增强这种效果，她在衬衫上用花棉布片拼了一个胖胖的雪人和一座小木屋。
I sighed with praise, “It’s just as beautiful as a piece of art!”
我赞叹道：“这就像艺术品一样漂亮！”
“I was inspired by that craftsman. Patches are supposed to be a regret, but a skillful craftsman can make it take on a kind of perfection,” replied my wife.
妻子回答道：“那位工匠给了我灵感，补丁通常是一个遗憾，但一个能工巧匠却可以让补丁呈现出完美的样子。”
Her words inspired me even more: perfection is impossible to achieve in everything；
她的话也更启发了我：不可能事事都完美。
patches are unavoidable, so is human’s life, which will appear in the form of injury, disability or disease.
补丁不可避免，人的生命也一样，会受伤，会有残疾或疾病。
Since you can’t change the existence of wound, you should not expect people’s sympathy by exposing the wound, which reveals nothing meaningful.
既然伤口必然会存在，你无法改变，就不要指望暴露伤口，以获得他人的同情，那毫无意义。
All you can do and have to do is to suture the wound by patches and try your best to bloom a most beautiful flower on the wound, and that is the significance of life.
你能做的、你必须做的就是用补丁缝合伤口，尽全力在伤口上开出最美丽的花朵，这才是生活的意义。
