that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.
A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.
There was nota mark or a flaw in it.
Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.
The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautifulheart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,
"Whyyour heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."
The crowd and the youngman looked at the old man's heart. It was
beating strongly ... but full of scars. It had places where pieces had
been removed and other pieces put in ... but they didn't fit quite
right and there were several jagged edges.
In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
The people starred ... how could he say his heart is more beautiful,
they thought?
The young man looked atthe old man's heart and saw its state and
laughed. "You must be joking," he said."Compare your heart withmine
... mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."
"Yes," said theold man,"Yours is perfect looking ... but I would never
trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have
given my love ..... I tear out a piece of my heart and give it tothem
... and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the
empty place in my heart... but because the pieces aren't exact, I have
some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love
weshared.
Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away... and the other person
hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges
... giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful,
they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too
... and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have
waiting. So now do you see what true beautyis?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He
walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful
heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with
trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a
piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the
young man's heart.
It fit .... but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked athis heart, not perfect anymore but more
beautiful than ever, sincelove from the old man's heart flowed into
his.
They embraced and walked away side by side.
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