There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two be really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

    The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

    But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the bush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest----in perfect peace.

    Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

    “Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

    从前有一个国王，悬赏能画出最好的宁静画的画家。很多画家都进行了尝试。国王看了所有的作品，但只有两幅，他真正喜欢，他必须从中选择。一幅画中是一片宁静的湖，四周群山环绕，湖泊就是一面完美的镜子。蓝天之上白云飘飘，每个看到这幅画的人都认为这真是一幅完美的宁静画。

    另一幅画也有山脉。但这些山脉崎岖不平，光秃秃的。上面是乌云滚滚的天空，大雨如注，闪电雷鸣，一条飞瀑从山的一侧倾斜而下。这看起来一点都不宁静。

    但国王仔细看时，却看到瀑布后面在岩石的裂缝中长着一个小小的灌木丛。灌木丛中，一只母鸟极其安静的卧在巢上。
你认为哪幅画能赢得悬赏？国王选择了第二幅。你知道为什么吗？

    国王解释说：“这是因为宁静并不是指这个地方没有噪音，烦恼和辛劳。宁静就是置于所有那些东西之中，你心里仍然平静。这才是宁静的真谛。”